Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2017-2022 - Department of Justice - Progress report for fiscal year 2017-2018

Completed Activities:

• The Department of Justice's Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Section participated in the work of the International Association of Prosecutors' Prosecution of Conflict-related Sexual Violence Network by providing a recognized expert in the field of prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence to participate in the Network’s Advisory Council. The network provides a forum for sharing experience and expertise on prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence crimes. It aims to improve accountability through a number of undertakings, including facilitating peer-to-peer problem-solving, the development of progressive approaches to sexual violence prosecutions, and providing assistance in training prosecutors for conflict-related sexual violence cases. This expert attended three meetings during the reporting period in which the Council set the network’s agenda for the next quarter; provided feedback on network activities; and provided the Network’s members with strategic advice and support in on-going and future projects related to conflict-related sexual violence.

Results and Progress:

Strategic Advice

The Department of Justice was not called upon to provide strategic advice in the context of fragile or conflict-affected states during the reporting period.  As such, no progress was made toward the following indicator: Extent to which the potential impact of the contemplated measures on the whole justice system and on vulnerable groups has been taken into account.

Project Design

The Department of Justice conducted an initial scoping mission in Honduras.  Within this context, the project design indicators were addressed as follows:

• Number of criteria used to review gender considerations in the evaluation of assistance needs: The following criteria were applied to review gender considerations: barriers to access to formal justice; barriers to access to informal justice; unequal effects of law; and unequal effects of practice.
• Extent to which all genders have been provided an opportunity to take part in consultations: Participation of all genders was assured through the inclusion of women-specific groups in the consultations.
• Number and relevance of sources of information consulted on the situation of women and girls in the target country: 48 reports on the situation of women and girls in Honduras were These reports were written by academics, international organizations, local non-governmental organizations, Honduran government bodies, the Canadian government, and foreign governments. These reports described women’s security and access to justice in Honduras.
• List of potential obstacles to women's access to justice developed: The report includes a review of obstacles to women’s access to justice identified during the assessment mission. In addition, inter-sectional factors were addressed when identifying the needs of women.

Project Delivery

In light of the fact that the Department of Justice only provides technical assistance to foreign countries at the request and with the financial support of Global Affairs Canada, the extent of its involvement in the implementation of Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security will be determined by the number and scope of the projects that Global Affairs Canada funds. The Department of Justice did not provide technical assistance to any fragile or conflict-affected states during the reporting period.  As such, no progress was made toward the following indicators:

• List of matters that may potentially have a differential impact developed.
• Information on project activities disaggregated by sex

Gender-related project achievements are reported in the narrative reports submitted to Global Affairs Canada.