The POS Foundation, facilitators of the Justice For All Programme, has gained international recognition at the just-ended World Justice Forum held in the Hague, Netherlands.
The Foundation from Ghana beat four other competitors to receive the World Justice Challenge Alumni Award.
In a release issued to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday, in Accra, it said “the award recognized the “Justice For All” project which addressed prison overcrowding and decongestion in Ghana and was based on votes from previous World Justice Challenge winners and finalists.”
It said the Foundation battled it out with other organisations within the Access to Justice category for the award.
On the final day of the forum, the presentations by the various finalists were assessed.
“In awarding the five winners out of the 30 finalists, and according to the World Justice Challenge criteria, requirements and votes, the five winners were selected from India, Nigeria, Ghana, Cambodia and the United States of America. The POS Foundation was declared winner of the World Justice Challenge Alumni Award among the top 5 overall winners.”
Mr. Jonathan Osei Owusu, receiving the award, highlighted the impact the “Justice For All Programme”( JFAP) project has made despite the numerous challenges, and dedicated the award to all prisoners in Ghana.
“World Justice has put a spotlight on us and so we dedicate this award to all prisoners back home, the JFAP steering committee and to my team, for the little work we have been able to do. What baffles us is reducing the remand population – pre-trial prison population from 33 percent to currently 9.5 percent in Ghana and thats what we are happy for,” he said.
Mr Osei Owusu thanked the Chief Justice of Ghana, His Lordship Justice Kwasi Enin-Yeboah, for the privilege given to the organisation to serve as facilitator for the Programme and commended the efforts of the JFAP Steering Committee made up of the Judicial Service, the Ghana Prisons and Police Service, the Attorney-General’s Office, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Ghana Legal Aid Commission and Civil Society.
Cambodia Bridges to Justice organization received the World Justice Challenge Access to Justice Award, Red Dot Foundation from India received the World Justice Challenge’s Equal Rights Award, while Asylum Connect, now identified as (@weareinreach) from the United States received the World Justice Challenge Data for Justice Prize, and World Justice Challenge Anti- Corruption Award went to Transparence ITng, of Nigeria.
The World Justice Challenge is a global competition which brings together selected organizations all over the world to share, recognize and honour their hardwork and life impacting interventions in the human rights, equality and non discrimination, anti-corruption and open governance, and access to justice space.
This is to promote good practice in high-impact projects and policies that protect and advance the rule of law.
The winning project criteria for this year addressed structural inequalities, and governance, weakness in access to justice, anti-corruption and open government, equal rights and non-discrimination.
After about 305 applicants were received from 118 countries all over the world, 30 finalists were selected from which 5 winners were awarded.
The organizations demonstrated an impact-based expansion in their various fields and while showing strong prospects for replication and expansion of their projects in other regions/countries.
