Lessons from supporting ‘access to justice’ in Rwanda

This paper assesses the effects of donor support to the Legal Aid Forum (LAF) in Rwanda, a member based network of organisations active in the provision of legal aid. The evaluation included a nation-wide survey in order to assess whether citizens exposed to LAF activities experienced better access to and quality of legal aid. In addition, documents were consulted and interviews conducted with a range of stakeholders including some beneficiaries. While the qualitative component of this evaluation confirmed positive aspects of LAF, the survey did not have statistically significant outcomes. By conducting an additional survey two possible explanations for these findings were confirmed. One was related to evaluation design, and the other to project design. Donors had overlooked the political nature of their support for legal aid, with possible harmful consequences for citizens using it. The paper concludes with important lessons for mixed-methods evaluations and for access to justice interventions.