On the 22nd of July 2021, the Roundtable on Education 4 Justice (E4J) took place as part of the Women’s Empowerment Programme Latin America.  The aim of this Roundtable was to foster a thorough understanding of E4J and motivate the young women to become active agents for E4J. The E4J initiative – under the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration – seeks to prevent crime and promote a culture of lawfulness through education activities designed for primary, secondary and tertiary levels. 

Speakers Incentive Talks

The Roundtable was moderated by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime E4J Coordinator Lulua Asaad. 

The first speaker, Ambassador Miguel Ruiz Cabañas, Mexican Foreign Service, Coordinator of SDG Initiative at the Monterrey Institute of Technology  and Higher Education (ITESM), informed the Global Citizen Fellows about the high number of forced marriages of women under the age of 18 years, which leads to a severe lack of education. His message to our GC Fellows was: “We have to change cultural patterns”. 

Mr. Serge Brammertz, Chief Prosecutor, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, used his talk to highlight that justice is not only about the court, but about our understanding of justice in the private sphere. 

Hon. Vanessa Ruiz, Senior Judge for the Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, United States of America and the former President of the  International Association of Women Judges, followed with her statement that the citizenry must realize what the rule of law is and why it matters. Furthermore, Hon. Ruiz emphasized, that young-aged girls must be educated about their fundamental rights and freedoms.

The last speaker of the Roundtable was Ms. Luciana Asper y Valdez (Public Prosecutor, Brazil; E4J Champion and UNODC/UNESCO Policy Guides Contributor). In her incentive talk, she highlighted that the GC Fellows should maintain the focus on their core values and become an ambassador for them. 

As the next step of our Women Empowerment Programme Latin America, we look forward to our GC Fellows to turn ideas into action and tackle the Global Goals in their communities and address Education 4 Justice (E4J) challenges.