Conflict resolution: Experts to discuss role of paralegals

Conference is organised by UNDP and RSPN under the Strengthening Rule of Law Project

ISLAMABAD: To enhance the role of paralegals in resolving conflicts, the country’s first national conference on community-based paralegals kicks off here on Monday (today).

The event featured national and international paralegal practitioners, community representatives and government officials, who are participating in different interactive sessions including dialogues, presentations, group and panel discussions, in order to seek government support in recognising the role of paralegals as providers of justice at a community level.

The conference has been organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN), under the Strengthening Rule of Law Project, and is taking place from July 25 to July 26 at a local hotel.

The attendees are set to exchange knowledge, share experiences, map challenges, and agree on a unified way forward. With the participation of international experts, the conference will be particularly pertinent for national stakeholders who can draw on these varied experiences, to adapt them to their own context.

South Asia’s first conference on paralegals, is being held under the banner of The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) output, a European Union’s funded component of UNDP’s Strengthening Rule of Law Project (SRLP), which is being implemented in the province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and is focusing on reforming statutory ADR mechanisms and legal empowerment through community-based paralegals.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2016.