7 May 2013 - Guinea-Bissau's Prime Minister Rui Barros inaugurated today, a new Access-to-Justice Center in the eastern town of Bafatá in the company of the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Guinea-Bissau, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Gana Fofang, and Minister of Justice Mamadou Saido Baldé. The ceremony was also attended by local authorities, representatives of national and international organizations and other members of the UN System and the Government.

Addressing the gathering, Rui Duarte Barros praised the multi-facetted collaboration between the Government and the United Nations, particularly UNDP, whose efforts led to the creation of the access-to-justice center. Similarly, the Minister of Justice highlighted the importance of cooperation with the UN system in the country, especially UNDP and the UN Integrated Peace-building Support Office, UNIOGBIS.

The new centre is the fifth of its kind in the country, after two in Bissau, and one each in Mansoa and Canchungo, in the northern regions of Oio and Cacheu. The aim of the centres, supported technically and financially by UNDP's Rule of Law Project, is to give information to the public about their rights and the justice system and provide counseling, legal advice and assistance and free legal aid to the most disadvantaged and least protected. The Bafata centre will provide such services not only for Bafata Region, which has nearly 200,000 inhabitants, but also for neighbouring Gabu Region, where such a centre does not yet exist.

DSRSG Gana Fofang noted at the ceremony that "the constitution of the Republic of Guinea Bissau guarantees universal access for all citizens to justice services regardless of gender, economic and financial means and educational levels [...] UNDP has focused its efforts on supporting the Government of Guinea Bissau to achieve this constitutional requirement".

UNDP provides support in areas ranging from research on access to justice and customary law to the drafting of legislation and the regulation of access to law and justice, he stated, recalling that the UN programme also supported the creation of an Office of Information and Legal Advice Center for Access to Justice.

"The ceremony we are witnessing today," the Deputy Special Representative said, "represents the pursuit of the commitment of UNDP and the United Nations to achieving the goals of access to justice."

On the sidelines of the ceremony, UNIOGBIS' Security Sector Reform/Rule of Law (SSR-RoL) Section handed over copies of the Second Edition of a Compendium of Basic Criminal Law and Complementary Legislation to the Transitional Prime Minister and the head of the national Legal Consultation and Information Office.

The compendium, produced by UNIOGBIS, was compiled by a committee of national experts. It provides justice officials, including those who will assist people using the Bafata centre's services, with easy access to the country's penal laws, Nasser Zakr of UNIOGBIS' SSR/RoL Section explained.