The Institute of Law and Health in Developing Countries (ILHDC) offers legal education workshops in commercial law between African and US attorneys to face the demands in the sector of law and both economic and health development. The ILHDC is currently developing a training program for legal professionals in Rwanda and intends on conducting its first in country training program in 2010.

Law and Economic Sector Development:
The next stage of African economic development must include the ability to increase the local African capacity to provide the legal services necessary to meet the demands of globalization. For many in the African legal community, unless they have received additional training from American or European legal programs or from expensive in-country training programs, the quality of legal education has left them unprepared to address the increasingly complex transactions being handled by governmental and non-governmental organizations. As a result, legal work that should be best handled by local African attorneys is often outsourced to non-national law firms. In addition, in many countries, there are simply not enough trained attorneys. For example, in Rwanda there is only one attorney for every 40,000 persons while the United States has one attorney for every 408 persons. This lack of local capacity to provide the needed services for economic development from public and private investors has stifled economic development in Africa. Therefore, the ILHDC recognizes that unless the legal education system is further developed, it will be impossible for the African legal profession to insert itself as an active player in the global economic scene.

Law and Health Sector Development:
The ILHDC believes that legal education can also serve to address the underlying health crisis afflicting many African countries. In many countries, the legal code itself has not been updated to address the discrimination and areas of exploitation that often arise with a breakout of disease. In other countries, there is no explicit set of health rights for patients who are being treated by local hospitals or the law has not been updated to facilitate best health practices. Therefore, an examination of the legal code through a dialogue between legal professionals and local health practitioners must occur in order to coordinate all levels of African society against an existent health crisis.

Legal Education Workshops in the Areas of Commercial and Health Law:
The ILHDC strives to be the bridge connecting the US legal community and the legal community in Africa. Currently, the business and finance community in the United States is not actively engaged in needed dialogue regarding the development of Africa. The ILHDC aims to bridge this gap by introducing, in many cases for the first time, members of the African legal community to US business and legal professionals. The ILHDC currently has identified members of the legal community who are willing and able to provide their support and training to African professionals. These professionals are leading members of the legal community who have extensive experience counseling large corporations and financial institution on complex transactions.
In addition to transactional training, the workshop will also conduct a course on the impact of the law on the local health crisis. We are in the process of formalizing a partnership with the Boston University School of Public Health where leading health professionals will participate in workshops to describe how African local counsel may serve their business needs and mission to improve health. By bringing together these communities, the Institute will foster a needed and often neglected dialogue between these professionals.