LBH offices allowed to raise funds

JAKARTA: Legal Aid Institute (LBH) offices across the country will continue to provide pro bono services as their parent organization, the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), has decided to allow them to raise funds following its financial difficulties.

"We have agreed to let the LBH offices raise funds themselves as we can't play a central role any longer," Wirawan of LBH Bandung, who presided over the YLBHI national meeting, said on Friday.

A total of 14 LBH offices agreed that they would start raising funds from those local and international donors that are not banned by the YLBHI.

The LBH offices will also continue to recognize the YLBHI as their parent organization despite the fact that they will be allowed to finance their own operations.

The LBH offices used to depend financially on the YLBHI, the only party previously permitted to raise funds. The YLBHI used to pay out Rp 500 million a month to fund the running of the LBH offices.

The YLBHI's financial shortages worsened after it severed ties with funding organizations from the United States, Australia and Britain in protest against these countries' involvement in the attack on Iraq. -- JP