Women’s Legal Aid Center

What Women’s Legal Aid Center does

Women's Legal Aid Centre (WLAC) is a Tanzanian non-governmental organization founded in 1989 and headquartered in Dar es Salaam that provides free legal aid services to women, children, and refugees facing violence, discrimination, and socio-economic exclusion. The organization operates four programmatic pillars: (1) Access to Justice, delivering direct legal representation, court advocacy, mediation, and gender-responsive policy work; (2) Community Awareness, conducting civic education and rights-awareness campaigns on violence against women and girls, widow and orphan rights, and land rights; (3) Institutional Sustainability, focused on governance, staff capacity, and funding diversification; and (4) Refugee Legal Aid Services, a specialized track implemented with UNHCR in Nduta and Nyarugusu refugee camps and Dar es Salaam covering refugee status determination and international protection. The underlying "technology" is human-delivered legal service capacity — staff lawyers, paralegals, and partnerships with police Gender and Children Desks countrywide rather than a software platform.

WLAC is donor-funded and does not charge beneficiaries for services; the organization reports having supported 100,000+ women, children, and refugees and directly won 2,000+ cases using legal systems. Revenue is sourced from a diversified portfolio of institutional donors and partners including Ford Foundation, UNHCR, UNICEF, UN Women, Norwegian Church Aid, The Baring Foundation, The Sigrid Rausing Trust, Womankind Worldwide, UK Aid, U.S. Embassy in Tanzania, Foundation for Civil Society, and Legal Service Facility. Donations are accepted via bank transfer, cheque, credit card, and mobile money. The go-to-market is direct service delivery through the Dar es Salaam office and field programs in refugee camps, with awareness raised through community campaigns, media engagement, the wlac.or.tz website, and Instagram. The organization is NGOSource verified and governed by an Executive Director (Theodosia Muhulo) and a Board of Directors.

Name

Women’s Legal Aid Center

Legal name

Women's Legal Aid Centre

Website

https://wlac.or.tz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Women's Legal Aid Centre (WLAC) is a Tanzanian non-profit founded in 1989 that provides free legal aid, court representation, and rights education to women, children, and refugees in Dar es Salaam and refugee camps, funded by international donors including UN agencies and major foundations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Aid Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Social Assistance (624)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Protection, Child Protection & Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Response (BPAGAAAG), NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery (EDADALAC)

Keywords

• Legal aid services
• Women's rights advocacy
• Community legal education
• Refugee protection services
• Gender justice programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Dar Es Salaam

HQ country

Tanzania

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Women's Legal Aid Centre (WLAC) is a Tanzanian non-governmental organization that provides free legal aid, court representation, legal counselling, mediation, and psychosocial support to women, children, and refugees across Tanzania. Its portfolio is organized around three core programmes—Access to Justice, Community Awareness, and Institutional Sustainability—plus a dedicated Refugee Legal Aid Services stream operating in Nduta and Nyarugusu camps and Dar es Salaam. Services are delivered free of charge to beneficiaries and funded by institutional donors and partner foundations.

Product overview

Women's Legal Aid Center (WLAC) is a legal aid NGO in Tanzania offering a unified portfolio of legal assistance programmes rather than a technology product platform. The core offerings consist of three interconnected programmes: Access To Justice (providing direct legal aid and court representation), Community Awareness (civic education on rights), and Institutional Sustainability (organizational development). Additionally, WLAC operates a dedicated Refugee Legal Aid Services programme targeting refugees and asylum seekers. Together, these programmes provide comprehensive legal aid covering legal representation, community education, policy advocacy, and psychosocial support for women, children, and refugees in Tanzania.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Access To Justice
• Community Awareness
• Institutional Sustainability
• Refugee Legal Aid Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 100,000+ women, children and refugees supported
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• UNHCRcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUN Refugee Agency partnering with WLAC on access to justice for refugees and asylum seekers in Nduta and Nyarugusu Refugee Camps. WLAC receives training on Refugee Status Determination and International Protection.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Legal Services Facility (LSF): Tanzania's main legal aid grantmaker and coordinating body for legal aid providers; directly comparable as a Tanzanian legal aid ecosystem actor that both funds and partners with WLAC on access to justice programs.
• Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA): Tanzanian women-focused legal professionals' organization providing legal aid, advocacy, and gender justice programming; directly comparable as a domestic peer working on women's rights and access to justice in the same country.
• FIDA Kenya (Federation of Women Lawyers): Kenyan women lawyers' organization providing free legal aid to women and children on gender-based violence, custody, and inheritance; directly comparable as a national women's legal aid NGO in East Africa.
• Women's Legal Centre (South Africa): South African nonprofit providing legal advocacy and litigation for women's rights and gender equality; closely comparable as an African women's legal aid NGO focused on strategic litigation and rights-based legal services.
• Haki na Sheria Initiative: Tanzanian human rights NGO providing legal aid, paralegal support, and policy advocacy; comparable as a domestic peer delivering community-based legal empowerment and access to justice programming.

Broad incumbents

• International Rescue Committee (IRC): Global humanitarian organization delivering protection, GBV response, and legal services for refugees and crisis-affected populations; comparable as a larger incumbent operating refugee legal aid and women's protection programs, including in Tanzania's refugee camps.
• UN Women: UN entity funding and coordinating gender equality programming globally; comparable as a major institutional funder and convener of the women's rights ecosystem in which WLAC operates.
• Equality Now: International legal advocacy organization advancing women's rights through litigation, law reform, and grassroots partnerships; comparable as a broader women-focused legal NGO with similar strategic-litigation and partnership-grant model.
• Women for Women International: Global nonprofit serving women survivors of war and conflict with social and economic empowerment programming; comparable as a donor-funded women's rights organization with overlapping donor ecosystem and beneficiary focus.

Others

• Norwegian Church Aid: Norwegian humanitarian organization that funds WLAC's justice and rights programs; included as an ecosystem participant and direct funding partner rather than a competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wlactanzania
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/7972525

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Women’s Legal Aid Center