10 October 2010 - A six-month legal and judicial awareness programme has been launched in Khost province to advance the rule of law over traditional tribal conflict resolution systems by making people familiar with the existing government system and prevailing rules and regulations.

The “People Awareness of Legal and Judicial Programme” is a joint project of the non-government organization Mediothec Community Centre Afghanistan (MCCA) and Khost University.

Launched last week, the programme will be implemented throughout Khost province by a six-man council whose members “will be visiting schools and educational institutions to get the students to know the prevailing laws and their positive implications on society,” said Mr Najibullah Alokehl, head of MCCA which initiated the project.

“According to this programme, a council of six professional legal experts (four teachers and two distinguished students from the Department of Law and Political Science of Khost University) will be continuously working to raise awareness on the rule of law,” Mr Alokehl added.

The MCCA head said “the six-member council will assist and consult elders of the society, mediating the dispute between the conflicting parties in case resolution, in terms of the government-enacted laws.”

Muhammadullah Mandozai, director of Khost University’s Law and Political Science Department, said the programme seeks “to find permanent solutions for the disputes and avoid contradiction between the decisions of elders of the society and of the prevailing laws – we want to enlighten people mind in this regard.”

The launching of the programme was attended by tribal elders, university teachers and students, MCCA members, and representatives from civil society organizations and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

By Dilawar Khan Dilawar, UNAMA