Carter Center to Host Legal Empowerment Forum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Melanie Reimer
In Guyana, 592-227-4096, or

Kay Torrance
In Atlanta, 404-420-5129

Georgetown, Guyana….The Carter Center Guyana will host a legal empowerment forum at Umana Yana in Georgetown on Saturday, July 12, that will involve more than 60 participants mostly from Regions 4 and 10. This will be the third and final in a series of regional forums on key legal issues to inform and mobilize organizations and agencies across the country to realize women's full legal rights. This forum, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, will focus on domestic violence and related legal issues, including problems of access to legal advice for persons who cannot afford a lawyer.

Chancellor of the Judiciary Desiree Bernard, known for her dedication to women's legal empowerment, will give the opening address. Civil society and public service representatives will participate in the forum, and panelists will include an attorney from the Guyana Association of Women's Lawyers, a member of the Association of Professional Social Workers, a senior probation officer, and a Help and Shelter representative.

Following a panel discussion and presentation on advocacy skills, participants will identify problems related to domestic violence and access to legal advice and develop recommendations and action plans to target specific issues and agencies.

This forum is part of the Carter Center's work to improve the participation of civil society in formation of public policy and to raise the level of legal awareness among the people of Guyana. These activities are implemented under the auspices of the United States Agency for International Development program, More Responsive and Participatory Governance and Rule of Law in Guyana.

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