The TIJ-UNODC project “Renewing our promise: Fostering progress and investments to advance the application of the Bangkok Rules” was conceived by the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) and United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) based on inputs gained during consultations at TIJ’s side event “Expanding the Promise of the Bangkok Rules: Towards Gender Responsive and Inclusive Justice for All” during the 32nd Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) in Vienna. The side event charted the development of the Bangkok Rules and their implementation from the conception and foundation of the Bangkok Rules, their implementation in the modern day, and the future prospects and needs to address to evolve efforts to implement the Bangkok Rules in future. A key takeaway from this event was the need for a comprehensive global strategy that represented the perspectives of different regions and reflected the challenges and promising practices gained in implementing the Bangkok Rules in the intervening 13 years since their adoption. Another finding was that an appropriate mechanism for global funding would greatly enhance efforts to advance the implementation of the Bangkok Rules internationally, thereby placing such efforts on a sustainable foundation for the future.
Following on from this, TIJ and UNODC collaborated and consulted to establish the project “Renewing our promise: Fostering progress and investments to advance the application of the Bangkok Rules” in order to create a global strategy for advancing the implementation of the Bangkok Rules. The project aims to develop such a strategy through a series of regional consultative meetings, with the five regions categorised being; Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. Each Regional Consultative Meeting brings together participants from various stakeholders within the region ranging from government agencies, academia, civil society organisations, and international organisations. Through the sharing of experiences, best practices, and expertise on the challenges found, best practices implemented, and guiding principles for such a strategy. Through such conferences, the project seeks to create a representative series of recommendations within five regional reports upon which a consolidated global strategy will be built. The regional reports will serve as guidance documents for stakeholders and actors within the region, reference materials to inform policy-making at the national, regional, and international levels, and also as a foundation upon which a comprehensive, sustainable and appropriate funding mechanism can be created to support initiatives to advance the implementation of the Bangkok Rules. Each of the resultant Regional Reports will be made available on this site as they are prepared and finalised following on from the conclusion of each Regional Consultative Meeting, with the Asia-Pacific Regional Consultative Meeting having been concluded in March 2024 and the Middle East and North African and Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Consultative Meetings to follow into 2025 along with the remaining Reports as they become available.
