This research brief is part of a series that reviews the nature of the work undertaken by community paralegals, and the extent to which that work is recognized or funded by government. In Nigeria, Paralegals are provided some formal recognition under Nigeria’s Legal Aid Act of 2011. Paralegals operate mostly in civil matters.
The first briefs published for this series focus on the types of community paralegals who have been formally recognized either in law or policy. We acknowledge that this is just a small part of a much larger picture. Beyond the government-recognized paralegals discussed in these briefs, a broader, dynamic ecosystem of community paralegals operates effectively without state recognition in many countries. We aim to one day expand our research to offer a more comprehensive analysis of this larger universe. For now, however, our research briefs are limited to offering summary information and illustrative examples of the community paralegals who have been formally recognized by law or policy.
Each of these briefs is a living document– if you have an update, addition, or a correction, please contact us at community@namati.org.
This research brief is part of a broader resource guide on community paralegal recognition and financing that includes additional community paralegal research briefs, a list of supplemental laws and resources for each country, and other supporting materials on the subject.
This research brief is part of a series that reviews the nature of the work undertaken by community paralegals, and the extent to which that work is recognized or funded by government. In Ontario, Canada, community paralegals are recognized in administrative documents in connection with Legal Aid Ontario’s funding of Community Legal Clinics (CLCs). They are referred to formally as “community legal workers.”
The first briefs published for this series focus on the types of community paralegals who have been formally recognized either in law or policy. We acknowledge that this is just a small part of a much larger picture. Beyond the government-recognized paralegals discussed in these briefs, a broader, dynamic ecosystem of community paralegals operates effectively without state recognition in many countries. We aim to one day expand our research to offer a more comprehensive analysis of this larger universe. For now, however, our research briefs are limited to offering summary information and illustrative examples of the community paralegals who have been formally recognized by law or policy.
Each of these briefs is a living document– if you have an update, addition, or a correction, please contact us at community@namati.org.
This research brief is part of a broader resource guide on community paralegal recognition and financing that includes additional community paralegal research briefs, a list of supplemental laws and resources for each country, and other supporting materials on the subject.
The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules (MSW Rules) came into force in 2000 and laid down the rules to be followed by municipal authorities while collecting, transporting, segregating, processing, storing and disposing municipal solid wastes. These rules have been enacted under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. As there were several reports (see Annexure I) of impacts in the Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka due to waste disposal, a groundtruthing study was conducted to examine compliance with the rules and gauge whether the impacts were due to non-compliance.
Between July 2016 and May 2017, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR)-Namati Environmental Justice Program, along with the affected people of Uttara Kannada, initiated this community-led groundtruthing process. This report describes the process of studying the law with affected people for the examination of compliance and seeking of remedies. The first section describes the background of the region and the issue. The second section elaborates the methodology of the study. Detailed findings from the study are described in the third section, which also gives the compliance status with some major rules and the impacts of non-compliance. The fourth section describes particular instances where remedies were sought for the non-compliance. The similarities of the problems of solid waste disposal in Panchayat areas are mentioned in the fifth section. Lastly, the recommendations that are drawn from the findings of this study are given in the final section.
In recent years, governments across Africa, Asia and Latin America have been granting vast land concessions to foreign investors for agro-industrial enterprises and resource extraction. Often, governments make concessions with a view to furthering development and strengthening the national economy. Yet in many cases, these land concessions dispossess rural communities and deprive them of access to natural resources vital to their livelihoods and economic survival. Even when communities welcome private investment, projects are often undertaken in ways that lead to environmental degradation, human rights violations, loss of access to livelihoods, and inequity.
Liberia currently has one of the highest land concession rates in Africa. Between 2004 and 2009, the Liberian government either granted or re- negotiated land and forestry concessions totaling 1.6 million hectares – over 7% of the total national land area. Today, even with a moratorium on public land sale in place, private investors continue to seek and acquire land concessions throughout the country: in 2010 alone, more than 661,000 hectares were granted to two foreign corporations for palm oil production. A recent 2012 report finds that currently, “Land allocated to rubber, oil palm and forestry concessions covers approximately 2,546,406 hectares, or approximately 25% of the country.”
In the coming years, if concession grants are not carefully controlled, the amount of land still held and managed by rural Liberians will significantly decrease. This will have adverse impacts on already impoverished rural communities. In Liberia, strong legal protections for community lands and natural resources and a clear, simple, and easy-to-follow legal process for the documentation of customary community land rights are urgently necessary.
Community land titling processes, which document the perimeter of the community according to customary boundaries, are a low-cost, efficient, and equitable way of protecting communities’ customary land claims. Such efforts protect large numbers of families’ lands at once, as well as the common lands and forests that are often the first to be allocated to investors, claimed by elites, and appropriated for state development projects. Importantly, formal recognition of their customary land claims gives communities critical leverage in negotiations with potential investors.
To support the Liberian Land Commission’s efforts to strengthen the tenure security of customary land rights, the Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) undertook a two- year study entitled the “Community Land Titling Initiative” in Rivercess County, Liberia.5 The first study of its kind worldwide, the intervention’s goal was to better understand both the type and level of support that communities require to successfully complete community land documentation processes, as well as how to best facilitate intra-community protections for the land rights of vulnerable groups.
The intervention’s primary objectives were to:
Due to the President’s moratorium on public land sale and the suspension of all public land sale processes (as set out in the Public Lands Act 1972-1973), the 20 study communities followed a skeletal documentation process set out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between IDLO, SDI and the Land Commission of Liberia. These steps included:
SDI’s field team observed and recorded the communities’ progress through the requisite steps, noting: all obstacles confronted and their resolutions; all intra- and inter-community land conflicts and their resolutions; and all internal community debates and discussions. A pre- and post-service survey of over 700 individuals and more than 100 structured focus group discussions supplemented the field team’s observations.
This report details the communities’ experiences undertaking the land documentation activities and summarizes the initial impacts of these efforts under the following subject headings: conflict resolution and prevention (encompassing boundary harmonization and demarcation); intra-community governance (encompassing by-laws/constitution drafting); and conservation and sustainable natural resource management (encompassing land and natural resource management plan drafting). It briefly reviews the obstacles and hurdles confronted during the community land documentation the process, and then describes conclusions relative to the optimal level of legal intervention necessary to support communities’ successful completion of community land documentation efforts. The report also details findings concerning how best to facilitate intra-community protections for the rights of women and other vulnerable groups during the land documentation process.
The report concludes by setting forth findings and recommendations intended to inform policy dialogue and to provide useful information for the Land Commission, the government of Liberia, and all interested stakeholders seeking to develop laws and policies for community land documentation.
The Milestone Judgements of the Bangladeshi High Court
The two cases included in this volume are landmark cases, confirming Urdu-speaking community members as citizens of Bangladesh, the only country most have ever known and the country they call home. It includes Bangla translations of both court judgments (the court issued them in English) as well as a two page summary of each decision (also in Bangla) to make the content easier to understand for ordinary people. Paralegals will be able to use these cases in printed form during their outreach and awareness raising in Urdu-speaking camps in Bangladesh.
We hope these English and Bangla language versions will make the significance of these legal decisions accessible to all Bangladeshis – Urdu-speakers, Bangla-speakers, government servants, and others alike. Urdu-speaking Bangladeshis no longer need to feel the law is abstract or distant; they can use these court decisions, among other legal provisions, to understand, exercise, and protect their basic rights as citizens.
Our gratitude extends to the Council of Minorities for its collaboration on this publication, to Zakir Akmal & Associates for their invaluable translation support, and to all those in Bangladesh using innovative strategies to put the law into people’s hands and make justice a reality for all.
Prior even to their adoption, the SDGs are proving to be a valuable tool to advance and prioritize justice at the national level. These three case studies highlight how national champions have begun shaping and influencing planning processes and new policies. National level implementation will look different, but already some emerging trends on successful implementation have begun
to present themselves including on partnership, data and regional approaches. Implementation of the agenda is where a transformative agenda will move into transformative action and sufficient financial and technical support must be provided to governments and civil society to ensure they deliver, in partnership, justice for all.
We advance social and environmental justice by building a movement of people who know, use, and shape the law. In several countries where we live and work, Namati and our partners support frontline community leaders to achieve concrete remedies to social and environmental harms by combining the power of law with the power of organizing. Namati also convenes the Legal Empowerment Network, the world’s largest community of grassroots justice defenders, bringing together thousands of organizations and individuals from 170+ countries.
Namati is a Sanskrit word that means “to shape something into a curve.” Martin Luther King Jr. said that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” We call ourselves Namati because we’re dedicated to bending that curve.
This video was generously produced by Skoll.org, a long-time partner of ours.
Indira’s passion lies in building an organization that is deeply mission-rooted, built on values, and committed to rethinking our world and bringing justice everywhere. In eight years at Namati, she has overseen the organization’s growth from an annual budget of $3 million to the current annual budget of over $14 million. Throughout that period, she has led with the philosophy that organizational growth must be deliberate and thoughtful, attentive to core values and sustaining excellence. She believes Namati’s impact in the world comes through our people and finds her inspiration in the heart, brilliance, and dynamism of Namati’s paralegals, staff, partners, and network members worldwide.
Indira came to Namati after a decade working on global health and human rights across Asia and Africa. She teaches critical development studies at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and is a professionally-trained classical dancer and teacher in the Kuchipudi tradition of India. A dual citizen with roots in Atlanta in the southern United States, and Visakhapatnam in southern India, Indira has lived, worked and traveled across nearly fifty countries worldwide and now lives with her extended family in Washington DC. Indira holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies and Indian Studies from Harvard University and a masters in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She is called by sunshine and trees, rhythm and song, and the flourishing of local and indigenous communities, cultures, languages, and ecosystems.
Read the Declaration in English here.
El brote del COVID-19 a nivel global, junto con las medidas para frenar la propagación del virus y contener la pandemia, no están afectando a todos por igual. Existen grupos de riesgo para quienes los efectos de contraer el virus pueden ser más nocivos, así como grupos especialmente vulnerables, a quienes las medidas paliativas y de cuidados colectivos colocan en una situación de mayor vulnerabilidad y exclusión.
Para que nadie quede atrás, los Estados de la región deben priorizar la atención de quienes más apoyo necesitan. Los planes de abordaje de esta emergencia sanitaria deben garantizar el derecho a la salud para todas las personas, sin ningún tipo de discriminación, para ello es fundamental que tengan en cuenta las amplias desigualdades e inequidades existentes en las sociedades latinoamericanas, distribuyendo los recursos según las necesidades y asegurando que esta emergencia no desplace, segregue, empobrezca y vulnerabilice más a quienes viven en las circunstancias más difíciles [1].
VIVIENDA: Entre los más afectados, debemos pensar en las personas en situación de calle, para quienes el #quédateencasa es de imposible cumplimiento y requieren asistencia urgente. En el mismo sentido, quienes habitan asentamientos informales o barrios populares, así como campos de personas refugiadas y desplazadas internas, sufren de la falta de acceso a servicios básicos como agua potable y atención sanitaria; además de contar con una densidad poblacional más alta, lo cual dificulta el llamado “distanciamiento social” y genera posibles focos de contagio del virus [2]. Como dice la Relatora Especial de Naciones Unidas sobre la Vivienda Adecuada, “La vivienda se ha convertido en la primera línea de defensa contra el coronavirus. Tener un hogar rara vez ha sido una situación de vida o muerte más que ahora” [3].
TRABAJADORES Y TRABAJADORAS: Sin duda, uno de los grupos más afectados por esta crisis, es el de los y las trabajadoras de la economía informal (que en las grandes ciudades de la región supone una parte muy importante de la población), y las y los trabajadores desocupados o con ingresos insuficientes. Estos grupos o bien se ven obligados a acudir a su trabajo para poder seguir teniendo un ingreso, exponiéndose más al virus y bajo condiciones de trabajo aún peores, o bien se quedan sin trabajo y sin ingresos. Las mujeres, con una gran participación en el trabajo informal y no remunerado son uno de los principales grupos afectados.
VIOLENCIA MACHISTA: Las medidas de confinamiento y restricción de movimientos incrementan los riesgos y los obstáculos para las niñas y mujeres víctimas de violencia machista que se ven obligadas a permanecer en casa con sus agresores. Tal y como indica ONU Mujeres, “Reconocer el impacto del COVID-19 en las mujeres y niñas, y asegurar una respuesta que aborde sus necesidades y garantice sus derechos es central para fortalecer los esfuerzos de prevención, respuesta y recuperación.” [4]
USO EXCESIVO DE LA FUERZA POR PARTE DE LAS FUERZAS DE SEGURIDAD: Especialmente preocupante es el posible uso de las medidas adoptadas ante el Coronavirus para reprimir, perseguir, silenciar e incluso asesinar a los sectores populares, líderes y lideresas sociales y defensores y defensoras de los derechos humanos. Un grupo de relatores y expertos del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas ha afirmado que “las declaraciones de emergencia basadas en el brote no deben utilizarse como base para dirigirse a grupos particulares, minorías o individuos, ni funcionar como una excusa para la acción represiva con el pretexto de proteger la salud. Tampoco deben servir para silenciar el trabajo de los defensores de los derechos humanos”. [5]
La POBLACIÓN MIGRANTE es otro de los grupos altamente afectados por estas circunstancias. Por un lado, dado su total desprotección ante la falta de servicios básicos y asistencia de cualquier tipo, así como la falta de una red de apoyo. Por otro lado, el incremento de la presencia de la fuerza pública en las calles en circunstancias de confinamiento y restricción de movimientos, y la exigencia de documentación y otras prácticas justificadas bajo medidas extraordinarias incrementan los riesgos de deportación para aquellas personas cuya situación no ha sido regularizada. A lo anterior, se suman los señalamientos y conductas xenófobas que se han observado en medio de la crisis socioeconómica generada por la propagación del virus. Ante estas circunstancias, las personas migrantes probablemente evitarán acceder al sistema de salud o proporcionar información sobre su estado de salud por miedo a la afectación de su situación migratoria. [6]
Las PERSONAS PRIVADAS DE LIBERTAD que se encuentran en centros penitenciarios a lo largo de la región son otro de los grupos altamente afectados, dadas las condiciones de hacinamiento, falta de salubridad y falta de acceso a servicios básicos. Varios gobiernos han tomado medidas preventivas que afectan los derechos de las personas privadas de libertad, tales como la reducción de las horas de visita por parte de familiares, y tantos otras personas están viendo afectados sus procesos.
Las COMUNIDADES ÉTNICAS Y LOS PUEBLOS INDÍGENAS requieren una mayor y especial protección, por el impacto que puede tener la pandemia entre sus miembros, así como en los territorios custodiados por éstos. La salud de la mayoría de Pueblos Indígenas ya esta comprometida debido a la alta prevalencia de enfermedades infecto-contagiosas introducidas y enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles [7], lo cual se agrava por la persistencia de condiciones de desigualdad, exclusión y discriminación en el acceso general a los bienes y servicios de la sociedad, así como por las condiciones de relativo aislamiento geográfico de sus territorios. Es fundamental que se establezcan estrategias de comunicación e información con pertinencia y alcance cultural. La CIDH hizo un llamado especial a los Estados “para que respeten, de forma irrestricta, el no contacto con los pueblos y segmentos de pueblos indígenas en aislamiento voluntario, dados los gravísimos impactos que el contagio del virus podría representar para su subsistencia”. [8]
En este contexto, los gobiernos de la región de manera progresiva están tomando diversas medidas sanitarias y de contención social, así como medidas económicas, fiscales y monetarias, que implican aumentar el gasto social, suspensión de cobros de créditos bancarios, congelamiento del recargo por no pago en los servicios de agua, acciones para evitar el desabastecimiento de bienes básicos [9], ayudas económicas específicas, medidas de regulación concretas en el mercado de vivienda, entre otras.
No obstante, para que las políticas y medidas adoptadas por los Estados sean efectivas se requiere el compromiso de todos -especialmente del sector privado-, que las mismas sean concertadas con diversos sectores sociales, y que las personas conozcan sus derechos y los mecanismos establecidos para su implementación. Se están adoptando políticas públicas en un contexto en el cual el virus se expande muy velozmente, por ello en muchos casos vemos nuevas medidas casi a diario. En este escenario, el acceso a la información es un componente vital del plan de acción contra el Coronavirus. En momentos en que la información falsa y sin verificar circula con rapidez, generando alarmismo y confusión es primordial adoptar mecanismos para que las personas conozcan y usen el derecho, y para que participen de las discusiones públicas de las políticas públicas que moldean su vida.
Por nuestra parte estaremos monitoreando intensamente las políticas públicas adoptadas en nuestros países para garantizar que la pandemia no se utilice como excusa para promover políticas injustas o discriminatorias, acompañando a las comunidades con las que trabajamos para que tengan toda la información necesaria para ejercer sus derechos y proteger su salud, así como alzar sus reclamos ante las políticas que por acción u omisión vulneren sus derechos.
La adopción de medidas ante esta pandemia por parte de los distintos Estados de la región, puede significar que los Estados están tomando en serio el derecho a la salud, lo cual celebraremos. No obstante, debemos exigir que se tomen también en serio el resto de derechos, especialmente los de los sectores vulnerabilizados de nuestras sociedades.
Árboles Sin Fronteras Ecuador (Ecuador)
Asociación Amistad y Mucho Más (Colombia)
Asociación Cooperativa Manos Diligentes (Venezuela)
Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at NYU School of Law (United States)
elConjuro Editorial (Ecuador)
Cineclub Tena (Ecuador)
Cinecyclo Ecuador (Ecuador)
Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (Colombia)
Coordinadora Nacional Afrouruguaya (Uruguay)
Frente de Artistas Audiovisuales de Tigre (Argentina)
Fundación FENIXE (Ecuador)
International Organisation for Women in the Seafood Industry (France)
Misión Salud (Colombia)
MUNDOSUR (Argentina)
Sinergia (Ecuador)
USBRMC (Bangladesh)
Agustin Alegre (Argentina)
Ahmed Ismail (Kenya)
Angela Acosta (Colombia)
Carlo Peñaherrera (Ecuador)
César Eduardo Galarza (Ecuador)
Chrysoula Mela (Greece)
Diana García (Guatemala)
Eugenia D’Angelo (Argentina)
Gustavo Gallón Giraldo (Colombia)
Jorge Bravo (Ecuador)
Jose Victor Sanchez (Colombia)
Manju Menon (India)
Marcia Ramos (Dominican Republic)
Marie Monfort (France)
Martha Su Feraud (Ecuador)
Natalia Roca (Ecuador)
Nieves Rodríguez (Dominican Republic)
Noelia Maciel (Uruguay)
Sajid Khan (Bangladesh)
Sukti Dhital (United States)
Vanina Saucedo (Argentina)
Veronica Bobone Julio (Mozambique)
Verónica Solórzano (Ecuador)
Walter Fernandez Ulloa (Ecuador)
Xavier Salazar (Ecuador)
Yhoanna Diaz (Dominican Republic)
The Mormugao Port is located at Vasco bay in the Mormugao taluka of Goa at the point where the Zuari river meets the Arabian Sea. This region is home to thousands of fisherfolk from the Karvi community who live along the beaches of Mormugao, Salcete and Tiswadi talukas. It is a natural harbour that provides safe haven for ships and fishing vessels during storms, like it did in 2017 when cyclone Okchi hit this coast. The lives and livelihood of these fisherfolk are intrinsically linked to the activities of Mormugao port as they have had to share their customary livelihood areas – the sea and the beaches – with the port. This has resulted in them competing for space for their daily activities like fish landing, boat parking, net mending, and even housing with the port and its infrastructure development on the landward side, and competing with larger shipping vessels for navigation space and access to certain parts of Vasco bay.
The Mormugao Port was commissioned by the Portuguese in 1885 and over many years developed 5 berths for import and export of oil, cashews, wine, iron ore, etc. Iron ore export gained importance after 1948. After liberation in 1961, the Mormugao Port was declared a Major Port by the Government of India in 1965. It was after this that major infrastructure developments began at the port and by 1994, the port had built its 11th Berth and soon after this coal handling began in earnest. Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) is now one of India’s oldest and largest ports with 11 berths of which 6 are leased out to third parties. The port handles cargo like coal, iron ore, woodchips, steel coils, gypsum, bauxite, ammonia, other dry bulk, petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL), and also services cruise ships.
In March 2017, it came to light that the MPT was in the process of seeking environment clearance (EC) for three proposals to expand and modernise its existing facilities. Residents of Vasco and the fishing villages around the site realised this when notices for public hearing under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of 2006 were issued in local newspapers. Of these, two proposals were for coal handling capacity enhancement and modernisation of existing Berth 5a 6a and Berths 8 & 9 and barge berths respectively. This was despite long standing resistance from the people of Vasco da Gama in Mormugao taluka and other citizens of Goa against coal handling and resultant pollution.
It was in this backdrop, that a community led groundtruthing study was initiated in April 2018 by Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners Co-op Society Ltd, Baina Ramponkar, Fishing Canoe Owners Society, Destierro Fisherman Association – Vasco, Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) and the Centre for Policy Research (CPR)-Namati Environmental Justice Program with support from concerned citizens of Vasco and the Federation of Rainbow Warriors. Impacts that community members were facing due to coal handling at MPT were identified through multiple discussions and the main issues that emerged were:
This groundtruthing study is also an attempt by the affected community members to understand the environmental impacts of these berths, link them to the regulatory requirements and push for the compliance of the same.