Building Civil Society Legal Capacity in West and Central Africa Regional Workshop Report

The report details a three-year project (April 2012 to September 2015) funded by the UK Department for International Development to empower civil society organisations (CSOs) and indigenous people and local communities (IPLC) in West and Central Africa. The project focused on increasing access to forest legislation, creating legal knowledge networks through Legal Working Groups (LWGs), and developing diagnostic tools to analyse the recognition of six focus rights: access to information, participation in decision-making, access to justice, property rights, rights of use, and the right to a share in profits. Key outcomes included the creation of legal databases, the provision of legal training, and the drafting of legislative proposals to improve forest governance and the implementation of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) and the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR).

• The project successfully increased the legal capacity and credibility of civil society organisations in Gabon, Ghana, and the Republic of Congo, enabling them to participate more effectively in multi-stakeholder forest governance processes and legal reforms.
• The establishment of Legal Working Groups (LWGs) provided a mechanism for in-depth legal analysis and the formulation of specific proposals, such as amending the legality grid for VPA negotiations and drafting benefit sharing agreements in Gabon, and creating transparency lists for logging documents in Ghana.
• The creation of legal databases—distributed via online platforms, USB sticks, and paper copies—addressed significant gaps in access to legislation, benefiting not only project partners but also university students and government authorities.
• The use of diagnostic tools and legal briefings based on six focus rights (procedural and substantive) allowed CSOs to identify gaps in national laws and align them with international and regional sustainable forest management standards.
• The role of the In-Country Associate (ICA) was critical for coordinating LWGs, providing essential legal expertise, and maintaining the project's neutrality and independence.
• Formal partnerships between international organisations and governments, such as the agreement signed between ClientEarth and the Ministry of Forestry and Water in Gabon in October 2013, can effectively bypass stalled VPA processes to involve civil society in law-making.

APA

ClientEarth (2015). Building Civil Society Legal Capacity in West and Central Africa Regional Workshop Report. https://www.clientearth.org/media/qnyfszl2/2015-04-28-building-civil-society-legal-capacity-in-west-and-central-africa-ce-en.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Building Civil Society Legal Capacity in West and Central Africa Regional Workshop Report. 2015. https://www.clientearth.org/media/qnyfszl2/2015-04-28-building-civil-society-legal-capacity-in-west-and-central-africa-ce-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Building Civil Society Legal Capacity in West and Central Africa Regional Workshop Report |date=April 2015 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/qnyfszl2/2015-04-28-building-civil-society-legal-capacity-in-west-and-central-africa-ce-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2015building, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Building Civil Society Legal Capacity in West and Central Africa Regional Workshop Report}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2015}, month = apr, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/qnyfszl2/2015-04-28-building-civil-society-legal-capacity-in-west-and-central-africa-ce-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }