International Development Grant
Strengthening Access to Justice through Legal Sector Development
Project Number: CA-3-A033925PRG
Status: Closed
Country/Region:
Maximum Contribution: $2,979,581.00
Start Date: February 12, 2009
End Date: August 31, 2012
Duration: 3.5 years
Project Description
The program aims to improve access to justice in the programming countries particularly for poor and marginalized people including women. Program implementation takes place in three stages. In the first stage activities focus on achieving results within the legal professional organizations of each country. The second stage introduces regional programming for legal professional organizations to facilitate joint learning exchange and fostering of mutually supportive relationships. The third stage brings together the broader range of legal sector stakeholders including judges government academia and civil society organizations to work together to advance access to justice nationally and regionally. The program supports the legal professional associations in each country in one or more of the following: to improve their governance and operational structures; to increase their ability to engage in law reform activities and collaborate with other stakeholders in the justice sector to improve access to justice; to enhance their ability to provide legal aid services; and to strengthen continuing legal education and the professional skills of lawyers through the provision of technical assistance training and support for local activities.
Progress & Results Achieved
Results achieved as of the end of the project (August 2012) include: helping to improve access to justice and support the development of the rule of law in East Africa by creating National Working Groups made up of representatives of all key justice sector stakeholders in Kenya Tanzania and Uganda. The National Working Groups achieved different results in each country. In Kenya the focus was on improving access to justice for children and youth. 460 (237 female 225 male) children were provided with legal aid services at the Children’s Court in Nairobi and 119 (84 female 35 male) children were given psychosocial counselling. In addition a computer system allowing Children's Court files to be managed electronically was set up to replace the existing paper filing system. This electronic system considerably improved the efficiency of the Court. In Uganda efforts focussed on improving access to justice for people in remote communities. 77 (18 female 59 male) paralegals were recruited and trained on basic legal issues. These paralegals are now providing basic legal information and advice to residents in four remote sub-counties in eastern and western Uganda where people previously had no access to legal services. In Tanzania the focus was on improving access to justice for people living with HIV/AIDS. 161 (136 female 25 male) people living with HIV/AIDS were given legal aid services in Dar es Salaam by 20 (12 female 8 male) volunteer Tanzanian lawyers. The program also strengthened the the legal professions in Ethiopia Cambodia Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Vietnam by improving the capacity of national bar associations to train their members enforce the ethics of the profession and promote access to justice.
Key Information
Executing Agency:
Canadian Bar Association
Reporting Organization:
Global Affairs Canada
Program:
YFMInternaAssistPartnershp&Programing Br
Last Modified:
September 19, 2025
Development Classifications
DAC Sector:
Aid Type: Donor country personnel
Collaboration: Bilateral
Finance Type: Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation
Selection Mechanism:
Pre-APP