- Program Civil Society
- Program Area Increasing Access to Justice
- Grant Amount $30,000
- Grant Period January 1, 2004–December 31, 2006
- Location GaRankuwa, South Africa
- Geographic Focus North-West, Province of
About this grant
This grant will enable the Odi Community Law Centre to continue providing training and support to paralegals and advice offices in South Africa’s Northwest Province. The community of Odi consists of about 68 rural villages, as well as four peri-urban areas, comprising about three million people. After enduring extreme human rights violations under the former government, the area is currently characterized by poverty, high levels of illiteracy and disease.Multiyear funding will enable the center to strengthen its institutional capacity to improve the paralegal services and human rights training workshops that it provides to the people of Odi and surrounding communities. A major project will be establishing a justice center in the province to provide legal representation to the indigent members of the community in public interest matters. In partnership with the Law Department of Technikon Pretoria, the center will also develop an accredited training course for paralegals and create a special legal service for juveniles, many of whom regularly appear in court unrepresented and without parental supervision or assistance.The Odi Community Law Centre was established in 1995 to provide legal services and training in human rights for disadvantaged communities in Odi.