IDLO has been working to empower some of Brazil’s most disadvantaged, within the framework of the European Union’s EUROsociAL program. The Brasilia Regulations Regarding Access to Justice for Vulnerable People, adopted in 2008, serve as a basis for our intervention. In collaboration with Brazil’s Ministry of Justice, we are leading the Access to Law element of the program, which is co-ordinated by France Expertise Internationale (FEI).
In November 2013, we opened the first Casa de Direitos (House of Rights) in Cidade de Deus, one of Rio’s most impoverished favelas, to provide the local community with basic legal advice and services, e.g. identity papers.The Casa de Direitos is intended as a model. It is already being expanded to the states of Alagoas and Rio Grande do Norte, with more regions being considered. We are meanwhile working to reach out to as many beneficiaries as possible, in a nation where mistrust between poorer citizens and the institutions of the state continues to run deep.