Advocates for International Development (A4ID) believes the right to legal aid is a human right. By inspiring and enabling lawyers to help the fight against global poverty and ensuring legal aid is available for the world’s poorest citizens. By providing training programs for lawyers, A4ID helps lawyers become involved in development issues. It believes that the law is capable of eradicating global poverty, but in many instances, the law also acts as a barrier to sustainable international development. By ensuring everyone, even the world’s poorest citizens, has access to legal support, they can influence policy decisions, support social enterprise and empower local communities.

A4ID supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that were agreed by 193 countries at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. The 17 SDGs include no poverty, zero hunger, quality education and gender equality for all. 

Land Rights in Uganda

A case study that demonstrates the aid that Advocates for International Development provides is called “The Right to Land and Livelihood in Uganda” (October 2016). The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization states that “rural landlessness is often the best predictor of poverty and hunger,” which the fact that 75% of those living on less than $1 a day live in rural areas reflects. By ensuring equal access to land, they can provide livelihoods and economic security and therefore help reduce poverty. 

The Ugandan government has tried to help by issuing more than 25,000 certificates of ownership (CCOs) providing customary landholders evidence of their tenure and land ownership and in 2013 committed to recognizing tenure rights of minorities in ancestral lands. The government’s aim was to reduce land conflicts and improve the financial security of families living in rural Uganda. However, the local conflicts within these rural communities, with issues such as the theft of live cattle, have made it difficult to continue to protect land rights.

Training and Education

A4ID aided Sugur Development Agency (SDA) by facilitating legal assistance from Lawyer Clifford Chance to alleviate the conflicted land rights in the Teso Sub-region of Uganda. Chance analyzed the relevant local and international law on land rights. The SDA used this research in its advocacy, communications material and training to inform the local community about their land rights. This will help protect their livelihoods and economic security and alleviate the poverty in the Teso Sub-region of Uganda. 

Clifford Chance was able to support a local community in Uganda due to the training and education A4ID provides, which can then help inform and uplift those in poverty. By providing local communities with the tools to support themselves and defend their rights, they help break the cycle of poverty. This case study also demonstrates the connection between human, civil and political rights. If the government ensures equitable access to land, it supports the economic growth of the community and ensures equal rights. 

Looking Ahead

Advocates for International Development is a pro bono, nonprofit organization. Its mission is simply to provide a voice for the world’s poorest citizens. With a network of more than 50,000 legal experts and having provided more than £30 million worth of free legal advice for more than 700 development organizations, A4ID plays a critical role in helping the global fight against poverty.  

– Anjini Snape
Photo: Flickr