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Home | Legal and Judicial Reforms Project |National Integration Programme Project| |
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As an associated project of the LJRP, the World Bank has pledged US$282,000 as a Grant to provide legal aid services to poor women in Sri Lanka as a means to improve their daily lives. The funds would be provided by Japan under the Japan Social Development Fund. The Grant would help women realize their own potential through legal services provided by local non-governmental organizations. The services to be provided would include legal representation, psychological counseling and medical attention in situations of domestic violence and general education on laws affecting women. The three non-governmental organizations which would implement the project are SARVODAYA, Centre for Women’s Research (CENWOR) and Women in Need (WIN). |
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This component would
provide a multi-disciplinary approach to women’s legal needs, as a means
to enable women accessing services to arrive at practical, concrete and
realistic decisions regarding their lives. Lawyers, doctors and
psychologists will form the multi-disciplinary team.
In addition to providing legal assistance, psychological counseling
and medical services will also be made available in cases of domestic
violence and abuse. Mediation
would be used in instances of non-violent issues,
such as alimony and child custody. |
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Public meetings would
be held throughout the country to educate the public on laws affecting
women. Resource material
would be printed and distributed in court house, police stations and
public hospitals. |
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Programmes on gender sensitization of judges and court personnel will be conducted in order to truly impact women’s access to justice. These programmes will especially focus on national laws and international treaties dealing with women. |
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This component will explore means of making legal aid services more self-sustainable through partnerships with the private sector and the possibility of introducing new self-funding mechanisms. |
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This would entail the creation of baseline standards for self delivery to low income citizens. Baseline and follow-on statistics will be compiled to support quarterly reports on the project. |
