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2012

Overview

Which effects of development are most important to count, and what are the effects of trying to count them? How can you promote “ownership” of indicators by national governments without privileging the opinions of a small group of individuals? Can the indicators that count these effects capture the true “voices of the poor” or do they only record a faint echo? What might an MDG for justice and safety look like, and how would it affect the field of indicator development? 

These questions and other important challenges of indicator development were the focus of five panel discussions that shaped this year’s Conference on Indicators of Safety and Justice at Harvard University.  

Who Owns Indicators?

Are we witnessing a 'little revolution' in the field of international indicators today? Is there a greater interest now in a 'bottom-up approach' to indicators as a result of the 'new deal' for fragile states? At the very least one participant suggested that a more transparent definition of 'stakeholders' will emerge in future indicator projects, and national governments will be more likely to shape the 'menu' of options. Not everyone agreed. “There is no way you can create national ownership if there is no demand on the ground,” said one participant. "Besides", wondered another, "won’t greater influence over the choice of indicators by national governments simply move power 'from the back office of monitoring and evaluation to the corner office of management' instead of the streets?”  

• To read more about the debate about the “ownership” of indicators and what exactly a 'bottom-up' approach to measurement might mean, read the short paper Measuring the Bottom.

Surveys of the Population and Voices of the Poor

Surveys of the population may be a good way to capture the voices of the poor, suggested several participants, but they “are not a panacea.”  Some international surveys capture “foreign concerns” about safety and justice better than they do local problems, complained one person, recommending additional investment in domestic capacity to design and implement truly representative surveys of the population. Other surveys, another participant lamented, sometimes gauge “justice for the poor” more than they measure “justice of the poor,” treating respondents as recipients of government services instead of as agents of change. What, then, are the values of surveys as sources of indicators, and what effects do they have on notions of justice and the experiences of justice in developing countries? 

• To learn more about the debate, read the short paper Three Things Surveys Can Do for Development.

A New Millennium Development Goal?

The possibility than the 'high level panel' advising the UN Secretary General on the future of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) might propose an indicator for justice and safety caused some participants to register reservations about the idea and others to propose specific goals and targets. 

Would an MDG for justice privilege state or formal systems of justice at the expense of informal systems? Might a separate goal for justice and safety, paradoxically, diminish efforts to improve the fairness of the processes and results for other MDGs? Would an MDG strengthen or weaken the current field of indicator development? 

• To learn more about the specific proposals for an MDG and possible responses to these concerns, read the paper, Who Needs a Millennium Development Goal for justice and safety?

Seeing Society through Indicators

Indicators of justice must do more than describe the 'operational characteristics' of agencies administering criminal justice, said Bruce Western, Director of the Wiener Center on Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), in opening remarks to the Conference. 

"Indicators must help you 'see society,' whatever the methods of measurement being used. When equality before the law is a cherished value and yet police stations, courts and jails are populated mainly by the poorest members of society, indicators must serve as a 'window' into the lives of people most in need of and most burdened by justice. They must capture 'the quality of citizenship,' exposing the relationship between the poorest members of society and the state, and they must 'symbolize' our most important political commitments, especially if they are difficult to discern in the data on current conditions."

• Read the full text of Bruce Western's remarks.

Participants

Akingbolahan Adeniran Senior Special Advisor for Legal Matters to the Attorney General of Lagos State Ministry of Justice Nigeria Saiful Alam Deputy Inspector General Criminal Investigation Division Bangladesh Police   Anna Alvazzi del Frate Research Director Small Arms Survey   Bob Arnot National Programme Manager Justice for All Nigeria   Andrea Arteaga Specialist Department of Public Security Secretariat for Multidimensional Security Organization of American States   Oluwafunmilayo Atilade Head Judge/Deputy Chief Judge Lagos State Judiciary Nigeria Sulaiman Bah Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Office of the Attorney General & Minister of Justice Sierra Leone Zinzi Bailey Research Assistant Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School   Christina Biebesheimer Chief Counsel Justice Reform Practice Group World Bank   Juan Carlos Botero Rule of Law Index Director The World Justice Project   Megan Brewer Senior Policy Officer, Law & Justice Policy AusAID   Mila Cerecina Program Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School Diana Chigas Co-Director Reflecting on Peace Practice Project CDA Collaborative Learning Projects Luiz Coimbra Coordinator, OAS Hemispheric Security Observatory Secretariat for Multidimensional Security Organization of American States   Christine Cole Executive Director Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School   Simon Conte Director, Research and Assessments ABA Rule of Law Initiative   Olayinka Creighton-Randall Coordinator Justice Sector Coordination Office Sierra Leone   Deval Desai Research Associate School of Oriental and African Studies, London   Macha Farrant Security and Justice Adviser, CHASE DFID   Fernando Fernandez-Monge Justice Reform Practice Group Legal Vice Presidency World Bank   Todd Foglesong Senior Research Associate Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School   Mulugeta Gebrehiwot Director Institute for Peace and Security Studies Addis Ababa University Ethiopia   Emma Grant Governance Advisor DFID Ethiopia   Antonette Grant Programme Manager Governance and Security Team DFID Caribbean   Jerome Helfft Senior Associate Design Monitoring and Evaluation International Center for Transitional Justice

Norman Heywood Senior Superintendent of Police, Director, Research Planning and Legal Services Branch Jamaican Constabulary Force   Natalie Jaynes Researcher Small Arms Survey   Stéphane Jean Judicial Officer Criminal Law and Judicial Advisory Service Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions Department of Peacekeeping Operations United Nations   Johanna Kreilick Domain Manager - Justice and Human Rights Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations Harvard Kennedy School   David Marshall Visiting Fellow Harvard Human Rights Program Harvard Law School   Nicholas Menzies Justice Reform Specialist World Bank   Mary Miller-Flowers Program Officer Global Criminal Justice Fund Open Society Foundations   Christopher Nelson Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist J4P World Bank   Jim Parsons Research Director International Program Vera Institute of Justice   Faustina Pereira Director of Human Rights and Legal Aid Services Programme BRAC Bangladesh   Alejandro Ponce Senior Economist The World Justice Project   Bharathi Radhakrishnan Research Assistant Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School   Muhd. Rafiquzzaman Governance Advisor DFID Bangladesh   Andres Rengifo Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School   Julien Savoye Program Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School   Eric Scheye Consultant Justice and Security Sector Development   Selen Siringil Perker Fellow Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School   Christopher Stone President Open Society Foundations   Menberetsehai Tadesse Director General Justice and Legal Systems Research Institute Ethiopia   Monica Thornton Director, International Program Vera Institute of Justice   Lucia Trimbur Assistant Professor Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies John Jay College/ CUNY   Robert Varenik Director of Programs Open Society Justice Initiative   Brian Welch Program Administrator Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management Harvard Kennedy School   Bruce Western Professor of Sociology Director, Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy Harvard Kennedy School Peter Woodrow Co-Director Reflecting on Peace Practice Project CDA Collaborative Learning Projects   Alexander Zdravkovic International Development Consultant Public Administration & Governance Maxwell Stamp PLC

Agenda

• Download the agenda from this event

Featured Photos