- It will create public awareness of the work done by the said office.
- It targets mainly issues to do with justice for victim of domestic violence especially women and children.
- IJM will support social accountability.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and International Justice Mission (IJM) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at broadening their ongoing activities in a bid to increase Public Confidence in the office of the DPP.
The MoU is meant to to have a national impact through public awareness initiatives and sustainable knowledge transfer through institutionalization of training and Capacity building initiatives.
The MoU was signed by the DPP Jane Frances Abodo , while IJM was represented by the Country Director, Wamaitha Kimani.
Justice Abodo said the MOU will increase the public’s confidence in the Office of the DPP through IJM supporting social accountability mechanisms and community awareness outreaches in areas of high prevalence of Sexual Gender Based Violence .
This partnership will lead to improved service delivery and will build legitimacy and trust in the criminal justice system to deliver accountability and deterrence to perpetrators of violence against women and children.
Furthermore, it will provide support to the ODPP to initiate, develop, adopt, and implement best practices for effective and efficient response to cases of intimate partner violence against women and sexual violence against children.
According to Justice Abodo, the said partnership will also support the ODPP to develop and operationalize the Prosecutor Training Academy among other initiatives.
“Response to Sexual Gender Based Violence should be wholesome. There is an angle of sensitizing the public to prevent offending and re-offending which ought to be effected. IJM is coming in to break the cycle by ensuring that the public is sensitized on the ills of SGBV and violence against children,” said the DPP Jane Frances Abodo.
Wamaitha Kimani, said this was an opportunity to harness data, emerging trends and best practices in order to strengthen criminal justice response to violence against women and children.
“The prosecutor wields great power; with their pen they determine who is charged, the charges that are preferred, the experience of victims through the justice journey, and finally they submit to the court on the sentences to be meted. This makes them critical actors in the protection of the vulnerable in our communities" she noted.