The National Alliance for the Development of Community Advice Offices (Nadcao) is committed to the development and long-term sustainability of Community Advice Offices (CAOs). Nadcao was formed as an alliance of human rights organisations in 2004, supported by several key donors including the CS Mott Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Foundation for Human Rights (FHR), in response to the limited prospects for the long-term sustainability of the CAO sector in South Africa.
Nadcao's vision is to ensure that by 2013, the sustainability of an effective (and unified) advice office sector in South Africa has been assured through the:
- recognition of standards (in relation to resource requirements, service delivery, capacity);
- adoption of appropriate systems (to enable access to support individual offices and sector);
- introduction of effective institutional funding models, and through the emergence of structures and a unified voice to represent the sector.
Nadcao has developed an inclusive strategy for the sector, through which it seeks to achieve its vision.
Objectives
Nadcao’s overall objective is to ensure that by 2013, access to justice at the community level is not only a permanent policy focus but is characterised by an institutional model that provides structured, ongoing support to the sector, particularly the work of CAOs and community-based paralegals.
Key Strategic Objectives are to:
- Facilitate the provision of relevant support and development services and resources for the sector;
- Mobilise resources for the sector in the context of a newly defined model of sustainability; and
- Articulate the issues of the sector supported by an authoritative national knowledge source.
This website is not only about the work of Nadcao and its efforts to achieve recognition and sustainability for the CAO sector. It also provides an insight into the incredible commitment and efforts of the management committee members, volunteers and staff working in CAOs, trying to improve the lives of people in their respective communities.
