•S
uccessful advocacy resulting in the implementation of a new policy
or legal framework.
• When the community fully owns and runs campaigning and
advocacy activities.
• When community members automatically apply for birth
certificates or ID cards when it is appropriate, without requiring a
paralegal to motivate and support them.
• When community members know how to interact with government
officials without paralegal support.
• When the state no longer discriminates in the areas the program
addressed.
Programs may also end because of a lack of funding or a major political
change. Programs should be designed to ensure they have continued
impact in such cases. Many programs train and assist local organizations
or community groups to continue the work after they depart.
CASE STUDY
In the Republic of North
Macedonia, MYLA prepared
a short legal guide on the
most important personal
documentation procedures,
as well as the documentary
evidence required to obtain such
documentation. Governmentsupported Roma Information
Centres around the country have
been sent copies of the guide.
Thus the project has ongoing
impact, and government buy-in.
7. BUILDING THE RIGHT TEAM:
HUMAN RESOURCES
THE PROCESS OF RECRUITING PARALEGALS will depend on the program
model—whether paralegals are paid or not and whether the program
recruits in the community or uses students, or both. Defining exactly
what a paralegal will do is important for determining what kind of people
you need to identify and recruit, what training they will need, how to
supervise them, and what data can be collected based on how paralegals
will interact with clients and cases.
ee 2.7 Determining the Form of Your Project for information on the
S
different models a paralegal program can have.
7.1 Identifying and Recruiting Staff
and/or Volunteers
Recruiting paralegals, whether students, volunteers, interns, or paid
staff, may involve placing advertisements, holding community forums,
and seeking candidates by asking local leaders, youth activists, women’s
groups, and others. Application letters could be called for, or nominations
of potential paralegals sought from the community. Some programs
have found teachers or sports coaches tend to have the combination of
patience and confidence they look for.
If the program will have more than one paralegal in an office or area, seek
gender balance, and balance with regards to other forms of diversity
such as age and background, to make it easier to serve clients and
bring different perspectives to the team. In other contexts, diversity of
tribe, clan, or even perceived political sympathies might matter. Some
programs must have female paralegals to serve female clients, who may
CASE STUDY
In Sudan, paralegals formed
their own community-based
association and registered
before the Ministry of Culture
as a legal entity. This enabled
them to get funding directly
from the European Union as a
co-applicant with an established
legal aid NGO, AMVO.
CASE STUDY
Norwegian Refugee Council
has seen 10 situations where
local staff launched their own
projects in order to continue
documentation and legal
identity work after NRC’s exit
from the country.
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
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