Justice Futures CoLab

The world is facing a justice crisis. Despite incremental institutional reforms in some contexts, the global justice gap remains deep and persistent, with billions of people unable to resolve everyday legal problems or obtain remedies that meaningfully protect their rights.

The causes of injustice are complex, multi-faceted and deeply intertwined with governance, security, human rights and development challenges. Addressing this crisis requires innovative, holistic and people-centred responses.

The Justice Futures CoLab is a space for experimentation, learning and innovation in the justice field. It is anchored within UNDP's Global Programme on Rule of Law, Human Rights and Justice for Peace, Security and Development (Phase V, 2026-2029).

People-centred justice

Digital tool

Interactive guide to UNDP's people-centred approach to justice and security

The interactive Guide turns the people-centred approach into practical programming steps, tools and 70+ real-world examples to understand people’s justice and security needs, identify strategic entry points, design interventions, build monitoring and learning systems, and adapt as you go.

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Policy brief

The UNDP people-centred approach to justice and security

UNDP is advancing a people-centred approach to justice and security that places people’s rights, needs, perspectives and lived experiences at the heart of reform, response and recovery.

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Driving change together

The Justice Futures CoLab accelerates and incubates new ways of advancing the Global Programme’s strategy for transformative change. It aims to ensure lessons and evidence from practice inform and influence policymaking. It champions justice as a core component of preventing, responding and recovering from conflict, crisis and fragility.

The Justice Futures CoLab responds to both long-standing justice challenges, such as barriers to access to civil and criminal justice, impunity and discriminatory legal frameworks; and emerging challenges, such as those linked to rapidly developing technologies.

This page features up-to-date thinking and approaches generated from the Justice Futures CoLab across a range of thematic areas in support of collective efforts to promote the rule of law, human rights, business and human rights, justice, security, peacebuilding and local action globally.

Read the CoLab Explainer here

UNDP_Justice Futures CoLab Explainer 2 ROLHR

Justice: areas in focus

Mani Centre, Hadjer Lamis, Tchad, 1er février 2019. ..Les populations du Hadjer Lamis et de la région du lac au Tchad ont été considérablement impactées par la montée de l’extrémisme violent et la secte Boko Haram. Insécurité, pauvreté chronique et afflux de déplacés exposent les communautés à des crises humanitaires récurrentes, exacerbant leur vulnérabilité et affectant leur capacité de résilience. ..Financé par la République Fédérale d'Allemagne, le programme intégré de stabilisation du Lac Tchad mis en

Constitutional assistance

Constitutions create the institutions, rules and mechanisms that are foundational components for people-centred justice, the realization of human rights, and the rule of law.

e-justice featured Justice Futures CoLab ROLHR

Digitalization and e-justice

Digitalization and e-justice initiatives can increase the accessibility, quality, transparency and efficiency of justice services, institutions, and systems.

Environmental justice

Addressing environmental injustice requires a human-rights based, multi-disciplinary approach that addresses immediate environmental justice needs and tackles the structural inequalities that cause and perpetuate environmental injustice.

ROLHR Gender justice - Rule of Law and Human Rights

UNDP – UN Women Gender Justice Platform

The Gender Justice Platform helps women and girls access justice while also addressing the laws, institutions and practices that shape how justice is delivered. With support from the Netherlands, Germany and the UK, the Platform works with justice institutions, women’s networks, advocacy groups and UN partners to remove barriers to justice, strengthen institutions so they better protect and respond to women and girls, and equip women to know, claim and shape their rights, especially in contexts affected by conflict, crisis and fragility.

Transitional justice

A people-centered, holistic and development-oriented approach enables transitional justice processes to not only address the past and its consequences on the present, but to also support broader efforts towards more inclusive and accountable institutions, greater protection of human rights and the rule of law, and increased access to justice and dignity for all people.

Access to Justice in Situations of Forced Displacement

UNDP and UNHCR partner to advance the rights of refugees, returnees, IDPs and stateless persons. Through joint humanitarian and development approaches, we respond to the most pressing justice and security needs of these vulnerable populations while supporting the capacities of national actors to better respond to forced displacement situations in a people-centred, inclusive and sustainable manner.

Focal point

Revai Makanje Aalbaek
UNDP Global Lead – Rule of Law, Justice, Security
revai.makanje.aalbaek@undp.org