Commission to sign MOU
THE Legal Aid Commission is set to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Fiji Disabled People’s Federation as part of its efforts to increase access to justice for Fijians.
Commission director Shahin Ali said the MOU would ensure that all people living with disabilities had access to the commission’s services.
He said the commission had also recruited the Fiji Disabled People’s Federation to carry out an audit of the commission’s offices across the country.
“The purpose of the independent audit is for us at the Legal Aid Commission to see for ourselves whether our facilities are able to cater for persons living with disabilities. We want to find out how truly accessible are our services and find out whether our buildings are easily accessible to members of the public with special needs.”
He explained that community advocates such as the Fiji Disabled People’s Federation played an integral part of their work.
“Although they cannot offer legal advice, they are important in terms of referrals and they have the necessary information that people will need to access our services. We have worked with the Soqosoqo Vakamarama as well and they have been effective in that they reach the grassroots level communities and they have been able to provide a bridge for us.
“It is these types of partnerships that we mainly engage in to take our services to rural communities.”
Mr Ali was part of a Human Rights Community Advocates Training workshop in Nadi this week.