New Partnership will Provide Legal Aid Services in Kenya

Essay

New Partnership will Provide Legal Aid Services in Kenya

Camilo Sanchez with Ampath colleagues

A new collaboration between the University of Virginia School of Law and the Legal Aid Centre of Eldoret (LACE), based at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Kenya will bring essential legal aid services to the region.

This partnership is part of a larger multi-disciplinary collaboration between the AMPATH Consortium and UVA where it will bring expertise in emergency medicine and collaborate on other surgery areas.

UVA Global spoke to Nelson Camilo Sánchez, Assistant Professor of Law, and Director, International Human Rights Law Clinic who is leading this partnership about the collaboration.

Tell us a little bit more about this collaboration.
Sánchez: While most of my work focuses on Latin America, I am excited about this new partnership in Kenya. We will work with LACE, who provides free legal aid services to patients at MTRH. In addition, also work on legal issues help to those who have survived sexual and gender-based violence who currently have no avenues for help.

How do you plan to involve UVA students?
Sánchez: I plan to involve UVA law students on this project. A student will be traveling with me during spring semester to collect more information and I am hoping more students will work on the project during summer.

What will be the duration of the project?
Sanchez: We are still in the early stages of evaluating how best to collaborate which will determine the length of the project.