Your needs assessment should use an empowerment approach by: • Making the needs of undocumented, under-documented, stateless, and at-risk individuals the focus, such that it shapes and guides discussions and actions. • Being aware of any previous efforts to address the problem. The most effective program might complement or boost existing local solutions. • Being fully open to communities’ needs and feedback and disclosing your background and interests. Careful listening is the most valuable tool you have. • Assessing whether your project could have negative effects and being ready to modify the project to avoid such effects. In keeping with an empowerment approach, the first step in conducting a needs assessment is to map community resources. Is someone already doing the work your program would do? If so, how can your program support them? Is the best way to address any shortcomings of that existing program to create a new one? Would your program be different in important ways? Gather any data that is available on issues related to the project. This would include local birth registration rates, NGO reports, legal aid casework databases, and records village authorities or community leaders hold. Keep in mind that data may exist, but not be publicly available: projects may be able to benefit from freedom of information requests or other procedures to obtain official information. Understand what national and local government programs might connect with the community to gather administrative or national population data. Official data may not capture the information most relevant to your project. For example, the people you plan to serve might not participate in the official census or other national surveys. A needs assessment should include focus group discussions, community meetings, one-on-one discussions with individuals and service providers (e.g. homeless shelters, health workers, schools, religious leaders), doorto-door visits, and mapping of existing channels between communities and NGOs. Indeed, identifying the need for paralegals to work on legal documentation may arise in the course of other discussions and projects. Project planning should assess the role of poverty and discrimination in the problems you seek to address. The best way to do this is by using comparative data to understand what differences exist between the majority and the affected group. Be aware that collection of data on ethnicity, race, and other characteristics may be viewed with suspicion or even be illegal in some countries. Determine whether any anti-poverty initiatives like cash transfer schemes have been introduced. Legal identity documentation is almost always required in order to access such programs and governments have implemented cash transfers as an incentive to increase demand for birth registration. RELATED RESOURCE Paralegal projects are encouraged to join the Global Legal Empowerment Network. Membership is free. The network brings together over 1,300 organizations and over 5,000 individuals dedicated to community-based justice. Members are community paralegals, human rights activists, grassroots organizers, health advocates, educators, researchers, lawyers, journalists, and public servants, who collaborate across regions and across disciplines. Through online and in-person meetings, these participants learn from each other and share a growing library of legal empowerment resources. Members campaign on issues affecting them globally and nationally, and work together to secure support and sustainable funding for the legal empowerment field. DISCRIMINATION EMPOWERMENT SUSTAINABILITY DATA RELATED RESOURCES (EXTERNAL) RELATED SECTIONS (WITHIN) A C O M M U N I T Y- B A S E D P R A C T I T I O N E R ’ S G U I D E : D O C U M E N T I N G C I T I Z E N S H I P A N D OT H E R F O R M S O F L E G A L I D E N T I T Y | 19