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To deepen and widen our impact in the Mexican justice sector, in 2021 we began working with the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Programa para el Fortalecimiento de Instituciones de Justicia Penal Estatal (ConJustica), implemented by DAI, to deliver 100-Day Challenges and other systemic change activities with the aim of improving the effectiveness of state-level criminal justice institutions and reducing impunity in targeted Mexican states. 

The Challenge

In a country that has been facing catastrophic levels of violence since 2018, the Covid-19 pandemic exceracebated an already critical situation for the country's criminal justice system - and Mexican society. But, the pandemic also forced the entire criminal justice system to adapt and innovate in ways it never had before. Our work under the ConJusticia program aims to leverage these gains and provide hope through palpable, positive change and results for Mexican society. 
 

The Outcome

To date, we have implemented 23 100-Day Challenges with ConJusticia across the country. Teams have focused on increasing the number of criminal cases solved and charges pressed (judicialización), as well as decreasing the time it takes to respond to cases and improving the satisfaction of justice system users as their case is processed. All teams involved in these Challenges have achieved impressive results - including the replication of an existing innovation developed during a prior 100-Day Challenge with USAID's Promoting Justice Project. 

Response time
- 28 %
Reduction in the time it takes from when a crime report is filed (denuncia) to when the case is solved.
Cases solved
1143
Cases solved in 100 days in the state of Sonora through the 100-Day Challenge.
Charges pressed
+ 210 %
In Nayarit, the team working on three different types of robbery crimes achieved a 210% increase in the number of charges pressed (judicialización) for these cases.
The Project Detal

Our multi-year collaboration with DAI began in 2021 with two completely virtual 100-Day Challenges in Nayarit and Sonora. In 2022, we supported ten frontline teams in Mexico, including a Cohort Challenge involving four participating states.

Some examples of results:

  • In 2023 in Quintana Roo, the team addressing domestic violence achieved an astonishing 8,690% increase over baseline in the number of domestic violence cases solved. 
  • In 2022, Pachuca, Hidalgo the team achieved a 4,425% increase over baseline in the number of charges pressed for sex crimes cases. 
  • In Mixquiahuala, Hidalgo in 2022, afer just 100 days, a 622% increase over baseline was achieved in the number of charges pressed sex crimes and domestic violence cases.
  • In 2022, San Luis Potosí’s domestic violence team achieved a 495% increase over baseline in the number domestic violence cases solved. 

During the 2022 Interstate 100-Day Challenge (Cohort Model) with four Mexican states:

  • Coahuila's Attorney General's Office focused on cases of traffic-related damages, injuries, and unintentional homicide. The team achieved a 262% increase in case resolution compared to baseline. Over MX$11.5 million was recovered as restitution for victims. 
  • Chihuahua's Attorney General's Office addressed cases of non-compliance with alimony obligations, non-intentional damages, and injuries. The team achieved a 100% increase in case resolution compared to baseline. Over MX$8 million was recovered as restitution for victims.

RE!NSTITUTE has also supported ConJusticia on three other fronts: 

  1. Implementation of Task Forces, which are short-term technical interventions with the participation of specialized police investigators and prosecutors to target pressing criminal phenomena in a specific context and location. 
     
  2. Implementation of co-creation collaborative sessions with civil society, academia, and the private sector to gain buy-in and begin to develop state-level Criminal Prosecution Policies.
     
  3. Learning and sustainability. We carried out a Sustainability Study, which consisted of conducting 32 interviews with past 100-Day Challenge team members to identify which innovations, ways of working, and positive changes from prior 100-Day Challenges in the Mexican Criminal Justice System were sustained or not and why. We then analyzed the factors that facilitated and hindered the sustainability of these results. We also focused on understanding and exploring participants' opinions, feelings, and experiences related to the overall experience and the sustainability of the 100-Day Challenge.

We are proud to continue working with ConJusticia for the project's duration (2020-2025) towards wide-scale, systemic change in Mexico's state-level criminal justice systems.   
 

PARTNERS
Featured Projects
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  • Gender
  • Justice
Project, Mexico Promoting Justice Project (PROJUST)
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  • Gender
  • Justice
Project, Mexico Justice Access for Victims and the Accused (JAVA)
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  • Governance
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Project, Mexico Transparency Rapid Response Project (TRRP)
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