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Dr Lilian Chenwi at the 2009UN Treaty event at the UNHeadquarters in New Yorkthe poor and disadvantaged, including improving access to the courts by the poor in orderto bring cases that could result in social change; the need for government to reassess itsplanning and implementation of housing policies, especially in the upgrading of informalsettlements, as poor planning and implementation has resulted in the measures not beinga silver bullet to the challenge of informal settlement; and the lived reality of poor womenthat demonstrates inadequacies and gaps in the implementation of housing policies, whichmay to some extent be addressed through a ‘gendering’ of the housing sector.Research on standing in human rights cases, which formed part of a joint internationalNGO coalition submission to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights (UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights), showed that abroad approach to standing in human rights cases is required, which ensures that standingis not restricted to those individuals whoare personally affected adversely by analleged violation.Research with the Local GovernmentProject on public participation in localgovernment and access to basic servicesshowed that local governments have notmet their obligation to provide access tosufficient water, but tackling the problemfrom a socio-economic rights angle hasDr Lilian Chenwi and Dr Navi Pillay at the UN Headquartersin New Yorkthe potential for better service delivery.Applied researchBased on its reputation for high quality research, the Centre is frequently requested andcommissioned to undertake applied research for government departments and nongovernmentalbodies. Through this work, the Centre and its staff not only make a majorcontribution to policy formulation, but also are placed at the coalface of the key challengesconfronting government and civil society.Unicef and the national Department of Social Development commissioned the Children’sRights Project to provide guidelines on appropriate social services for children in conflictwith the law. These guidelines will be rendered by probation officers, assistant probationofficers and child and youth care-workers. The Project was also tasked to develop trainingguidelines for social workers and other related professionals on the Children’s Act, Children’sAmendment Act and Regulations by the national Department of Social Development.As part of this agreement, the Project had to develop training materials for Foundation,Intermediate and Advanced Phases. Each phase was piloted at workshops to assist theProject in improving the content of the materials. Thereafter, training guidelines were draftedon using the materials, which were piloted at the Department of Social Development ChildProtection Forum meetings.22COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE