Street Law Around the World: Haiti and Ukraine

Street Law’s international program portfolio continues to grow as we collaborate with law schools, civil society organizations, and governments around the world to teach about the law and promote justice. Most recently, we have been working on compelling projects in Haiti and Ukraine.

This month, with support from the International Bar Association (IBA), Street Law is helping a university in Haiti implement a public legal education program. UNIFA (University of the Aristide Foundation) was founded by former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and is dedicated to combating social injustice in the country. Through the IBA program, UNIFA hired a law professor to run a public legal education outreach program in which law students teach practical legal topics to high school students. Recently, Street Law organized a two-day intensive training in Washington, DC, for a Haitian professor in order to build teaching capacity and provide a number of practical resources and tools for use with law students. Street Law will continue to support the professor and the university as the program continues and hopefully expands.

In Ukraine, Street Law is working with Pact International, a coalition of five local NGOs, and the Ministry of Education and Science (MOES) to develop a new civics curriculum for Ukrainian students. The capstone project is a newly-required 10th grade civics course that will eventually be rolled out nationwide. The project will also introduce civics topics and competencies into classrooms for students of all ages. Executive Director Lee Arbetman, Global Program Manager Ben Perdue, and Street Law Board Member and Tufts University Professor Peter Levine traveled to Kiev last October to lead workshops on effectively using student-centered and participatory teaching methodologies in civic education. They will make two more trips in the next six months to train teacher trainers, create and implement program assessments, and present findings and results to all stakeholders.

Questions about Street Law’s global programs? Contact Ben Perdue.