Emergency Fund Granted to the Foundation of Local Democracy

Under the scope of the Triple A project co-funded by the European Commission, ECAS has awarded an Emergency Fund grant to the Foundation of Local Democracy (FLD), an organization in Bosnia. They were successful in applying to the call for proposals which was open to pilot projects from the first phase.

FLD’s main focus is in the area of protection, promotion and the advancement of human rights: particularly, the rights of victims of gender based violence. For example, FLD set up a Safe House (Domestic Violence shelter) in 2000, which provides physical care in addition to psychological, social, health, educational and legal aid.

In the first phase of Triple A, FLD was able to provide free legal aid to hundreds of extra clients and worked to create an optimal model of free legal aid in the canton of Sarajevo. This involved providing access to information, advice and active help services through the work of the Centre for Legal Assistance for women and also seeking to create comprehensive and efficient access to free legal aid services to citizens through the cooperation of the government and NGO sector.

With the Emergency Funding, FLD plans to continue the work begun in the first phase by accomplishing three main objectives, which are:

1. Creating more comprehensive and accessible free legal aid to citizens through the cooperation of the governmental and non-governmental sectors.
2. Drafting a Strategy for the development of free legal aid in the Sarajevo Canton.
3. Facilitating access to justice for vulnerable and marginalized groups of citizens through the work of the Centre for Legal Assistance of the Foundation of Local Democracy.