Ugandan attorney and legal aid social entrepreneur Gerald Abila has scooped a prestigious award as an outstanding “Social Innovator of the Year 2024” at the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship’s 2024 Social Innovation Awards.
The award, announced on 16th January during the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, is in recognition of Abila’s efforts in “harnessing the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence (AI)” to offer free legal aid services in Uganda and across parts of Africa.
Abila, who is the founder and executive director of Barefoot Law, a 10-year-old non-profit working probono to bridge the gap between marginalized people in Africa and the justice system, worked with is team to develop an AI lawyer called Winnie.
The Schwab Foundation recognized Abila alongside 24 other social entrepreneurs whose work has had a great impact on the communities they come from, said Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
“The Social Innovators of the Year 2024 represent a diverse group of entrepreneurs and innovators who are driving the change we need to create a more sustainable, inclusive future,” explained Schwab.
Partnering with the World Economic Forum, the Schwab Foundation is a leading global platform that convenes a pioneering community of more than 400 change-makers and seeks to advance the field of social innovation towards more systemic change.
Speaking about his win, Abila said, “This Schwab recognition at a global platform such as the World Economic Forum, is not only an opportunity for BarefootLaw and the world to explore tech’s role in meeting these development challenges, especially the ones we have set out to meet by 2030, but a step to strengthen the North-South collaborations.”
Abila’s story dates back to 2012, when he encountered a case that indicated to him that many people were ignorant of the law and therefore being taken advantage of. He embarked on a mission to share the knowledge he was learning at law school using his social media platforms, a gesture that was received with overwhelming responses. Abila saw the need to create a sustainable way to share knowledge, thus forming Barefoot Law with like-minded people.
“My work revolves around bridging the gap between people and the justice system and it is for that reason that I started Barefoot Law 10 years ago. I believe making the law readily available leads to peaceful and prosperous societies because if people have the law, then they can use it to prevent and resolve the problems that they have and that would lead to better livelihoods not only in Africa but also across the world,” he told a congregation at the World Economic Forum meeting.
Today, Barefoot Law has found innovative ways of reaching more people through the use of technology such as artificial intelligence (AI). The organization has developed an AI tool, which it calls “Winnie,” that has enabled people to access legal knowledge about any topic while using their smartphones.
Yet Abila is looking to creating synergies that transcend technology and geography. Discussing the work his team aspires to do in the future at the award ceremony, Abila said, “We plan to improve on our technologies and scale this to more countries over the coming years.”
Abila, who believes access to the law and justice are the fundamental building blocks of a just, equitable and thriving society where human rights are respected,” sees South-North collaborations as key planks in finding and creating solutions to global development challenges.
Barefoot Law, which was established in 2023, seeks to empower people to develop legal solutions for their justice needs through the innovative use of digital technologies. So far, the organization’s work in Uganda, Kenya, and Malawi, has empowered more than one million people to develop legal solutions for their justice needs.
“All our work is pro-bono, through a full-time team of trained attorneys, supported by Winnie, our Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) lawyer,” stated Barefoot Law’s Head of Communications, Gertrude Lamunu Too-rom, in a statement. “Our goal is to reach 50 million people across Africa by 2030.”
This award is the latest in Abila and Barefoot Law’s burgeoning collection of tributes to Abila and Barefoot Law’s work. They include the King Baudouin African Development Prize 2016/2017 by the King Baudouin Foundation, Legal Rebel by the American Bar Association, the 100 Leading Legal Consultants and Strategists in the world for 2016 and 2018 by Law Dragon in New York, Echoing Green Fellow, Draper Richards Kaplan Entrepreneur, and a Rainer Arnhold Fellow by the Mulago Foundation.
