The author, Mélanie Guérard, is currently deployed in Ivory Coast as a Management Advisor, within the framework of the project « Protection of Children, Women and Other Vulnerable Communities (PRODEF) », implemented by the International Bureau for Children’s Rights and Lawyers Without Borders Canada, with financial support from the Governement of Canada through Global Affairs Canada. Her mandate is to support the Association of Women Lawyers of Ivory Coast (Association des Femmes Juristes de Côte d’Ivoire, AFJCI).

As part of her mandate as a Management Advisor, Mélanie Guérard has led a workshop to develop management tools at the Association’s headquarter in Abidjan, on December 18 and 19, 2017.

After 31 years of existence, the AFJCI wanted to initiate a series of reforms of its administrative, financial, accounting and logistical management instruments to ensure their leadership for the access, the defense and the promotion of justice in Ivory Coast. Mélanie Guérard has presented several governance tools such as non-discrimination, gender equality and anti-corruption policies. She has also presented administrative documentes such as the salary grid, the indemnity grid and the manual referring to the Code of Conduct and Procedures.

During these two days, different representatives of the AFJCI (project managers, legal clinic directors, legal advisors and members) gathered to exchange recommendations and concerns so that the documents would respond to the realities on the field. In addition, the participants have updated their manual of procedures in accordance with the needs of the association.