Improving legal assistance for GBV survivors

Asistensia Legal ba Feto no Labarik (ALFeLa) provides a critical legal aid service for women and children in Timor-Leste. To support this important service, Catalpa has developed software that enables legal officers and managers to securely enter client case information, store key client information, flag cases for follow up, as well as generate reports in Tetun and English.

“It has enabled lawyers and legal officers in each municipality to input data directly themselves - instead of giving it to a central team in Dili to manage,” said ALFeLa Director Dr. Marcelina Maria Fernanda Amaral.

“We can now store relevant client documents in the database such as client photos and information on cases of gender based violence already recorded in the Penal Code. We have access to easy reporting dashboards which track staff performance, as well as reports on criminal and civil cases.”

A series of human-centred design workshops and co-design activities allowed our team to develop a deep empathy and understanding of the challenges faced by legal teams in serving their clients. Working collaboratively with end-users, the technology was focused on improving case management practices in practical and sustainable ways.

“We are extremely grateful to Catalpa for enhancing our work processes on client cases and must express our sincere gratitude for the support from The Asian Foundation’s Nabilan program,” said Dr Amaral.