The Launch of this report marks the culmination of a dedicated three-year journey by Kituo Cha Sheria, in partnership with the Paralegal Alliance Network, African Centre of Excellence for Access to Justice (ACE-AJ), Grassroots Justice Network, and with generous support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Bringing together representative Ministry of Justice, Civil societies in Zambia, community based paralegals and representative from Grass root justice network, the participants dissected the issues and the opportunities that emerged from seeking to understand formalization of the paralegals’ service in Kenya and Zambia.

It was clear that the collaboration between Paralegal Alliance network, the legal aid board Zambia, the ministry of justice and the community paralegals plays a vital role in promoting state recognition and regulation of the service at the aim of enhanced access to justice for all. The vulnerability of the community compositing of the indigent community from the research showed confidence of accessibility to legal information through the community paralegals.

The most impactful role community paralegals play in the community is advocacy and legal advice to the community. The African Centre of Excellence on access to justice unites the countries in the African continent where the Centre works with grass root justice organization seeks to bridge the gap between formal justice and the informal justice. It seeks to promote access to justice and the rule of law by uniting civil societies in Africa. The report demonstrates how community paralegals how paralegals have played a role in fighting gender based violence and other justice issues in the community.