Brussels is a long way from the dusty trading centres and rural sub-counties where BarefootLaw had spent four years trying to put the law within the reach of ordinary people. And yet, in 2017, it was through a foundation based in Belgium that the wider world turned and took notice of what we had been quietly building.
The King Baudouin Foundation awards its Africa Development Prize every two years as a recognition of African-led organisations at the forefront of transformation across the continent, working across disciplines and social sectors. In the 2017 cycle, three organisations were named joint recipients: Farmerline from Ghana, Kytabu from Kenya, and BarefootLaw from Uganda.
The recognition, as the Foundation framed it, was for our innovative approach to providing free legal guidance to the public, and for what they described as an avant-garde use of technology in the service of justice. A radical reimagining, in other words, of how the law could be brought to the footsteps and into the hands of everyday people.
We were four years old. That is worth pausing on.
Four years is young for any organisation. this prestigious, global award shone a timely and necessary light on the work we were doing, its importance, and the urgency with which this work needed to be taken seriously, and to scale.
There is a particular kind of affirmation that comes when others see what you believed all along. The €75,000 in prize money the award came with gave us room to plan to think beyond the next programme cycle and toward how we wanted to grow our innovation, build a robust team and plan to scale out our work. Along with, it brought access to new opportunities and platforms that were previously out of reach for BarefootLaw, and it helped us to showcase our innovation, use of technology, dedication to the law and humanity, and our radical belief for a future where access to justice and prosperity could become a reality for all, especially the underserved communities in Uganda, and across Africa.
Nine years on, the KBF Africa Development Prize remains a watershed moment for us. The KBF have been counsel, amazing partner and supporter of Barefootlaw’s work and journey, offering us insight and guidance along our journey. We are grateful to KBF deeply for this lasting partnership and we look forward to a future of promise, action and impact.
