Meet the faces of community-based paralegalism in Africa.
Judith Ochanda, Nyahuriaden, Kenya
A woman loses access to her sugarcane farm when the chief sides with powerful in-laws. A child accompanies his father to the police station and watches as a suspect is mercilessly beaten with a metal hose. A group of young men are rounded up under false pretenses by a private security company and thrown in jail.
When people become lost in systems of influence and power, community paralegals are at the front line helping them find pathways to justice.
The following interviews were recorded in July 2012 in Kampala, during an unprecedented gathering of legal empowerment practitioners from across the African continent.
The African Regional Workshop for Community-Based Paralegal Programs brought together practitioners from over twenty different countries to share experiences from the field.
Many of them sat down with us to tell stories about what their work looks like.
From an innovative program training paralegals in Kenya’s Shimo La Tewa Prison, to the ongoing struggle for legislative recognition of paralegals in South Africa, listen as these remarkable leaders talk about the influence of legal empowerment on people and governments every day.
We are proud to present African Voices of Legal Empowerment.
Over the coming months, our news posts a will feature new practitioner every week. Each post will introduce a thematic interview and related, handpicked resources to explore.
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