In Latin America, many organizations work alongside communities and marginalized groups to help them know, use, and shape the law to overcome injustices. However, too often these organizations do not have the necessary support.
The Legal Empowerment and Community Lawyering Innovation Lab for Latin America aims to support and strengthen grassroots justice organizations, providing them with small grants (5,000 USD) and technical support to implement innovative ideas, experiment with new approaches, or undertake small projects that can be implemented within a maximum of 8 months.
The eligible projects can, for example, be focused on work with community paralegals or advocates, developing community capacity-building materials (texts, videos, audios, etc.), strategic litigation, social auditing, or the use of new technologies, among many other activities. The key is for projects to use legal empowerment to help people, groups and/or communities to overcome injustice in any of its diverse forms.
Faced by the global crisis generated by COVID-19, people more than ever need tools to demand their rights and participate in the decisions that affect their lives. For this reason, initiatives aimed at adapting work and supporting communities in overcoming challenges in the context of the pandemic will also be eligible.
A panel of judges will determine the four selected organizations to participate in the Innovation Lab. The deadline to apply is July 1 at 23:59 GMT.