The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Reaching Vulnerable Populations with Legal Aid via Mobile

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Summary:

In a 2017 study, the Legal Aid Forum (LAF) found that of the nearly 12 million Rwandans, only 4% have a good understanding of the law and their legal rights. This makes vulnerable populations susceptible to victimhood. With knowledge barriers, unfamiliarities of technical legal language and terms, and long distances that need to be travelled to reach relevant legal aid providers, this problem will continue to worsen if there is no bridge created for this knowledge divide. Viamo partnered with the Legal Aid Forum (LAF) Rwanda on a project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to address these knowledge and accessibility barriers via mobile, by providing free legal aid information nationwide. As of this writing in October 2019, more than 860,000 calls have been placed to access legal advice on Viamo's 3-2-1 Service (known locally in Rwanda as the 8-4-5 Service), a nationally-available free information service. From these calls, over 200,000 people have chosen to be connected to a call center staffed by LAF lawyers where they can receive further, more personalized advice. Through this information service, sixty people have received free legal representation by LAF.

Background/Objectives:

The objective of the project was to provide free legal information through mobile to vulnerable populations. Content on legal rights and how to access legal services was developed using a framework for social behavior change communication and added to Viamo's toll-free 8-4-5 Service in Rwanda. Users can dial 845 and listen to information on their legal rights. From there, callers are given the option to access a legal aid call center for a personal consultation, staffed by employees from LAF. This gives people who may otherwise be unable to seek legal advice an opportunity to do so.

Description of Intervention and/or Methods/Design:

The legal aid content was developed by LAF in collaboration with other justice sector actors and optimized for mobile by Viamo. The content was then hosted on Viamo's 3-2-1 Service (8-4-5 in Rwanda), a free, on-demand service offered nationwide. Callers dial 8-4-5, select Legal Aid, and can listen to a variety of key messages on legal preparation, where to seek further legal aid, and more. If callers questions are not answered completely by the information in the pre-recorded audio messages, they can choose to be connected to a call center staffed by employees from LAF. This way, they can speak to a live person to receive further clarification or advice. In select cases, LAF is able to offer callers free legal representation, further eliminating existing barriers to legal aid for these vulnerable persons.

Results/Lessons Learned:

Since the content was launched on Viamo's 8-4-5 Service in Rwanda in September 2018, over 860,000 calls have been placed to access the legal aid information and there have been over 200,000 requests for a call back from a LAF staff member. In response to the overwhelming demand for this information, LAF has increased their capacity from three call center staff to six in order to be able to respond to everyone. So far, over 42,000 call-backs have been made by the LAF call center, with lawyers providing more information, referring callers to different justice handlers, and offering free legal representation. So far 60 people have been given free legal assistance or representation in courts. Callers have improved their personal understanding of legal materials and are sharing this information, with 73% of respondents reporting having used the messages to educate others in their communities.

Discussion/Implications for the Field:

The popularity of this free, on-demand mobile service shows the massive gap in legal aid services available to vulnerable populations in Rwanda and the need for alternative options to traditional legal assistance. Having the call center also contributes to streamlining the Rwanda legal system, as people can be efficiently directed to the correct resources. This mobile system is easily replicable in multiple countries, and requires relatively minimal effort to set up and run, and could therefore be an ideal solution for educating citizens on the law, their legal rights, and available resources.

Abstract submitted by:

Sulakshana Gupta - Viamo
Jean Paul Ibambe - The Legal Aid Forum
Leah Newman - Viamo

Source

Approved abstract for the postponed 2020 SBCC Summit in Marrakech, Morocco. Provided by the International Steering Committee for the Summit. Image credit: Legal Aid Forum.