INPUTS AND INFLUENCES
COUNTRIES FROM WHICH ORGANIZATIONS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS GUIDE
NETHERLANDS
POLAND
RUSSIA
GEORGIA
UNITED KINGDOM
SERBIA
TAJIKISTAN
ALBANIA
UNITED STATES
NEPAL
ITALY
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
REPUBLIC OF
NORTH
MACEDONIA
COTE D’IVOIRE
BANGLADESH
EGYPT
SUDAN
THAILAND
MALAYSIA
KENYA
INDONESIA
CHILE
ARGENTINA
SOUTH AFRICA
C AS E ST U DY
The Bangladeshi NGO Council
of Minorities learned that their
paralegals were doing too much
for people: the project needed to
focus less on doing the work for
community members and more on
empowering members of the Bihari
community to assist themselves.
Now the organization focuses on
helping community members gain
the skills required to navigate
administrative procedures
themselves. Paralegals ensure
that clients understand the 2008
High Court judgment confirming
their citizenship. Knowledge that
they are entitled to citizenship
empowers Bihari clients to demand
equal treatment, for example
by navigating birth registration
procedures by themselves,
including awareness of what
they need to do if they face
discrimination.
The program increasingly focuses
on legal empowerment of women
from the community. Today, dozens
of women work as volunteer
paralegals, spreading information
about citizenship rights and
paralegal group meetings. The
program coaches women on
dealing with authorities in the
official language of government,
Bangla. At first, paid paralegals
also accompanied women from the
community offices to appointments
at government offices. Now the
women make such visits on their
own. Paid paralegals only assist
those women who cannot read or
write. The volunteer paralegals
can reach locations that the
organization’s paid paralegals do
not cover.
Six months after adopting this
approach, the organization noticed
it received fewer requests for
assistance with birth certificates, a
likely indicator that the community
was able to help itself.
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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