 The Human Rights Education Programme is concerned with educating and advancing human rights within diverse communities in Kenya – both rural and urban. This programme seeks to build bridges between existing informal justice systems and the formal judicial and legal system. Currently, it runs extension services in various parts of Kenya i.e. Meru. Kitui, Laikipia, Transmara, Kwale and Taita regions under its UNDP/SIDA funded ‘Putting Communities to Rights Project’. It has trained over 360 community paralegals on basic human rights law. It also seeks to give support to Parliament through its Royal Danish Embassy funded ‘Enhancing the Effectiveness of Parliament Project’.
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Enhancing Effectiveness & Oversight of Parliament |
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The implementation of a new constitution, for example, will require reform of a myriad of key state institutions, among them the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the National Assembly, the Executive, especially the President. The political elite have vested interests in the reform process and despite exhortations to the contrary, it must be anticipated that they will try and capture the constitutional process, in order to achieve an outcome that is most favourable to their interests. This may compromise the protection of the rights of the citizenry. ICJ Kenya, through ‘Enhancing the Effectiveness and Oversight of Parliament Project’ seeks to support the reform process by ensuring the widest possible availability of information on crucial reform issues so as to stimulate an independent public discussion and informed choices. |
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Putting Communities to Rights Project |
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The Human Rights Education Programme combines ICJ Kenya's outreach activities and legal aid. In six rural districts, ICJ Kenya is equipping Community Based Organisations with nearly 360 paralegals with legal expertise and back up to improve access to justice and legal empowerment of their communities. For us, access to legal services is a right. Communities should be able to access formal dispute resolution means as well as to take control of their lives through administrative or bureaucratic advocacy in relation to local legal problems. Most of these problems arise from high competition for land, not just within farming and pastoralist communities, but also against wildlife. Some have high conflict potential, so that increasingly, paralegals must sensitise communities to make choices that prevent and resolve conflict. |
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Technical Support and Expert Referrals |
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- ICJ Kenya's legal back up to paralegals ensures they are adequately trained, but also that our volunteer lawyers can take up complex issues and follow up through litigation or other advocacy strategies.
- The training follows an open learning curriculum so that paralegals are self-motivating individuals who share human rights values with us. ICJ Kenya designs, evaluates and reviews training programmes.
- ICJ Kenya volunteer lawyers provide or prepare legal advisory services toward resolution of particular local legal problems.
- Paralegals help provide free legal aid on the ground and effective assistance to vulnerable groups such as women, children, people living with HIV/Aids and the poor.
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Networking and Mutual Support |
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ICJ Kenya is also collaborating with other actors to develop a common paralegal training curriculum and training manual for nation wide and regional use. ICJ Kenya spearheads efforts of a national Paralegal Support Network (PASUNE) to realise this objective. ICJ Kenya provides comparative experiences, good practices, project planning expertise, and terms of reference in the rule of law in general, and particular thematic areas such as judicial reform, legislative processes, access to information and legal protection of human rights. |
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