- Program Civil Society
- Program Area Increasing Access to Justice
- Grant Amount $120,000
- Grant Period October 1, 2005–September 30, 2007
- Location Braamfontein, South Africa
- Geographic Focus South Africa
About this grant
Legal Aid Board has established approximately 60 Justice Centres in all nine provinces of South Africa to serve the legal needs of communities. However, these centers primarily operate from the larger communities, which make access to justice for the poor, marginalized and vulnerable communities difficult and expensive. During the past two years, the board implemented a project to link rural-based advice offices to Justice Centres in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal to improve access to justice for marginalized rural communities.Multiyear funding will support efforts to improve working relationships between Justice Centres and advice offices; create greater community awareness of the collaboration between Justice Centres and advice offices; expand the project to other provinces, with a specific focus on reaching vulnerable groups such as women and children; provide additional professional support to advice offices by employing more lawyers; help advice offices improve case management and reporting; and advocate on behalf of paralegals and advice offices for greater recognition and funding.Among the board’s recent accomplishments are extending the project to distant rural communities; providing training and capacity building to the advice offices and paralegals; and strengthening the capacity and understanding of working with poor rural communities.