The Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (BLP) is a global network of institutions dedicated to the identification and exchange of successful solutions for sustainable development. The Best Practices Database contains over 2150 proven solutions to the common social, economic, and environmental problems of an urbanizing world, drawn from more than 140 countries. These solutions demonstrate the practical ways in which public, private, and civil society sectors are working together to achieve such goals as improving governance, eradicating poverty, and providing access to shelter, land, and basic services. The site provides extensive documentation on using the database’s advanced search feature, including a listing of subject categories used. In addition to being freely available on the web, the database is also available in CD-ROM form. A limited version of BLP site is available in Spanish and French.

The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) is part of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. It provides legal expertise and resources to attorneys representing women asylum-seekers fleeing gender-related harm, at both the practice and policy levels, and seeks to track decisions in these cases. CGRS also works to co-ordinate legal and public policy advocacy efforts through domestic and international networking, and engages in public education efforts in order to contribute to the formulation of national and international policy and practice. Researchers will appreciate the Center’s site for its summaries of gender asylum cases and compilations of decisions by immigration judges, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), and U.S. Federal courts of appeal. This section also provides a selection of international gender asylum case law; governmental gender guidelines; UNHCR and other UN documents; and a select bibliography of scholarly articles and news on gender and asylum. Sample briefs in gender asylum cases are also available.

The Daily Law Notes is a free 24-hour service from the Royal Courts of Justice and European Court of Justice, bringing visitors the most important updates from the House of Lords, the Privy Council, the Court of Appeal and all divisions of the High Court. This service has been in place (in various formats) since 1865. The Daily Law Notes’ reporters are all barristers or solicitors who summarize select cases within 24 hours of the judgment being rendered. Visitors may browse the daily summaries as they appear or navigate via the monthly indexes for more in-depth lists of summaries. There is an index of courts, which is arranged by subject matter or case name. The site is also keyword searchable, but the most recent cases will not be indexed and must be browsed separately.

The Equality in Marriage Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 by Lorna Jorgenson Wendt, a former “corporate wife” who survived a difficult and very public divorce. Her experience led her to create the institute “to be an active resource for men and women so they go into marriage, stay in marriage, and leave marriage with emotional, financial and spiritual balance.” The site provides general information pertinent to relationships in all stages, as they relate to finances. Included are specific ideas to assist couples in discussing finances, merging money, organizing the partnership, and dissolving the partnership. There are also basic plain English discussions of legal topics including prenuptial agreements, retirement accounts, and taxes, to name just a few. While not an academic site, it does provide useful information for the general public on a topic many people find difficult to discuss. Although geared toward heterosexual couples, the basic principles apply to lesbians and gays as well.

Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), founded in 1984, is an “international solidarity network that provides information, support and a collective space for women whose lives are shaped, conditioned or governed by laws and customs said to derive from Islam.” Extending to more than seventy countries, WLUML seeks to reduce isolation and share information to further the cause of equal rights. The organization currently focuses on fundamentalism, militarism, and sexuality. The site is organized into three sections: News and Views, Calls for Action, and Publications. News items of both national and international scope are posted to the site. The organization’s calls for action dating from 2001 are posted, and publications are listed for purchase, although some are available in PDF. Users have the option of browsing all of these items by region or theme. Themes include empowerment, violence, and militarization.