Branch Offices/Focal Points:

Mutawinat has established nine focal points in the cities of Port Sudan, Kassala, Gadarif, El-Damar, Shendi, Kosti, El-Obied, Nyala, Wad Medani and El-Fashir. The focal point usually comprises a lawyer or a group of lawyers who volunteer to provide pro bono legal services and participate in the training sessions in their vicinity. Mutawinat contributes to rent and start up expenses of focal points whenever possible.

Partnerships 

To provide better legal services Mutawinat has started to gradually forming partnerships with already existing NGOs/CBOs that have similar mandates or encourage local community activists to establish new NGOs/CBOs. We have partnerships and collaborations with Friedrich ebert foundation, UNHCR, UNDP, The Norwegian refugee council, and Christian Aid. So far Mutawinat has either raised funds or partnered with other organizations to implement the following projects:

Direct Legal Aid

Mutawinat receives cases through various sources: courts, police stations, prisons, lawyers and sometimes people may walk in to request legal aid. In 2003 Mutawinat started a hot line service. The phone number (0183-762527) appears in the various Mutawinat publications and is provided to clients to give to others who may need services. Mutawinat has also signed a letter of understanding with the legal aid office at the Attorney General, according to which the AG sends cases to Mutawinat. The Ministry of Interior also directs some cases to the Mutawinat. However, word of mouth remains a strong means of propagating Mutawinat’s work.

Legal Awareness & Human Rights Education

The Legal Awareness project was initiated in 1997.  It developed into a small project of Legal Awareness, Human Rights Education, and Paralegal Training in 2000 by funding from Christian Aid organization covering only Khartoum state and targeting women in the outskirts of the cities and IDPs camps. This project works to:

·  Train paralegals.

·  Provide legal rights education.

·  Raise public awareness using brochures, pamphlets, newsletters and oral lessons for non-literate people.

·  Improve Monitoring, Reporting and Documentation on violations of the rights of women.

·  Improve the local communities’ human rights awareness

Other components of the program include:

Legal Services for Imprisoned women’s: 

In 2005, Mutawinat established an on-site legal aid clinic at the Women’s Prison of Omdurman that proved to be an effective legal aid provider that covers the different legal needs of women prisoners.

Advocacy for legal reform and lobbying activities:

Mutawinat has been increasingly involved in advocacy work, legal reform and lobbying activities. To advocate for and build support for issues related to Juvenile Justice, child and women rights, Mutawinat deploys a number of strategies that include networking, carrying out of training workshops, dissemination of information, and use of mass media channels.

Mutawinat continues, with the help of its funders and partners, to grow into a strong organization that keeps up with the changes in the Sudan.

Current Activities:

There are 8 current activities conducted under 4 main programs:

1-Women’s Rights Program.

1)  Direct Legal Aid:

Includes, representation of poor women and children in courts, writing appeals, follow-up cases, payment of fines under necessary cases, also it includes, regular visit to Prisons and reformatories (twice a week) to follow-up cases, monthly symposiums about basic legal knowledge for imprisoned women, and detained children.

2)  Production of Legal Pamphlets:

These pamphlets produced to diffuse information on different current laws and issues, below are the 20 pamphlets that have been produced so far:

•    Nationality Law of 1997.

•    Personal Status Law for Muslims Act of 1991 (three brochures on Custody, Maintenance, and Divorce).

•    Labor Law of 1997 (2 pamphlets on the Work Contract, and governing the work of

     women and children).

•    Rent Act.

•    Evidence Law.

•    Public Orders and Discipline Act.

•    Criminal Act of 1991.

•    Criminal Procedures Act.

•    The Rules of Treatment of Prisoners, and Prisons Management.

•    Drugs Law.

•    The Status of Sudanese Women in The Constitution of 1998.

•    The procedures of Civil Appeal.

•    Juvenile Welfare Act of 1983.

•    The Idea of Paralegal.

•    The African Charter for Child Welfare.

•    The Harmonization of Juvenile Welfare Act of 1983 and the International   

     Convention on Rights of Child (CRC).

•    Non-official summary of the United Nations Convention on the elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

These pamphlets inform literate women who in turn help us spread the word verbally among non-literate women.  They are also used for purposes of training of law enforceent officials on gender issues.

3) Training Program:

Mutawinat is leading very successful training programs for different

target groups as follows:

•    Judges. *

•    Police and Prisons Officers. *

•    Scouts Leaders (boys and girls). *

•    Community Leaders

•    Religious Leaders.

•    Trade Unionists.

•    Small Scale Enterprises.

•    Cooperative Societies members.

 * Theywere trained on harmonization of the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) content and the Current laws.  They were  also provided with information on other international conventions. As well as gender issues in law enforcement.

 4) Paralegal Training:

In 1998, Mutawinat staff benefited from a training of trainers offered by Women in Law and

Development in Africa (WiLDAF).  (Mutawinat Group succeeded in using WiLDAF’s Women’s Legal Rights Manual , to train literate men and women who live among the displaced women in displacement camps and shantytowns.  Paralegals  who function at the community based level help women to:

•    Access legal services available only in the city center, such as writing a statement of claim.

•    Raise awarenes regarding the law, therefore have some ability to resist abuse by police and other law enforcement agents.

•    settle legal disputes within their communities.

10 Paralegal training sessions have so far been held in Khartoum State and Portsudan.

 2-  Juvenile Justice Program.

Direct Legal aid and publications:

As outlined above.

3-    Community Awareness Program for combating Female Genital Mutilation (CAP).

This program is for combating female circumcision/Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Mutawinat Group follows an innovative integrated strategy.  We  held a workshop that brought together the  legal profession, the media, youth groups, education strategists.  Recommendations were dissemenated to different groups, chief among the recommendations is a new methodology of research. The current activities are on leadership and advocacy.

4-  Research,Publications, Discussion Groups and Documentation.

1- Quarterly Newsletters:

Two newsletters are produced quarterly, CHILDREN FIRST, which covers main and thematic issues concerning children such as (Immunization, Female Circumcision, Landmines, Children of War, Child Labor, and Judiciary system affecting children’s rights and status.. .etc. “MUTAWINAT”, a newsletter that covers different events with concentration on women’s issues, such as, constitutional and legal rights, UN Conventions, international women’s day on March 2000, local law banning women from work, Orientation session on all major UN and other international events.

2)  Legal/Socio-economic Awareness Forum:

These fora are conducting periodically (5 fora per year). This program started in 1990 with collaboration of Fredrich Ebert Foundation (FES), Khartoum Office, many legal issues were discussed, such as Maintenance, Custody, Labor Laws, Nationality Law, Public Orders Act, and its the impact women’s mobility in Khartoum State.

The socio-economic for a, discussed current issues such as:

-The impact of poverty on women in law paid work.

-The impact of Structural Adjustment Policies on women.

-Globalization (Gainers and Losers).

-The impact of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COMESA) Agreements on Women’s working in Industrial Sector.

The goal of these fora are to:

-Open up a dialogue of thematic and important issues.

-Mobilize the participants to put pressure and lobby government to adopt fair policies.

-Encourage the participants to adopt legal awareness within their organizations and Institutions programs and mandate.

The target group are, National and International NGOs staff, Policy Makers, and Activists. About 170 participants attended these for a in 2000

3) Researches and Surveys:

The first research was done on women’s rights and inflation and it included a survey of low income women in Khartoum.

A study has been conducted for reviewing  of all laws and regulations, that govern women and children, the report has been deveopled.

Monitoring and Evaluation:

There is a regular meeting (general meeting) on a monthly basis to discus the work progress and any problems that arise during programs implementation, and to go over court cases. Reports must be submitted by coordinators of each activity. The meeting also discusses notices and observations by the public or agencies that Mutawinat conducts business with or at, other NGOs, stakeholders, and beneficiaries of or services. Mutawinat’s Strategic Plan Workshop, provided external evaluation of Mutawinat by other organization.