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FIDA-GHANA PROGRAMS

Legal Aid Services
Legal Literacy Program
Advocacy and Awareness Creation

FIDA-Ghana established the first Legal Aid Program in the area of counseling, alternate despute resolution, and court representation in matters involving maintenance of children, custody of children, paternity issues, child marriages, inheritance issues, marital problems, property issues, domestic violence, general abuse of women and children and other related matters which promote human rights and enhance the status of women and children.
The Centre is open from Monday through Friday and services are provided by volunteer female member lawyers, assisted by National Service Peersonnel. There has been a steady increase in the flow of Aid Applicants attending the clinics. The informal atmosphere that prevails in the clinics is conducibve to the interaction of Legal Aid Officers with Legal Aid Applicants for better understanding and resolution of the latter's problems. The clinics have not only afforded a valuable opportunity for interaction eith those seeking aid but also providid a good forum for educatinh them on their legal rights and obligations. Men are also Aid applicants and have benefitted from FIDA-Ghana's Services.
The overwhelming success of this program is shown by the increase in the number of cases handled by the center. From Eight Hundred and Fifty (850) cases handled between 1985 and 1989, the Center handled One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Five (1,895) cases in the year 2002. FIDA-Ghana complements the works of the offices in Accra, Kumasi and Koforidua through the operation of Mobile Legal Aid Clinics across the length and breadth of the country.

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The activities of FIDA-Fhana include a legal literacy program. The literacy program is ained at educating the public in general, and women in particular, on their rights and obligations.
The Literacy Program takes the form of:
a. Simplification and tranclation of laws affecting women, and children
b. Seminars, fora, workshops and media programs to educate the women and children on these laws.

To this end, FIDA-Ghana's aim is to produce simplified versions of the relevant laws as well as the translation of these laws into the major Ghanaian dialects. Legislation simplified and translated so far include laws on Intestate Succession, Wills, Marriage, Divorce and the Rights of the Ghanaian Child.The choice of laws to translate has been influence strongly by the extent to which such laws specially affected women and children. The translations are printed in seperated booklets for each peice of legislation. The booklets are distributed free of charge through the various outreach programs undertaken throughout the country.

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In pursuit for law reform to enhance the welfare of women and children, FIDA-Ghana inclose collaboration with other organisations, has played an active role in procuring the passage of such fundamental legislation as the Intestate sucession Law (PNDCL 111), the Customary Marriage and Succession Law (PNDCL 112), the Aministration of Estate (Amendment) Law (PNDCL114). The children's Act 1998 (Act 560), and tge Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 1998 (Act554).

Based on its research finding as well as conclusion of the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) of the Ghana Police Service, FIDA-Ghana called for the initiation of a Private Member's Bill on Domestic Violence in parliament. The Bill is currently in Parliament awaiting fine-tuning and eventual passage.

FIDA-Ghana has organised workshops and seminars on the human rights of women, particularly violence against women. These workshops and seminars have focused on the training of law enforcement agents, as well as other members of society in various parts of the country.[back to top]