Zimbabwe has a population of almost ten million people of which approximately 80 per cent, are poor and live in the rural areas. The majority of the rural population lack formal education and are ignorant of their rights. They have no access to legal services as most of the country's lawyers are based in the urban areas. Even if legal practitioners were accessible to them, they would not be able to pay for their services. Thus, they are liable to exploitation.

Since independence, the changes in Zimbabwe law have been rapid, farreaching and progressive. In the absence of any co-ordinated mass education campaign on their meaning and implications, or consultation with those to be affected before enactment, there has been a great deal of adverse reaction to new legislation, especially where it has safeguarded or equalised the rights of women. For the community, the effect has been chaos. Traditional structures, known and well-understood means of communication, and culturally entrenched roles have been transformed and replaced by a new order.

The Legal Resources Foundation (LRF), an autonomous charitable and educational Trust, was established to meet the need to improve the accessibility of legal and information services to all sections of the population. It was formed following a regional workshop on legal aid which was held at the University of Zimbabwe in February 1984 and against the background of there being just 400 lawyers in Zimbabwe at the time, all of whom were urban based.