START UP C AS E ST U DY Development of Human Resources for Rural Areas, Malaysia (DHRRA) builds trust in the community by registering and counselling clients in public places such as schools, temples, and local community centers. Relationships with local leaders engaged in addressing social issues makes this possible. They also provide financial assistance for health and education issues and help newly-documented children with school enrolment. paralegal work will often act as a referral service as well as a direct aid. If a particular case is beyond what paralegals can address, litigation or higher-level advocacy may be in order. Paralegals can also refer clients for assistance on topics outside their project’s services. Some barriers may arise because of misperceptions about communitybased practitioners and the benefits of documentation of legal identity. If organizations or communities perceive your project as political, for example, you may experience unnecessary barriers. Here are some approaches that have worked in different contexts: •D  escribing access to legal identity, nationality, and birth registration as basic human rights. You may also consider referring to more specific areas such as children’s rights, women’s rights, or the right to health, for example. •H  ighlight the humanitarian aspect of your work. Paralegals who work on issues of nationality and documentation help their clients gain access to shelter, healthcare, livelihoods, and education. • Emphasize that the current laws support your action. • If your audience may see “paralegals” in a negative light, use terms such as “community-based workers” or “outreach fellows” instead. C AS E ST U DY Paralegals at the Sudanese NGO Almanar Voluntary Organization (AMVO) created strong collaboration with South Sudanese sultans in displaced people’s camps by advocating successfully through its community networks for sultans to receive a government license allowing them to bury their dead. Then they got the sultans the right to provide personal guarantees in the process of issuing legal identity documents for South Sudanese citizens at risk of statelessness. •E  ducate your audience through trainings and visits to create understanding and empathy towards the communities you are working with. 4.1 With and Within the Community This section focuses on how to initiate and cultivate lasting, productive relationships between your organization or group and members of the community you seek to serve. In line with an empowerment approach, it is important to begin by acknowledging that community members are themselves agents of change, and can help paralegals and their projects as much as paralegals help them. Some ways of gaining the trust of the community include: •T  raining local community members as paralegals. While, in general, working with local community members builds trust, it is also important to make paralegals aware that their existing networks have limitations. Connections to the community make the need for impartiality and ethical conduct particularly important. •E  nsuring communities participate in planning your project and have veto power over it. • Inviting community leaders to take part in paralegals’ activities, in order to generate buy-in and multiply their message. •E  nsuring a “trickle-down” effect by encouraging all those who have received paralegal assistance to spread the message regarding a project’s services by sharing their experience—and knowledge gained in the process—with others in their community. 40 | 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