Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Takamul Initiative will launch on Sunday the third of phase of its recruitment of volunteers to give free legal services to applicants in need.

The initiative recruits 100 young men and women and trains them to offer legal services to applicants in need every year. The volunteers will offer 1 million voluntary hours over the next 10 years to support plaintiffs in personal status and labor courts in all areas of the Kingdom.

Takamul Legal Aid Initiative President Majed Qaroub said all volunteers are trained by judges and certified legal academics.

“Takamul is a non-profit initiative and it gives volunteers 200 training hours dispersed throughout an entire year. The initiative will choose 100 volunteers every year so in 10 years it will have 1,000 volunteers. All the volunteers are graduates of law and each one of them will give 100 hours a year to the initiative,” said Qaroub.

He added that the initiative already dealt with 200 legal cases in Saudi courts and offered 3,000 legal consultancy sessions over the past three years.

“The initiative also signed agreements with national entities such as the Tarahum (The National Committee for the Care of Prisoners) and the Human Resources Development Fund, Majed Society and King Khalid Foundation,” said Qaroub.

Takamul Initiative Supervisor Dalia Al-Thunayyan said the initiative aims to give all citizens and residents a legal representation when they need it.

“Sixty percent of disputes reaching the courts are personal status cases and labor cases. The program has helped many mothers that have been struggling for years to see their children who are kept away from them by their fathers. One case the Takamul volunteers handled was that of a mother who hasn’t seen her children in eight years. Through our program, she finally earned custody of her children,” said Al-Thunayyan.