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The Vance Center

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Sustainable Development

Major group affiliation:
  • Business and industry
  • Women
  • Non-governmental organization
Involvement in UN Partnerships: Yes
If yes, explain in detail: The Vance Center is in contact with several UN-specialized agencies and rapporteurs to provide pro bono legal services to their projects and in support of their missions.
Affiliation with other organizations: We work in collaboration with regional access to justice and human rights alliances in Latin America and Africa.
Publications: For the Public Good: Engaging Private Bar Lawyers in Access to Justice, 2011. The Latin America Regional Pro Bono Report: 2010 PBDA Survey Results, 2011. Fashioning and Monitoring Compliance with Remedies in Structural Reform Litigation: Challenges in the Light of Experiences in the US, India, South Africa, and Argentina, 2010. A Partnership Between Africa and Latin America to Promote Access to Justice. A Report of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice of the New York City Bar, 2009. The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice Initiatives. Strategy Summit for the Americas: A Profession Supportive of Democracy, 2005.
Statements or documents submitted
Commission on Sustainable Development: 		http://www2.nycbar.org/vancecenter/images/stories/pdfs/FOR%20THE%20PUBLIC%20GOOD_%20Report%20on%20April%202011%20Access%20to%20Justice%20Conference.pdf http://www2.nycbar.org/vancecenter/images/stories/pdfs/PBDA%202010%20Survey%20Report.pdf http://www2.nycbar.org/vancecenter/images/stories/pdfs/Enforcing%20Human%20Rights%20in%20Regional%20Systems.pdf http://www2.nycbar.org/vancecenter/images/stories/pdfs/2005%20Strategy%20Summit%20for%20the%20Americas.pdf

Social Development

Affiliation with other organizations: The Vance Center works in partnership with national, regional and international NGOs working in the areas of access to justice and human rights in Latin America and Africa.
Publications: For the Public Good: Engaging Private Bar Lawyers in Access to Justice, 2011. The Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice Initiatives. Strategy Summit for the Americas: A Profession Supportive of Democracy, 2005.
Purpose of the organization: The Vance Center strengthens democratic transition by engaging lawyers across borders to advance rule of law and equal access to justice in countries undertaking legal and institutional reform following autocratic rule or civil conflict.
Activities relevant to the conference of States Parties to the convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: As people rebuild their societies in the aftermath of autocratic rule or civil conflict, they face many challenges. They first must compensate victims, prosecute offenders, and reform their laws and institutions of government. However, a revised constitution or newly independent judiciary will not secure democratic governance, without further action. The Vance Center considers civil society -- the formal and informal groups that people freely create to share views, pursue causes, express culture --to be a key player in democratic transition and lawyers to be key players in civil society. It is lawyers who use and develop the laws and the institutions of government, which define and secure civil rights and promote civil society. The Vance Center designs its programs in this spirit, to strengthen democratic transition. The rule of law is a crucial ingredient to vibrant civil society, enabling people to rely on the legal system and understand what their governments do. Equal access to justice demonstrates and advances fairness and promotes confidence in the law and legal institutions. Fundamental to the Vance Center’s programs are: ¿lawyer-to-lawyer collaboration across borders and between private, public and NGO sectors; ¿leveraging scarce resources with significant pro bono engagement; ¿strengthening the capacity and diversity of the legal profession and its activism in and on behalf of civil society.
Confirmation of the activities of the organization at the regional, national or international level: Fundamental to the Vance Center’s programs are: ¿lawyer-to-lawyer collaboration across borders and between private, public and NGO sectors; ¿leveraging scarce resources with significant pro bono engagement; ¿strengthening the capacity and diversity of the legal profession and its activism in and on behalf of civil society.
A list of members of the governing body of the organization, and their countries of nationality: The current U.S. members of the Vance Center committee are: Edwin S. Maynard, Chair | Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison S. Todd Crider, Vice Chair | Simpson Thacher & Bartlett Antonia E. Stolper, Vice Chair | Shearman & Sterling Law Firm Members Maurice Blanco | Davis Polk & Wardwell Evan A. Davis | Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Michael L. Fitzgerald and Taisa Markus | Paul Hastings Michael J. Gillespie | Debevoise & Plimpton Jeffrey B. Gracer | Sive, Paget & Riesel Jonathan Hamilton | White & Case Marcia Maack | Mayer Brown Lorraine McGowan | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe Cathleen McLaughlin | Allen & Overy Barbara Mendelson | Morrison & Foerster Inosi M. Nyatta | Sullivan & Cromwell Eric Ordway | Weil, Gotshal & Manges Marc M. Rossell | Chadbourne & Parke Paul T. Schnell | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Corporate Counsel Members Robert Cusumano | ACE Limited David McCraw | The New York Times Company Eruch P. Nowrojee | Credit Suisse David J. Sorkin | Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Public Service Members Carrie Cohen| Office of U.S. Attorney for Southern District of New York Hon. George B. Daniels| U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Elsie N. Vance Ex-Officio Hunter T. Carter | Arent Fox; Chair, Inter-American Affairs Committee Carey R. Dunne | Davis Polk & Wardwell; President, New York City Bar Association Christina T. Holder | Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft; Chair, African Affairs Committee Barbara Berger Opotowsky| Executive Director, New York City Bar Association An international advisory board is currently in development.
Description of the membership of the organization, indicating the total number of members: The Vance Center's governing members include law firms, corporate legal departments and public service attorneys. The Vance Center has a network of 5,000+ law firms comprising the Inter-American Pro Bono Network. It has 20+ law school partners in Latin America, and 100+ NGO partners in that region. In Africa, the Vance Center works with bar associations, law firms, law schools and NGOs, primarily in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Advancement of Women

Affiliation with other organizations: The Vance Center works with a network of 400+ women attorneys in Latin America. It partners with UN Women, the OAS Commission on Women and national and regional women's rights NGOs in Latin America. It's work focuses on the delivery of pro bono legal services to women, through its partner clearinghouses in 13 Latin American jurisdictions. It also engages lawyers in harmonizing national laws with international women's rights frameworks.
Publications: None.
Statements or documents submitted
to the Commission on the Status of Women: 		None.
Statements or documents submitted
to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women: 		None.

Forests

Major group affiliation: Non-governmental Orgnizations
Affiliation with other organizations: The Vance Center partners with international environmental sustainability NGOs to leverage law in service of the protection of natural resources, including forests.
Affiliation with UN bodies: None.
Publications: None.
Statements or documents submitted
to the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF): 		None.

Public Administration and Development Management

Involvement in Public Administration: The Vance Center holds periodic trainings for judges in Africa and Latin America on enforcement of human rights decisions by high courts and regional human rights tribunals.
Publications: Fashioning and Monitoring Compliance with Remedies in Structural Reform Litigation: Challenges in the Light of Experiences in the US, India, South Africa, and Argentina, 2010. A Partnership Between Africa and Latin America to Promote Access to Justice. A Report of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice of the New York City Bar, 2009.
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