LEGAL SERVICES FACILITY EVERY DAY JUSTICE FOR EVERY DAY PROBEMS IMPROVED QUALITY, CAPACITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF DISTRICTS PARALEGAL SERVICES

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1 LEGAL SERVICES FACILITY EVERY DAY JUSTICE FOR EVERY DAY PROBEMS IMPROVED QUALITY, CAPACITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF DISTRICTS PARALEGAL SERVICES The Secretariat of the Legal Services Facility (LSF) is inviting proposal from organisations formally received grants from LSF with their base in the following regions, Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Pwani, Morogoro, Iringa, Dodoma, Shinyanga, Mwanza, Kagera, Mara, Lindi and Tabora who are involved in the provision of legal aid, including paralegal services. The LSF was established by DANIDA in September 2011 as a funding mechanism (basket fund) to expand and improve the quality of legal aid and paralegal services in Tanzania (mainland and Zanzibar) in order to promote and protect human rights for all, particularly for poor women, children, men and other vulnerable people. The fund became operational in May 2012 and was registered as company limited by guarantee in October Through the programme the LSF promoted and developed good relations with government at all levels. The UKAID through DFID joined the fund in 2014 with specific focus on women rights protection. The LSF strives for increasing access to justice for all in particular for women. Access to justice can be realised by increasing accessibility of legal services, in particular for women, promoting legally empowered community, creating conducive environment for legal aid and contributing to institutional sustainability of legal aid. Basic legal aid services are presently provided through district paralegals that ensured an increased level of legal aid accessibility. For the past four-year the LSF issued 80 grants to 53 partner organisations (legal aid providers). Through that grants, partner organisations trained more than 4000 paralegals, 25 in each district, making a total of 168 paralegal centres 96 district paralegal centres are registered as non-governmental organisations and 72 district centres are not registered. The paralegals centres, despite being young organisations started to function reasonably well. They engage themselves in legal education, mediating disputes and empowering people about their legal, human and economic rights. Paralegal units are newly established and still fragile organisations of which the members are volunteers. They need capacity development assistance to function and render quality services to the community. To make paralegal centres more effective in implementing their activities and contributing to the sustainability of these young organisations is key element of the LSF approach for the years to come. Further the LSF programme responds to limited access to justice by promoting and protecting human rights through accessibility of legal services for the poor and the vulnerable groups including women. Legal empowerment approach will be used as a tool toward legal aid accessibility. The LSF and its partners will work in collaboration with the local government authority in promoting and protecting human rights including the rights of women.

2 Who is eligible? Non-governmental organisations working, which are not for profit and which have been and are involved in the provision of legal aid, including paralegal services, established themselves as regional legal aid providers and or with proven capacity on mentorship skills, ability to work as sub- grantor, backstoper, trainer and capacity to improve collaboration with the lower level local government authorities and other informal leaders. (For more details please refer to the call for proposal guideline section 2.1.1) Location This call for proposals covers organizations who have received grants from LSF, with presence in the following regions namely; Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Pwani, Morogoro, Iringa, Dodoma, Shinyanga, Mwanza, Kagera, Mara, Lindi and Tabora. Priorities of the Call for Proposals The priority for this Call for proposals is to increase access to justice by strengthening the capacity of the paralegal services in the country. This implies strengthening the capacities of the paralegal centres/organizations, improve women rights protection, build capacities of the local government authority, empower communities legally and increasing the sustainability of legal aid providers including paralegals. How much is available and for how long? The maximum grant available for each district is Tsh 25,000,000 per year, of which each partner will subgrant a minimum of Tsh 6,000,000 and maximum of Tsh 8,000,000 to the paralegal unit/organization in each district. Funding will vary per organization depending on the number of the districts and or paralegal units existing in the specific region. Requirement for the applicant organization In order to be eligible for this call for proposals which will result in a four year grant cycle, applicant organisations must demonstrate that: They are a non-governmental organisation, not for profit regally established Have a solid, transparent governance structure; Well established (financial, M&E) management systems and report writing skills including experience with sub granting and grant management skills Experience with capacity building approaches to individuals, groups, organizations i.e. paralegals organizations and local government authority Previous experience in training/facilitation skills and development Have well-functioning office in the specific region Have worked as legal aid provider or on a capacity building and development roles for 4 - year or longer; 2

3 Experience in working with paralegals and proven track record for providing support to the established paralegal units/organizations will be an added advantage Experience in working with the local government authorities at different levels. Requirements for the proposed action Actions which may be financed under this call for proposals that: Significantly increasing people s awareness of their rights under the law through legal education, and thus contribute to empowering people and communities as well as creating demand for legal aid services. In addition how the legal education will be offered, number of groups that the program will be working with and how they will be engaged in the program Describe approaches for the capacity development of paralegal units and other stakeholders such as local government leaders Are directly contributing to the LSF objectives and results in all aspects and or specific aspects of the results Demonstrate improved integration and partnership among legal aid providers and other stakeholders delivery of services as well as timely referrals and effective communication between providers. Clearly demonstrate a specific change that they would like to bring in the community that would have positive effect to women and other vulnerable members of the community. This also include the process on how this change will be achieved Demonstrate clearly how the change process will be measured and who will be involved in the measurement Demonstrate a clear approach on how it s going to develop the capacities of the paralegal units/organizations and measurable expected outcome i.e. resources that will be raised by units Designed in such a way that could be maintained at the community level in terms of direction and management and with secured resources in the foreseeable future. Guarantee a high level of quality of legal Aid services include approaches to increase quality of legal aid provision in areas where the applicant is already operational. Have a contribution to the improvement of legal aid services and measure satisfaction levels of clients to ensure quality of services in a cost effective and efficient manner. Include in addition to the above a significant component of increasing people s awareness of their rights under the law, legal education, and thus contribute to empowering people and communities as well as creating demand for legal aid services. 3

4 What will not be funded? Credit or loan schemes Debts and provisions for losses or debts Purchases of land and buildings Scholarships, sponsorships and school fees Cash donations Political and religious activities Application process To assist in the preparation of proposals the LSF has compiled an application pack that can be collected from the LSF office from Wednesday 01 st June, 2016, from onward at the address given below. The application pack contains various documents, including detailed application guidelines and an application form. Application guidelines and forms can also be downloaded from our website as from Wednesday 01 st June 2016 from onward. In order to discuss with applicants in more detail the requirements for applicants and their proposals and any other matters that may come up, the LSF team will be avillable to provide clarification throughout the proposal development process Any questions can be addressed by at: The following documents must be attached to the proposal The statutes or articles of association of the applicant organisation and, where appropriate; The applicant s most recent annual report and accounts (financial statements for the previous financial year). An external audit report (including management letter) produced by an approved auditor, certifying the accounts for the last financial year available. Where and how to send the applications The deadline for receipt of proposals is Thursday, 30 th June 2016, at 4: pm Applications must be received in a sealed envelope by registered mail, courier or by hand-delivery (a signed and dated certificate of receipt will be given to the deliverer) at the address below: Postal address Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Legal Services Facility P.O. Box Dar es Salaam 4

5 Physical address for hand delivery, or delivery by private courier service Legal Services Facility Bima Street-Nyati Road, Near Ushindi Primary School Mikocheni B-Dar es Salaam 5