Participants in the first training session, for judges and magistrates, in Nigeria’s Kaduna State, April 16, 2026. Photo credit: CYPLP From April to July, Vance Center attorneys participated in a series of training sessions organized by Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP), a youth-led organization in Nigeria. The trainings were the final phase of a recent project for CYPLP, for which the Vance Center’s Africa Initiatives team worked with Nigerian law firm Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie (UUBO) to produce a training manual for pro bono lawyers, prosecutors, registrars, and magistrates to better understand and respond to cases involving... read more
Post tagged in "Human Rights and Access to Justice"
Vance Center Supports Client-Led Training on TFGBV for Legal Professionals in Nigeria
Posted on July 23, 2026
Our Week+ of CSW70 Events: Access to Justice for All Women and Girls
Posted on March 18, 2026From March 9-19, the United Nations held its 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), convening international representatives to evaluate progress towards gender equality. The theme of CSW70, “Ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls,” provided an ideal platform for the Vance Center’s Human Rights & Access to Justice Program to spotlight its ongoing work to uphold access to justice for women around the world. We collaborated with clients, partner organizations, and members of the Women in Prison Network to co-host eight events alongside CSW – almost certainly a new Vance Center record for events in one... read more
Bangkok +15 to a New Horizon: Vance Center’s Women in Prison Network Organizes Global Convening in Bogotá
Posted on November 18, 2025Attendees gather on the opening night of the Women in Prison Network’s Global Convening, in Bogotá, Colombia, Nov. 3, 2025. Photo credit: Vance Center From November 3-5, the Vance Center’s Human Rights and Access to Justice Program held the second global convening of the Women in Prison Network. The event, “From Bangkok +15 to a New Horizon,” marked the 15th anniversary of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, more commonly known as the Bangkok Rules. The three-day event brought together more than 80 participants from across the Americas, Europe, Africa,... read more
Vance Center Welcomes New Human Rights & Access to Justice Staff Attorney
Posted on November 13, 2025Yasmine Palmer joined the Vance Center in November 2025 as Staff Attorney, Africa Initiatives, Human Rights and Access to Justice Program. She works on programmatic activities and projects across all four of the Vance Center’s practice areas, with a focus on rule of law and human rights issues in Africa. Prior to joining the Vance Center, Yasmine worked as a freelance international legal consultant for Dr. Olufemi Elias, Judge ad hoc at the International Court of Justice. She provided research and editorial support on the treatment of the immunity of international organizations by African national courts and contributed to... read more
Vance Center, New York City Bar Association File Amicus Brief to UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on Behalf of Guatemalan Indigenous Authorities
Posted on August 3, 2026New York, August 3, 2026 – The New York City Bar Association and its nonprofit program the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice today filed an amicus brief to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in representation of Luis Haroldo Pacheco Gutiérrez and Héctor Samuel Chaclán Batz, Indigenous authorities and former officials who have spent more than 15 months arbitrarily detained in Guatemala. The brief argues that their detention is arbitrary under four of the Working Group’s five categories. It asks the Working Group to declare Pacheco and Chaclán’s detention as arbitrary and call upon the Guatemalan state... read more
El Vance Center y el Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Nueva York presentan un amicus curiae ante el Grupo de Trabajo sobre la Detención Arbitraria de la ONU en apoyo de la denuncia de detención arbitraria de dos autoridades indígenas guatemaltecas
Posted on August 3, 2026Nueva York, 3 de agosto de 2026 – El Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Nueva York y el Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, un programa sin fines de lucro del mismo Colegio de Abogados, hoy presentaron un escrito de amicus curiae ante el Grupo de Trabajo sobre la Detención Arbitraria de las Naciones Unidas sobre la denuncia de la detención arbitraria de Luis Haroldo Pacheco Gutiérrez y Héctor Samuel Chaclán Batz, autoridades indígenas y antiguos funcionarios públicos que llevan más de 15 meses detenidos arbitrariamente en Guatemala. El escrito sostiene que su detención es arbitraria según... read more