Project Description: The Leitner Clinic has a long-standing partnership with the Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance in Malawi. Since 2006,  CHREAA paralegals have educated and trained forty community-based educators in Southern Malawi to work with communities on civil justice matters in the rural  areas. CHREAA is hoping to expand its program to other districts and asked the Leitner Clinic to conduct a full review and assessment of the current program and make suggestions for changes based on our previous work with successful  paralegal organizations in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Description of Fieldwork and Project Outcome: In fall 2009, Leitner clinic students researched and drafted a detailed assessment of CHREAA’s legal aid program with a special focus on 1) gender-based violence; 2) land issues; 3) work with  traditional leaders; and 4) case management. Based on an on-the-ground  assessment of the program in Malawi conducted in November 2009, the Leitner Clinic supplied CHREAA with a handbook containing recommendations to ensure  maximum output before expansion of the program. Clinic students Sasha Bass (`10) and Steven Ekechucku (`10) worked on this project under the supervision of Prof. Chi Mgbako, Julie Hassman (law associate at Davis Polk) and Helen Shin (law associate at Skadden Arps).