Throughout the world, but particularly in developing countries, poor people do not have access to legal information and advice and therefore lack access to justice. While the rich buy the services of a lawyer, the poor cannot. This booklet describes a project of the Active Learning Centre, which is hosted by CR&DALL that has established rights advice and information centres in two areas in Malawi, Mangochi and Dedza and is piloting ways of delivering outreach services in rural areas.

This booklet sets out the methods and ways in which the project established its centres and outreach services to identify lessons learned. A similar legal aid project exists in Ethiopia, which was started earlier than the Malawi one, and from time to time reference is made to lessons learned which have been incorporated in the Malawi model. The experience of the project is offered as a way of informing and improving future legal advice services in Malawi. Other partners in the project funded by the Scottish Government are the Malawi Centre for Advice Research and Education on Rights (Malawi CARER) and the British Council, Malawi.