The Legal Support Activity (LSA) commenced in October 2021 to promote an enabling legal framework for civil society, raise awareness of citizens’ legal rights, and support a more responsive justice sector in Tajikistan. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), LSA provides support in three key areas: improved legal environment for civil society to effectively engage, monitor, and advocate in public policy development; enhanced role of civil society in the legal empowerment of citizens through legal awareness, advocacy, and participation; and, improved professional competence of the judiciary, legal profession, and lawmakers. The program has a specific focus on inclusion of especially vulnerable and marginalized populations in Tajikistan.
Legal Support Program in Tajikistan
Recent accomplishments of the program include:
- Supported the Parliamentary Working Group on Social Entrepreneurship’s efforts to conduct a series of public consultations across Tajikistan for civil society organizations (CSOs) and small and medium enterprises to receive feedback on draft legislation.
- Conducted a six-day legal empowerment training-of-trainers program to support the provision of legal services to vulnerable women and persons with disabilities. Participants in the program will use this training to bring legal aid resources to their communities and provide further trainings to other CSOs and beneficiaries.
- In coordination with the State Agency Legal Aid Center, ABA ROLI developed rules of professional ethics for state lawyers to ensure higher standards of ethics among legal practitioners.
- Awarded subgrants to two local partners to implement critical trainings and capacity building efforts to CSOs.;