AGHS LEGAL AID CELL
Budget
€611,898
EP Access
0
accredited persons
Staff
2
1.5 FTE
EU Grants
€201,093
Mission & Goals
AGHS Legal Aid Cell was co-founded by the late Asma Jahangir in 1987 and registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860 as a non-profit organization providing legal aid, continuing on to become the largest service provider for legal aid services in Punjab. It was founded as the first women-led law firm in Pakistan by four female activists seeking to establish a civil society organization predicated to provide vulnerable women and children a respite from the repressive regime change known as the Hudood era in the late 20th century. AGHS, during this time, spearheaded the emerging women’s rights movement in Pakistan which sought women’s empowerment and protection based on democratic principles of rule of law and gender equality. AGHS continues to provide legal relief to women, children and religious minorities on a pro bono basis. As AGHS is a non-profit service provider, it intends to continue its work as a legal aid cell and provide access to justice to women and others.
EU Legislative Interests
The organisation participated as a panellist in the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) Briefing on the situation of human rights in Pakistan, scheduled on 18th February 2025, and the applicant is a prominent human rights organisation renowned for its work specifically in regard to women's empowerment through enabling access to justice and promoting gender-centric legal reforms through court intervention, advocacy campaigns and lobbying legislative reforms within Pakistan in collaboration with relevant stakeholders. The organisation holds unique insight and expertise in the field of women's rights in civil, criminal and constitutional matters and its large output of legal aid provides the organisation with expertise to put forth the situation of human rights in relation with rights of girls and women in Pakistan during the above titled meeting. The organisation has previously entertained DROI delegates in Pakistan in 2022 when the Committee visited Pakistan to ascertain the human rights situation in relation to Pakistan's GSP+ status. The organisation is a awardee of many EU Delegation grant projects on freedom of expression, civil discourse and third-party legal advisory services during its tenure as a non-profit organisation and is well-versed with priority areas of the EU in Pakistan. Currently, the organisation is implementing two 3-year projects awarded to the interest participant by the EU Delegation to Pakistan: "Trans Provincial Intervention For Reformative Capacity–Building, Enabling Access To Justice And Advocacy Through Outreach Programs With Actors In The Criminal Justice System" (Project ref: NDICI HR INTPA/2025/488228 - PC-67380) with implementation initiated on 1st January 2026 and scheduled for completion by 31st December 2028, and "Protecting Freedom of expression and strengthening civic space in Pakistan" (Project ref: NDICI HR INTPA/2023/450-602) with implementation initiated on 1st January 2024 and scheduled for completion by 31st December 2026. Previously, the EU has funded the interest participant in "Legal Advice to the EU Delegation" (Project ref: DEVCO-PN-2020-0000053) to provide legal advisory services to the EU Delegation in Pakistan on issues relating to sexual harassment at the workplace in SUCCESS Programme in Sindh. The EU Delegation is also the largest financial contributor to the Annual Asma Jahangir Conference - the largest legal and human rights conference in South Asia - held in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024, with its sixth iteration slated for February 2026. In its primary work as a legal aid cell, the interest participant is directly engaged in improving the ground situation to align Pakistan with SDGs 5 and 16 and international treaties ratified by Pakistan, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention.
Interests Represented
Does not represent commercial interests
Member Of
AGHS Legal Aid Cell is a non-profit organisation and is sponsored by funding agencies, some of which are listed as follows: - EU Delegation to Pakistan - Embassy of Kingdom of Netherlands in Pakistan - Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pakistan - Open Society Foundation (OSI/OSF)/Foundation to Promote Open Society (FPOS) - Canada Fund for Local Initiatives - Embassy of Switzerland AGHS Legal Aid Cell is affiliated with other civil society organisations in Pakistan that work towards the furtherance of human rights and civil discourse, a few of such organisations are listed below (these organisations are non-remunerative and the participant's affiliation is voluntary): - Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (https://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/) - Joint Action Committee (https://x.com/jac1988_?lang=en) - Violence Against Women Centre Multan - Special Committee under the Anti-rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, 2021 - Women Action Forum (https://womensactionforumlahore.org/) - Peace & Justice Network Punjab (https://pjn.org.pk/home/page/76)
Organisation Members
AGHS Legal Aid Cell is affiliated with other civil society organisations in Pakistan that work towards the furtherance of human rights and civil discourse, a few of such organisations are listed below (these organisations are non-remunerative and the participant's affiliation is voluntary): - Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (https://hrcp-web.org/hrcpweb/) - Joint Action Committee (https://x.com/jac1988_?lang=en) - Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) Multan - Special Committee under the Anti-rape (Investigation and Trial) Act, 2021 - Women Action Forum (https://womensactionforumlahore.org/) - Peace & Justice Network Punjab (https://pjn.org.pk/home/page/76)
Additional Information
All the values inserted above are values that have been credited into the accounts of the organisation for the closed or current financial years, these values do not reflect the total grant values of the projects as the payment forecast is spread over multiple years.
Commissioner Meetings
No recorded meetings with EU commissioners.