LAC gets award for human rights work

THE Legal Assistance Centre last week received the prestigious Human Rights Award from the JP Karuaihe Trust Fund Awards for its continuous work in providing outstanding human rights litigation.

Highlighting why the LAC was given the award, Retha Steinmann, Director of the Law Society, said: “Having considered the important work done by the Legal Assistance Centre in the human rights field on a daily basis with limited resources and seeing that the LAC is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year, the panel decided to award the Human Rights Award to the LAC as a token of our appreciation for the important role that they play in this field.” Renowned for its efforts to make the law accessible to those with the least access the overarching aim of the LAC is to create and maintain a human rights culture in Namibia.During the course of its 20-year tenure, the LAC has made significant contributions to the drafting of laws dealing with labour relations, gender equality, children’s rights, violence against women, land reform and environmental protection; and has litigated in several court matters to defend the rights of the marginalised in Namibia.The JP Karuaihe Trust Fund, named for Judge Johannes Paulus ‘Fonnie’ Karuaihe, was launched in March 1999, and has since funded the studies of 28 law students, with an aim to “uplift and empower Namibians who want to study law, through the acquisition of knowledge in the Legal Profession and also to assist in realising the United Nations Millennium Goals as well as Namibia’s Vision 2030.”Renowned for its efforts to make the law accessible to those with the least access the overarching aim of the LAC is to create and maintain a human rights culture in Namibia.During the course of its 20-year tenure, the LAC has made significant contributions to the drafting of laws dealing with labour relations, gender equality, children’s rights, violence against women, land reform and environmental protection; and has litigated in several court matters to defend the rights of the marginalised in Namibia.The JP Karuaihe Trust Fund, named for Judge Johannes Paulus ‘Fonnie’ Karuaihe, was launched in March 1999, and has since funded the studies of 28 law students, with an aim to “uplift and empower Namibians who want to study law, through the acquisition of knowledge in the Legal Profession and also to assist in realising the United Nations Millennium Goals as well as Namibia’s Vision 2030.”