Author: edun

By: Ameya Naik

This is a topic I’m not working on directly right now, but that concerns me tremendously. Some readers may recall the nationwide outrage that gripped India in December 2012 when a young pharmacy student was brutally gang-raped and assaulted in New Delhi, an assault that inflicted injuries which eventually caused her death.

This rape and assault took place on a “private bus” – one of many run by contractors to supplement the city’s public transport on busy or under-served routes – and revealed many flaws in the current measures for women’s safety in Delhi. The bus in question had driven around for hours as the rape took place and passed multiple police checkpoints on its route, raising questions about the focus and efficacy of policing and patrol practices. The people of Delhi had taken to the streets in unprecedented numbers that December, to protest the laxity of law enforcement that permitted such an atrocity, and to demand better mechanisms be put in place.

Whatever their failings in prevention, the police were exemplarily swift in locating and arresting the alleged perpetrators. It subsequently emerged that one of the accused was a minor; under the prevailing Juvenile Justice Act (2000), he could not be prosecuted in a regular court for his role in this atrocity. News reports sparked some confusion on what exactly that role had been: some claimed he had been “the most brutal” assailant, others that he was only a lookout, still others that he was not even a minor.

Regardless of the details, the prospect that one of those responsible for so inhuman an act may “escape punishment” on the grounds of minority became a target of public ire. Many writers expressed disgust at the idea that 16- and 17-year-old men may cynically take advantage of their minority to commit even the gravest offences, and escape lightly because they must be treated as juvenile offenders. Calls for capital punishment to be imposed in this case were common, and there was a chilling lack of concern when another accused was found hanging in his jail cell, having apparently committed suicide.

The erstwhile government’s response to the protests at India Gate had been inexplicably heavy-handed: riot police, tear gas, water cannons etc. Today’s government – then the opposition – now seems to be adopting an equally clumsy approach to the matter of juveniles accused of grave crimes: last week, the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) passed a law that proposes to have persons above the age of 16 who commit such offences tried before the regular judicial system, as adults.

That bill – The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Bill – is now before the Rajya Sabha (upper house) for deliberation. This, despite apprehensions expressed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee that reviewed the Bill that it was a knee-jerk reaction to an emotive issue. The bill proposes that if a 16- to 18-year-old commits an offence for which the Indian Penal Code prescribes a sentence of 7 years or more (“heinous offences”), and is then apprehended when 21 years or older, the Juvenile Justice Board must review whether the accused can stand trial as an adult. This presumably involves an assessment of the mental state or maturity of the accused at the time of the offence.

As a Member of Parliament (the one I worked for before grad school, as it happens) noted in the Lok Sabha’s debate over the bill, this proposal runs counter the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which India is signatory. The CRC requires that all persons below the age of 18 be treated – uniformly – as children. This varied treatment is also a concern under the Indian Constitution, in that it appears to violate the Fundamental Right to equality before law, and to set up two different penalties for the same offence even when the offender is of the same standing, based on age at the time of apprehension.

What concerns me most, though, is this: as a solution, the proposed system is wholly disproportionate to the incidence of the problem. Worse, data from existing cases of alleged rape by a minor reveal a disturbing trend, which this development would surely exacerbate. Rukmini Srinivasan and Mrinal Satish examined all such cases heard in Delhi’s courts. As they reported in The Hindu, the vast majority of such cases involve minor girls who have eloped or are in relationships against their parents’ wishes. These are usually filed by the parents of the girl, rather than the girl herself, and practically none have actually resulted in convictions.

This research adds on to other studies – as well as mountains of anecdotal evidence, and obiter statements in many judgments – to the effect that the quality of investigation into cases of alleged rape is sorely lacking, and that the whole procedure – from complaint to trial – risks re-traumatising rape survivors. Various news stories have also looked at police attitudes in relation to rape, which may gently be described as archaic and patriarchal, entirely consistent with a system where parents of an eloped girl may be more comfortable approaching the police than a girl who actually has experienced rape.

Sexual violence against women and girls in India is, beyond a shadow of doubt, a pressing concern – and one with legal, social, political, and policy-level implications. While measures to address this problem are welcome, they must pass the most basic of tests for any policy intervention: that they actually improve the circumstances of those most affected by the problem. At a minimum, they must not exacerbate the vulnerability of those whose agency is already challenged and suppressed.

It is not at all clear to me that this latest amendment to the Juvenile Justice Laws passes that test.

By: Mary-Jean Nleya

A month ago the 17^th annual Africa Business Conference was held at HBS. It attracted many people from within the African diaspora and those with an interest in Africa. The theme for the conference was “A More Inclusive Africa: the pursuit of progress for all“. The aim of the conference was to engage in dialogue on sustainable and inclusive growth strategies for the continent with those already working on the continent. It was a very lively, engaging, and insightful conference. Particularly, I would like to reflect on the micro-finance panel discussion. More info on the micro-finance panel can be found here: http://www.africabusinessconference.com/fostering-inclusive-growth/ .

Getting started with the micro-finance discussion

The micro-finance panel commenced with the panel moderator recalling the historical development of the concept of micro-finance. Micro-finance having become popularized in the 1970s with the advent of Muhammed Yunus’ Grameen Bank; however, the idea of ‘micro-finance’ traces back to the 1800s.

In the African context, for too long the focus has been on formal sources of access to capital; to the exclusion of those at the bottom of the pyramid. The notion of micro-finance has recently been used as the tool to foster inclusive growth. One of the panelists explained micro-finance to be the “informal access to capital [which] is critical to financial inclusion and as a result wealth creation”.

 

Where are we today with micro-finance in Africa?

Another panelist who does work in micro-finance stated that in addition to ensuring quality services to her clients, her primary aim is to get those at the bottom of the pyramid “… to have a positive outlook [on life]” and afford them the opportunity to financial access which they ordinary would not get access to at a commercial bank. However, the same panelist pointed out the challenges she has to work around, which (among others) include complying with Know-Your-Customer (KYC) regulations, because “identification is a major issue [in the African country in which she works]” and most people at the bottom of the pyramid have “no means of identification”.

Flowing from the focus on regulatory compliance with KYC requirements, a subsequent panelist contended that there has been an over-emphasis on KYC regulatory compliance as the major challenge for micro-finance institutions. He is of the view the goal should be to “make a seamless system” to advance the needs of the customers being served, which should include physical networks which should extend beyond the urban areas into remote regions. He reasoned that the importance of having physical networks in the form of field staff in remote areas was important so as to live up to the ideal of “inclusivity”. He further stated that micro-finance institutions’ services go beyond lending micro-credit, but also includes affording savings services. He elucidated that there is a lot of value that is being kept “under people’s mattresses” because of the lack of physical networks that extend beyond the urban areas, and as a result of this phenomenon there is a lot of value that is missing, which would otherwise be converted into additional service offerings which would include e-wallets and insurance services.

 

Digitizing micro-finance

It was clear after 20 minutes into the micro-finance discussion that despite the various challenges that have been experienced in the micro-finance industry, there were positive strides taken and great opportunities ahead. The great opportunities that lay ahead were exemplified by one of the other panelists, who said the “use of technology between buyers and sellers is an important conversation to have”, she said this conversation is as important for those at the bottom of the pyramid, where 90% of transactions are in cash. She said we need to “kill the use of cash” amongst this group and move to a digitized system of micro-finance. She posed a question to the audience, “How many of you bought your air ticket online? And how many of you bought your ticket in cash?” The response from her questions revealed that the entire audience had made payments without the use of “cash” (in the technical sense of the word). She went on further to say, this should be the case for those at the bottom of the pyramid, because the use of cash breeds crime and corruption. She solidified her point by referencing South Africa, as a case in point, which managed to root out fraud after the social security agency registered those who receive government social grants digitally and thereby completely eliminated cash grants.

On the other hand, the last panelist maintained that “we cannot kill cash”. This panelist indicated that 80% of Africans have mobile phones, and the question should be “what can we do with this mobile penetration to reduce transaction costs and have access to remote places on the continent?” The last panelist concluded by stating that we should work to empower the unbanked as this will have a positive impact on overall growth of the continent. In relation to growth on the continent, it was highlighted that an example of the impact those at the bottom of the pyramid have on the formal economy is significant, citing that 57% of Nigeria’s GDP comes from the informal sector.

 

The micro-finance conversation just does not end here

While the micro-finance panel discussion was enlightening, the conversation still continues. We are continuing on a path that was paved in the 1800s and then popularized in the 1970s and is currently revolutionized in this digital and tech 21^st century world of which we occupy.

Micro-finance is an enabler – it has enabled and continues to enable the African continent to move away from the simplified ‘aid model’ poverty reduction rhetoric to a wealth creation narrative which focuses on informal sources of capital. While I view micro-finance as an enabler and as one of the ways to lead to inclusive growth on the continent; there is an interesting TED talk by an HLS student and he argues for macro-finance and he criticizes micro-finance, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAReayFqUEY

We are proud to announce that our newest LIDS Global group is Red Estudiantil de Investigación Jurídica – ELD from Escuela Libre de Derecho!

Here is a message from the group introducing themselves!

 

Mexico is a paradoxical country in many ways. Culturally, we are part of Latin America, but economically we are part of North America. We are the country that has the highest number of free trade treaties. We have one of the richest men in the world, but almost fifty percent of our population lives in poverty. We are the eleventh economy in the world, but our public policies do not create enough jobs and most of our workforce has to go into the informal market or migrate to other countries in order to find a job. We have a varied and multicultural population, but we discriminate the indigenous groups that are part of it. We are aware of the need of laws to be able to live, as a society, in an orderly fashion, yet, we tend to disobey the law. We are aware of the benefits of good education policies, but our education system is among the worst in the world.

In addition to these paradoxical problems, we suffer a corruption crisis – many public officials take advantage of their positions in order to favor their own personal interests, consolidating economical and political elites, eroding the government´s legitimacy, and creating a patrimonial conception of power –, a public security crisis – organized crime groups, ranging from drug cartels to kidnapping bands to human trafficking organizations, have taken over large parts of the territory and coopted local police forces, forcing the federal armed forces to step into the maintaining of public security –, a health-care crisis – the lowest socio-economical groups have no access to health services –, and a food crisis – twenty three percent of the population experiences food poverty and twelve percent of it experiences chronic malnourishment –.

But just as we are aware of the problems we suffer as a country, we are aware of our nation´s potential to overcome them. We share many of these problems with developing and developed countries around the world, some of which have law schools that are already participating in LIDS Global research projects.

Our main interest at the Red Estudiantil de Investigación Jurídica de la Escuela Libre de Derecho (REIJ – ELD) is to work with LIDS Global and these schools from around the world, analyzing the problems our countries experience both on the individual level and the collective level, the impact individual problems have on the international community and collective problems on individual countries, and coming up with ideas and solutions to tackle down these problems and create an environment that is healthier and more beneficial for an harmonic development of our societies.

 From left to right: Manuel Mansilla Moya, Alexandra Pérez López, Perla Itzel Salgado Román, and Professor Manuel Alexandro Munive Páez

 

When:  Thurs., March 5, 12-1 PM (Lunch will be provided)
Where:  WCC 3008 – HLS

Co-sponsored by HLS Advocates for Human Rights

Lawyers are natural advocates, but the type of writing that makes for successful advocacy in the courtroom is very different from the type of writing that persuades a general audience to care about your cause. Join Cara Solomon, a journalist, founder of The Small Story, and Communications Coordinator of the Human Rights Program for a workshop that will help students build skills and confidence in this type of writing. Topics covered include how to hook readers, how to structure arguments, how to simplify technical content, and how to use anecdotes and illustrations effectively.

Please note that participants will need to submit a draft piece by Tuesday morning, March 3 by 10 a.m to Ameya Naik (ameya.naik87@gmail.com).

Please RSVP by 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3 at: https://docs.google.com/a/jd15.law.harvard.edu/forms/d/1PKcDDmrSV4oacPtI-ZFWJj3H9kaiGHz8CI9fuUAeC9w/viewform.

Please email Elisa Dun (edun@jd16.law.harvard.edu) or Ameya Naik (ameya.naik87@gmail.com).

Please note the blog post prompt instructions and guidelines are now available in the above Google Doc link. 

By: Mary-Jean Nleya

As Victor Shklovsky points out, “Art [is] a technique” which should serve as a tool to be used in addressing various societal woes. As evidenced by Mayor Mockus in 1995 to address Bogota’s challenges of the time including, among others, addressing the society’s disregard for traffic laws, which resulted in numerous fatalities. He tackled this problem in a humorous way, by having stars painted on the roads where pedestrians had been involved in motor vehicle accidents and killed. He also employed the use of mimes on the roads. Mockus had positive results (a drop in fatalities) following his unconventional approaches to attempting to solve the society’s problems. For more information, see here.

Unconventional thinking is necessary for policy-makers to innovate solutions to the world’s various challenges. I think Shklovsky rightly points out that “habitualization devours work”. I’ve interpreted this to mean conventional solutions hinder progress and thereby stifle the pursuit of addressing various issues. Searching for solutions through the lens of conventional thought will not proffer innovative solutions that the world is in need of. In the pursuit of searching for solutions to the intractable economic and social challenges, I have learned through Shklovsky’s essay that “parallelism” is a technique that policy-makers and social entreprenuers should make use of, that is, moving away from the “usual perception of an object into a sphere of a new perception”. It is evident from the article that we need to move away from “automatized” solutions.

As I reflect on another example on using artistic creativity, a housing-infrastructure project by Indian architect Charles Correa (known as “Artist Village”) comes to mind. Correa innovated a viable housing solution for Mumbai, mass affordable housing for low and middle income households, which went beyond conventional design. His housing architectural design of the structures enables the dwellers to expand their housing as their circumstances permitted (such as having walls with no windows) (for more info see: http://foundationsakc.com/projects/housing/artist-village-charles-correa ).

In the words of Doris Sommer (in The Work of Art in the World: Civic Agency and Public Humanities, 2014) , “learning to think like an artist […] is basic training for our volatile times”, this is evident from the works of the various innovators that have tapped into their ‘artistic’ selves to address the various societal challenges. It is therefore imperative that policy-makers employ unconventional and ‘artistic’ policies that will be effective.

In the two above cases: the difficulty in changing behavioral patterns (in the society’s disregard for traffic laws) was achieved through humor and art; while the infrastructure development project to address housing affordability in Mumbai was addressed through unconventional artistic design – which proves to have been effectual.

Therefore, exploring art is to viewed as one of the “greatest renewable resources [to] address the world’s fundamental challenges of disease, violence, and poverty” (Summer, 2014), and ought to be viewed as such in the public policy realms.

 

By: Mary-Jean Nleya

While economic growth strategies are at the forefront of many national and international policy decisions, there are many debates as to what approaches work and which ones do not. I came across Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid, where she argues against the efficacy of the aid model as an attempt to solve Sub-Saharan Africa’s social and economic problems. She contends that this model has fueled corruption and has stifled sustainable economic growth on the continent. She suggests that to ensure sustainable economic growth, a different approach should be incorporated into the African growth strategy: access to the capital markets, increased trade, and micro-finance. She particularly commends China’s involvement in the continent as a positive intervention.

Whereas on the other hand, the aid model is advocated for by many, who argue that aid – if designed properly – may help ensure economic growth.

I had not decided for myself which side of the debate I lean more towards. However, by observing various efforts and their results, I have found that the ‘no-aid’ debate is more persuasive.

The challenges – the “institutional voids” (a term coined by Professors Khanna and Palepu) – that face Sub-Saharan Africa (as well as other emerging economies) serve as the basis from which the incredible business potential available on the continent springs. It can be said, though not expressed in Dead Aid, that China is perhaps filling in the institutional voids in Sub-Saharan Africa, either in infrastructure development or in Energy, for a quid pro quo.

Whilst China’s involvement has, arguably, been filling institutional voids, some of the involvement has been to the detriment of some sectors on the continent. One such example is in Botswana. There had been a major setback to Botswana’s power sector. The engineering and construction of the power plant (Morupule B project) was awarded to a Chinese company. However, in 2013 major problems – during the commissioning phase of the project – began to cause power cuts throughout the country, until the Chinese company was replaced for the maintenance and operation of the project. The project and the resultant problems cost Botswana millions of Pula (Botswana’s currency). (For more information, see here . )

Whether Botswana’s power issue is attributable to the Botswana government’s oversight or the Chinese company is debatable.

However, entrepreneurial solutions are imperative to solving social and economic problems on the continent, and that is to be done by filling the “institutional voids”. Notwithstanding, aid (emergency and humanitarian aid) is appropriate in certain circumstances, such as after natural disasters and as assistance for disease outbreaks.

Ultimately, aid cannot do for Africa what the Marshall Plan did for Western Europe. Advancing and growing African countries’ collective and respective economies require an entrepreneurial approach. However, the various African governments should be alert and ensure the “institutional voids” sought to be filled are indeed filled with due regard to professional and high quality standards, to avoid the power problems that Botswana experience(d).