Created in 2001, the International Legal Foundation (ILF) is a non-governmental organization that assists countries emerging from conflict or transition to establish public defender systems that provide effective, quality criminal defense services to the poor. In 2003, the ILF opened Afghanistan’s first independent public defender office in Kabul with two Afghan lawyers. Today, with 73 lawyers and 14 offices across the country it is the nation’s largest provider of indigent defense services. The ILF has since established public defender offices in Nepal and the West Bank.
Edited and produced by Tahiat Mahboob and Beth Morrissey.