A participant said, “A conference of this nature is supposed to reach every prison officer. This was an eye opener.” Some workshops had participation from both the police and prison services. The post-workshop evaluation indicated the participants had enhanced their knowledge of managing cases of children coming into contact with the law. Among the recommendations made was the need for prison officers to offer counselling to juveniles prior to administration of corporal punishment. They were also asked to conduct case conferencing three to six months after sentence to monitor any change in behaviour in juvenile offenders. Participants agreed that the juvenile justice system should move away from being retributive towards rehabilitation, thus restoring the impaired functioning of children. Administration of Estates Workshop – Bulawayo The LRF held a workshop for 15 officers (60% women) from the Bulawayo High Court Deceased Estates Section, to hone the expertise of the officers dealing with deceased estates as well as to address some of the common problems encountered during the administration of estates. A similar workshop was held in Harare in 2011 for the High Court and Magistrates’ Courts staff where advocacy issues such as the need for decentralisation of the High Court came up. Some of the issues that were discussed at the workshop included requirements for registering an estate, executor’s functions, requirements for issuance for letters of administration, completion of bond and waiver, and the Deceased Persons Maintenance Act. The participants were appreciative of the guidance in standardising their work as to date each officer had applied his or her own approach. The presentations were compiled into a short document which the officers will use for reference in the short term while a more complete manual is being developed with input from other stakeholders. Urban and Rural District Councils As a pilot project, the LRF embarked on working with one Urban Council and two Rural District Councils and the local Residents and Ratepayers Association. Most of the elected officials were new in this role and the relevant Acts are voluminous and very dense, making it difficult for them to be properly acquainted with their roles and responsibilities. As a first step, summarised versions of the Urban and Rural Councils Acts and Chapter 14 of the Constitution were prepared. Masvingo was selected as the urban council; 16 councillors took part in the five one-day workshops, 14 women and two men. The objective of the two one-day workshops held with the Masvingo Residents and Ratepayers’ Association was to capacitate them to advocate confidently for better service delivery from their local authority as well as to enhance their knowledge of their rights and the role of the local government. 29 residents attended, 19 women and ten men. Emphasis was placed on those legislative provisions that affect residents, ratepayers and the Council. The participants not only pledged to work for the improvement of service delivery in Masvingo, but also to work with the LRF in promoting knowledge of other areas of concern such as inheritance and domestic violence. The participants sought the LRF’s assistance in organising a workshop between the Masvingo City Council and themselves, with many of the participants indicating that they had not been aware of the procedures to follow when claiming their rights from city officials. The two Rural District Councils selected for the pilot training were Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe District and Murehwa. Two workshops were held for each, and they were also attended by the heads of different departments within the Councils and the District Administration. Attendance varied from day to day when council officials went off to attend to other council business, although in UMP of the 20 councillors, the Council Chairperson and 17 councillors (6 females and 11 males) were at all sessions. The Murehwa workshop had a low participant turnout on the first day as some councillors and council officials were called to another workshop in Nyanga, but overall 46 men and 11 women attended the sessions. 25