What has changed in the Village Court as a result of the training? To what extent has the acquired new knowledge of VCOs contributed to delivering equitable and effective services? To what extent does the community perceive improvements in safety and security? This section provides a summary of findings from the ARB study and the Gulf Province study. Information to assess the sustainability (Results) of the VCO training course were not collected from other priority provinces. Changes implemented by Village Court Officials who participated in the training aimed to improve the services that they provide to the community. It may still be too early to understand and evaluate the impact and sustainability of the VCO training program, after one year of implementation. However, the information collected during the research indicated that the training program is on track in contributing to the achievement of the intermediate outcome objective of “Village Courts delivering equitable and effective services”. It is important to continue monitoring this during the new JSS4D program. Officials from Gulf Province and the ARB were observed to be using the new VC Training Manual during court sittings. VCOs who participated in the training not only gained respect from the community but also reported gaining respect from their family. There were general feelings of empowerment among Village Court Officials especially the women. However, there were challenges identified by VCOs, for example: when VC decisions were being questioned or people are not happy with decisions when decisions were challenged by young and/or educated people community expectations which VCOs believed are beyond their roles how to keep good records of cases and keeping records of payments or fees non-attendance of parties concerned during court sittings or mediations how to correctly complete the standard VC forms logistics, transport and supplies/forms/stationeries difficulty in communicating between VCOs police not working with or not supporting VCOs (comments by VCOs in the ARB) Some opportunities for improvements were identified from this research, to sustain the momentum gained from the VC training program: Correct completion of VC standard forms Collection of information and completion of VC Quarterly Returns for submission to PVCO and then to the VCLMS Increase community awareness on the roles of the Village Court Officials and VC processes Follow-up trained VCOs’ understanding of the Village Courts Act, in particular focusing on criminal cases not to be handled by Village Courts. This could be through supervision or mentorship with District Court Magistrates, PVCO or DVCOs.
What has changed in the Village Court as a result of the training? To what extent has the acquired new knowledge of VCOs contributed to delivering equitable and effective services? To what extent does the community perceive improvements in safety and security? This section provides a summary of findings from the ARB study and the Gulf Province study. Information to assess the sustainability (Results) of the VCO training course were not collected from other priority provinces. Changes implemented by Village Court Officials who participated in the training aimed to improve the services that they provide to the community. It may still be too early to understand and evaluate the impact and sustainability of the VCO training program, after one year of implementation. However, the information collected during the research indicated that the training program is on track in contributing to the achievement of the intermediate outcome objective of “Village Courts delivering equitable and effective services”. It is important to continue monitoring this during the new JSS4D program. Officials from Gulf Province and the ARB were observed to be using the new VC Training Manual during court sittings. VCOs who participated in the training not only gained respect from the community but also reported gaining respect from their family. There were general feelings of empowerment among Village Court Officials especially the women. However, there were challenges identified by VCOs, for example: when VC decisions were being questioned or people are not happy with decisions when decisions were challenged by young and/or educated people community expectations which VCOs believed are beyond their roles how to keep good records of cases and keeping records of payments or fees non-attendance of parties concerned during court sittings or mediations how to correctly complete the standard VC forms logistics, transport and supplies/forms/stationeries difficulty in communicating between VCOs police not working with or not supporting VCOs (comments by VCOs in the ARB) Some opportunities for improvements were identified from this research, to sustain the momentum gained from the VC training program: Correct completion of VC standard forms Collection of information and completion of VC Quarterly Returns for submission to PVCO and then to the VCLMS Increase community awareness on the roles of the Village Court Officials and VC processes Follow-up trained VCOs’ understanding of the Village Courts Act, in particular focusing on criminal cases not to be handled by Village Courts. This could be through supervision or mentorship with District Court Magistrates, PVCO or DVCOs.