pilnet international fellows program

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Yu-Shiou Chou (Clarence)Institutional Reform

MOSCOW, RUSSIA 2014-2015

International Fellowship Program2013 - 2015


PILnet connects and equips lawyers to protect human rights, advance social justice and defend the most vulnerable

PILnet’s International Fellowship Program is designed to educate public interest advocates and equip them with tools necessary to make a profound impact on their local communities. Our Fellows program has transformed the lives and careers of more than 100 leading public interest lawyers from 36 countries. Our Fellows work in areas such as advancing human rights, good governance, and environmental protection.

Justice needs advocates


Study at Columbia Law School

While studying at Columbia Law School, Fellows increase their knowledge of public interest law by taking courses on human rights and issues relevant to their projects. During their study at Columbia, Fellows partner with Columbia students to develop their human rights/legal reform projects that relate to their public interest law work at home.

Skill Based Workshops

A series of skills-based workshops are held for Fellows to build their core strengths in advocacy, fundraising and project management. These workshops strengthen Fellows’ ability to design an pitch their projects to prospective donors and, in turn, implement them upon returning to their home countries.

Study Visits

While in New York, fellows participate in an NGO study tour – a weekly series of trips to non-profit advocacy and assistant organizations. Fellows also undertake a week-long study visit to Washington D.C., where they attend meeting with representatives from local NGOs, government agencies, and funding organizations.

Fellows also participate in a two-week visit to London and other European cities to gain an international perspective on public interest law and advocacy in Europe.

Practical Training

During the spring semester, Fellows gain hands-on experience through practical training opportunities with US-based public interest law organizations. These include, but are not limited to, internships, shadowing local experts, or participating in conferences or public speaking events. These networking opportunities help the Fellows develop relationships with potential donors and partners that will continue after the Fellowship Program ends.

Mentorship/Networking

After the program ends, fellows continue to benefit from it by building collaborative relationships with other fellowship alumni and through PILnet’s global network of private sector activist lawyers who provide pro bono support. Additionally, Fellows often partner with PILnet on various projects, lending their expertise and experience to PILnet’s convening, trainings and publications in several national contexts.

Our International Fellowship Program brings together eight to ten participants, from all over the world, in an eight-month long program that provides academic and practical trainings for their incubating social justice projects.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

2014-2015 PILNET FELLOWS

01 Yu-Shiou Chou (Clarence) (Taipei, Taiwan)

02 Eleonora Davidyan (Moscow, Russia)

03 Anietie Ewang (Lagos, Nigeria)

04 Yu Fangqiang (François) (Nanjing, China)

05 Sima Jallad (Ramallah, Palestine)

06 Zhao Jingwei (Beijing, China)

07 Bunthea Keo (Phnom Penh, Cambodia)

08 Shankar Limbu (Kathmandu, Nepal)

09 Adel Ramadan (Cairo, Egypt)

10 Lap Tien Nguyen (Hanoi, Vietnam)

11 Liu Wei (Henan, China)

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Yu-Shiou Chou (Clarence)Institutional Reform

TAIPEI, TAIWAN 2014-2015

Yu-Shiou is an attorney with an MA in Law from National Chengchi University. He is the Executive Commissioner of the Judicial Reform Foundation (JRF), which seeks to advance legal reform in Taiwan. In this role he participates in the foundation’s programmatic and litigation efforts.

Local governments in Taiwan often used administrative processes to disadvantage individual victims of rights violations. As a PILnet Fellow, Yu-Shiou will develop a project that aims to enact reforms to administrative remedies that will limit the government’s ability to prevent victims of rights violations from seeking remedies. One example of such reform would be to enact an ordinance that would ensure affected communities are involved in the decision-making and trial processes before local governments seize their land for urban renewal projects.

As a PILnet Fellow, Yu-Shiou will develop a project that aims to enact reforms to administrative remedies that will limit the government’s ability to prevent victims of rights violations from seeking remedies.

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Eleonora DavidyanClinical Legal Education


Eleonora is the head of the Memorial Human Rights Center project, “Legal Clinic for Applicants to the European Court of Human Rights”. In this role, she develops and leads seminars for lawyers and law students on the practice and procedures of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), teaches interns how to take cases to the ECtHR and develops strategies for broadening the scope of the project’s work.

As a PILnet Fellow, Eleonora will work to transform the Legal Clinic for Applicants to the ECtHR into a more independent and mobile organization. This clinic will be separate from, but continue close collaboration with, HRC Memorial. The clinic will grow its network of lawyers and organizations and will train lawyers to effectively apply to international mechanisms of human rights protection.

As a PILnet Fellow, Eleonora will work to transform the Legal Clinic for Applicants to the ECtHR into a more independent and mobile organization.

3

Anietie EwangHousing Rights

LAGOS, NIGERIA 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Anietie will develop a project to create a legal framework that will regulate the practice of forced evictions in Lagos.

Anietie is a Staff Attorney with the Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC), a Lagos-based organization focused on the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights in Nigeria. In her role with SERAC, Anietie conducts legal research, documents human rights violations and litigates cases on behalf of victims of human rights violations.

As a PILnet Fellow, Anietie will develop a project to create a legal framework that will regulate the practice of forced evictions in Lagos. Specifically, she aims to draft and advocate for the adoption of rights-based principles and guidelines on forced eviction. These principles and guidelines will be modeled on the United Nations Comprehensive Human Rights Guideline on Development-based Displacements.

4

Yu Fangqiang (François)Information Transparency

NANJING, CHINA 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Fangqiang will develop a project to promote transparency in Chinese food safety.

Yu Fangqiang is the Founder and Executive Director of Justice for All (FJA), a policy advocacy NGO in China. Fangqiang has played a major role in advocating for government transparency and fighting discrimination in China. His primary focus is on food safety standards and discrimination against people living with disabilities or HIV/AIDS. Before founding JFA, Fangqiang effectively advocated for reform of discriminatory policies surrounding Hepatitis B, benefitting at least 100 million people and 30 million families in China.

As a PILnet Fellow, Fangqiang will develop a project to promote transparency in Chinese food safety. His project will raise awareness among the public and lead affected populations to promote food safety by pressuring the government to release information on the food industry through the Regulation on the Disclosure of Government Information Act.

5

Sima JalladWomen’s Rights

RAMALLAH, PALESTINE 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Sima will develop a project to strengthen Palestinian women’s participation in political life.

Sima is a legal advisor with Al Mustakbal Foundation for Strategic and Policy Studies, an institution that addresses economic, legal and regulatory issues in Palestine. She provides pro bono services to individuals and charities as well as legal consultations to individuals and international organizations.

As a PILnet Fellow, Sima will develop a project to strengthen Palestinian women’s participation in political life. Her project seeks to combat limited participation of women in the political process, violence against women and traditional norms that subjugate and marginalize women. Sima’s project will involve awareness raising among women, men and youth, capacity development of women and working with lawyers and journalists to develop public interest strategies that advance women’s involvement in the public sphere.

6

Zhao JingweiEnvironmental Protection

BEIJING, CHINA 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Jingwei will develop a project to protect environmental advocates, specifically in central and rural regions of China, who have come under pressure from local governments.

Zhao Jingwei is the Director of the Environment, Energy and Nature Resources Department at the Beijing Yingke Law Firm, a commercial law firm well-known for its engagement in pro bono services. Jingwei is very passionate about environmental advocacy and has successfully litigated several pro bono environmental cases.

As a PILnet Fellow, Jingwei will develop a project to protect environmental advocates, specifically in central and rural regions of China, who have come under pressure from local governments. Specifically, Jingwei’s project will assemble volunteer lawyers to provide legal services such as advocacy and consultation, attract media attention to the issue and advocate for reform in the government’s response to environmental activism.

7

Bunthea KeoLand Rights

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Bunthea will develop a project on the issue of land rights in Cambodia.

Bunthea is the Human Rights Advisor to the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force (CHRTF), where he works on monitoring and fact-finding efforts, and has played a key role in designing many monitoring initiatives. He has also worked with a number of other Cambodian human rights organizations, including the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee (CHRAC), the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights and international organizations such as the International Labor Organizations and Intervida World Alliance. Bunthea’s work has also taken him outside Cambodia, working for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal and also the UN/African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

As a PILnet Fellow, Bunthea will develop a project on the issue of land rights in Cambodia. Specifically, he will focus on international and national legal frameworks on compensation for victims of land grabbing and work to raise awareness of land rights issues among young lawyers and activists.

8

Shankar LimbuRights of Indigenous People

KATHMANDU, NEPAL 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Shankar will develop a project to promote the rights of indigenous peoples in the ongoing constitution making and law reform process in Nepal.

Shankar is a human rights attorney with the Lawyers’ Association for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Peoples (LAHURNIP) and a leader in his field. In his role with LAHURNIP, Shankar provides free legal aid services and works to promote, protect and defend the human rights of indigenous peoples in Nepal.

As a PILnet Fellow, Shankar will develop a project to promote the rights of indigenous peoples in the ongoing constitution making and law reform process in Nepal. The project aims to guarantee effective and meaningful participation by indigenous peoples in the constitution making process and to ensure their voices are heard. The project will include preparing research and advocacy materials on the rights of indigenous peoples, identifying problems or gaps in draft constitutions and building relationship with US-based development organizations working on government building and constitution making in Nepal.

9

Adel RamadanPublic Interest Law

CAIRO, EGYPT 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Adel will develop a project that aims to strengthen and protect the role of lawyers in promoting and protecting human rights in Egypt.

Adel is a Senior Legal Officer with the Civil Liberties Unit of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an organization that uses research, advocacy and litigation to address rights violations in Egypt. In this role, Adel is involved in developing the strategic and action plans of the Unit, exploring areas for strategic litigation, conducting legal research and providing legal assistance to victims of violations.

As a PILnet Fellow, Adel will develop a project that aims to strengthen and protect the role of lawyers in promoting and protecting human rights in Egypt. Specifically, his project involves advocating for a law to protect the rights of the accused to fair trial and due process, and to enforce international and domestic judicial principles and standards in Egypt’s domestic courts.

10

Lap Tien NguyenEnvironmental Protection

HANOI, VIETNAM 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Lap’s proposed rule of law project is the establishment of a Center for the Promotion and Protection of Environmental Rights.

Lap is a business law lecturer and Senior Executive Partner at NH Quang & Associates, a commercial law firm in Hanoi with a strong dedication to the public interest. In this role he has worked on many activities and projects to promote human rights and the rule of law in Vietnam, including but not limited to, drafting policies and regulations on environmental protection.

As a PILnet Fellow, Lap’s proposed rule of law project is the establishment of a Center for the Promotion and Protection of Environmental Rights. The Center will work on the grassroots level, combining local NGOs’ efforts to advocate for the improvement of existing laws governing environmental protection with pro bono legal services to disadvantaged people who are negatively impacted by industrialization.

11

Liu WeiWomen’s Rights

HENAN, CHINA 2014-2015

As a PILnet Fellow, Wei’s will work to continue developing Collaborative Network for women lawyers in China.

Liu Wei is a lawyer at the Henan Boyang Law Firm and chief coordinator at the Public Interest Collaborative Network for Women Lawyers in China. Wei is one of the founders of the Collaborative Network.

As a PILnet Fellow, Wei’s will work to continue developing Collaborative Network for women lawyers in China. Ultimately, their objective is to affect change on the issues of family planning, protection of young women and girls, employment discrimination, domestic violence and the rights of female lawyers.

BECOME A PILNET FELLOW

PILnet International Fellowship seeks future leaders in various fields of

public interest advocacy. PILnet Fellows return to their home countries

after the Fellowship with the aim of implementing the human rights and

rule of law project they developed during the Fellowship.

For more information: www.pilnet.org

SUPPORT PILNET’S INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

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pilnet international fellows program

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