A total of 65,000 out of 88,000 legal disputes were solved by paralegals across the country last year, thanks to a reach out programme by a Non-Governmental Organisations, Legal Services Facility (LSF).
This was revealed yesterday by the LSF Programme Manager Deogratias Bwire when gracing a three-day workshop that brings together over 400 participants and 200 paralegals from various legal aid organisations.
The workshop is held to discuss and assess the implementation of the access to legal services programme, success, challenges as well as setting a strategy for the year 2022/23.
Mr Bwire, who was speaking on behalf of the LSF Chief Executive Officer Lulu Ng'wanakilala, added that during a reach out programme last year, paralegals also met over seven million people in various parts of the country.
"The reach out programme is crucial since it provides women and children access to legal aid services on various challenges that they are facing," he said commending the paralegals and other stakeholders for their dedication on providing legal services to the needy.
He noted that the workshop will enable participants to share feedback on the implementation of the programme in the last year and exchange experience and techniques that are useful in solving legal disputes among members of the community.
Speaking on behalf of the registrar of the legal aid services of the Ministry of Constitution and Legal Affairs, State Attorney Agnes Mkawe commended the LSF for organising the forum that brings together stakeholders from various organisations.
She said the workshop, apart from assessing the performance of the legal aid sector in the past year, also helps in cementing the existing cooperation between LSF and the government.
"The ministry recognises a good role played by the LSF and other stakeholders in provision of legal services to members of the public," she said.
For their part, participants commended the LSF for continuing to provide financial support for implementation of reach out programmes, especially for women and children.
LSF is a basket fund established in 2011 as a non-profit organisation that strives to increase access to justice for all, in particular for women through a legal empowerment approach.
- The LSF channels its funding on an equal opportunity basis to organisations that provide legal aid and paralegal services on Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar.