ActionAid Liberia Supports Review and Synchronizing of the Draft Legal Aid Bill, Holds Three Days Stakeholder Workshop
Collaborating Efforts to have a Legal Aid Bill to get Presented to the Legislature for Consideration
In Liberia, the path to justice is often long, uncertain, financial cost intensive especially for the poor, indigenous, vulnerable population and out of reach for many ordinary citizens.
Yet, ActionAid Liberia has always believed that a strong judicial system, one that protects the vulnerable, listens to survivors, and offers every citizen’s equal access to justice is the foundation of a fair society.
It is this belief that inspired ActionAid Liberia to fund a three-day national consultative workshop, bringing together the Center for Legal Aid Support Services (CLASS), The Law Reform Commission (LRC), Civil societies organizations, INGOs, and representatives from the ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to synchronize the draft Legal Aid dills developed by the UNDP and the Gender ministry.
The years, two versions of the Legal Aid Bill have existed, one developed in 2022 with support from the United Nations Development *UNDP) and another in 2024 with a support from the World Bank developed by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
Both draft documents share one mission, which seeks to make legal assistance accessible to the poor, the vulnerable and the heard. Especially citizens who often lack what it takes to access to justice in whatever legal matter that may be playing out at a given time in their lives.
These three days of training to meant to have stakeholder review the both documents, brainstorm, scrutinize, and compare both contents while working to harmonize the two draft documents into one unified bill. One that is strong enough to transform how Liberians access justice, especially the vulnerable of the Liberian population.
By supporting this process, ActionAid Liberia continues its commitment to ensuring that no citizen stands alone in the face of injustice, and that Liberia moves toward a future where the law serves every one regardless of who they are and not just a privileged few.