“We have outgrown ourselves and are ready to act on a larger scale”: achievements and plans of the Center for Economic and Legal Development

Publication date: September 3, 2024

Author: Yuliia Bilyk, Legal Development Network Communications Manager

Center for Economic and Legal Development Non-Governmental Organization (hereinafter referred to as CELD) has become one of these organizations whose work aimed at providing legal and psychological assistance, was supported by the Legal Development Network in the first half of 2024 as part of the program to strengthen the capacity of local organizations in response to the challenges of war. We talked to the Head of the Organization, Andrii Korbetskyi, and learned about the needs of communities and residents of Lviv Oblast that the CELD helps to meet today.

Until February 2022, the CELD’s activities were focused mainly on providing free legal aid to community residents. However, within the first days after the full-scale invasion, everything changed – in addition to the existing challenges, communities faced new ones caused by the needs of military units, internally displaced persons, and wartime legislative changes. The organization’s team took up these challenges and restructured its operations.

“We have focused our efforts on humanitarian activities: distribution of food packages and essential goods, search for housing in the western regions: Lviv and Volyn. Since March 2022, we have been maintaining a database of housing available for internally displaced persons, both municipal and private property. Residents offered houses in villages where no one currently lives, and apartments whose owners had left. We disseminated information about available housing through a hotline,” recalls CELD’s Head, Andrii Korbetskyi.

The organization’s team met people arriving in Kamianka-Buzka and Radekhiv Communities and took them under their care, providing a full range of services: material, legal, psychological assistance, housing search, and, if necessary, employment assistance. Dmytro Yanyuk, a lawyer at the CELD who heads the Administrative Service Center in Radekhiv, estimates the number of IDPs to be more than 4, 000 — that’s how many IDPs came to the RadekhivCommunity alone.

“These people were going nowhere really, they did not know what to do next, where to settle. We helped many of them navigate the new environment. I think this is one of our greatest achievements in recent times,” says Andrii Korbetskyi.

In March 2023, the Ukrainian Educational Platform charitable organization, together with the Legal Development Network and the CELD, managed to set up a shelter for IDPs in the Kamianka-Buzka Community of Lviv Oblast. In the premises of the former Infectious Disease Department of the local hospital, windows, and flooring were replaced, heating was installed, walls were painted, living quarters were furnished, and a kitchen and bathroom were equipped. The shelter, which was named “Domivka,” can accommodate up to 20 people at a time. The work of the shelter is coordinated by the CELD.

In the third year of the full-scale war, those IDPs who have been living in the communities of Lviv Region for several years are less in need of legal support: they are employed, and problems with documents and social benefits have been mostly resolved. The demand for psychological assistance remains relevant, as the war is ongoing and the surrounding events cause stress and uncertainty.

“Our psychologists organize group integration and relief activities for displaced persons and their children, veterans, military personnel, and their families. From February to June 2024, psychologists held 10 such events and provided 125 consultations to various categories of people,” says Andrii Korbetskyi.

Zoriana Storozhynska is in charge of psychological support at the CELD team. “In the first half of this year, I visited several communities, including those affected by the hostilities and forced to relocate. I worked with different categories of people, but I focused on children, adolescents, and their families. I helped to solve issues related to stress, anxiety, difficulties in adapting to new living conditions, as well as maintaining psychological health under constant pressure,” says the psychologist.

According to Zoriana Storozhynska, the most pressing psychological issues in the communities that CELD is working with are overcoming stress, anxiety, fear of the future, and emotional exhaustion: “People often seek support when they cannot cope with feelings of anxiety or depression on their own, as well as when they have difficulty adapting to new living conditions. Many parents are concerned about the psychological state of their children who are having a hard time dealing with life changes.”

Andrii Korbetskyi notes that the CELD psychologists are currently paying special attention to work with the military and their families. Zoriana Storozhynska recalls the case of working with a child who lost his parents during the hostilities. “The child refused to communicate and kept to himself. I’m glad that together with the team we found an approach to her and after a lot of work we managed to restore her trust and help her express her feelings. This case has once again confirmed how important it is to provide timely psychological assistance to children in difficult situations,” emphasizes Zoriana Storozhynska.

At the same time, legal work continues. In six months, lawyers have provided 500 consultations on legal issues and held 10 legal education events in the communities of Lviv and Volyn Regions. “We are trying to find partners and extend our expertise to other communities,” says Andrii Korbetskyi, head of the CELD.

“As part of our legal aid work, we often advise internally displaced persons. People address such legal issues as compensation for property damaged as a result of hostilities and obtaining benefits. The topic of compensation is complicated by the fact that it is difficult to prove the fact of damage to property in the occupied territory or the territory where hostilities are ongoing,” says Dmytro Yanyuk, the lawyer.

The lawyer recalls how he and his colleagues helped a woman from the IDP category to enroll her child in a kindergarten, and another to avoid paying a utility debt that was created by previous residents at her current address.

“We resolve most issues out of court. I am a Deputy of the Radekhiv City Community, and Andrii Korbetskyi is a Deputy of the Kamianka-Buzka City Community, we are known, and this helps us to help people who come to us,” says Dmytro Yanyuk.

Andrii Korbetskyi draws attention to the problems of community development: how to move forward, what to do, and how to present themselves.

“The economic indicators that were formed in communities in previous years are now irrelevant. For example, in the communities we work in, Kamianka-Buzka and Radekhiv, there were a lot of military personnel. According to the changes in the legislation, the personal income tax of the military is directed to the state budget. Since the communities have lost this significant source of income, they need to restructure their work and look for additional sources of funding to survive. The main challenges in the community are aimed at that. Moreover, the municipal challenges in the communities have not disappeared: road repairs, big problems with sewage treatment plants, water supply,” emphasizes the Head of the CELD.

Assisting communities in finding resources to address the most pressing issues is also a task set by the organization. The CELD finds projects, writes grant applications, and seeks the support of partners, such as the Legal Development Network and large international organizations.

“The Legal Development Network strengthens us in terms of media coverage, attracting additional resources, and highlights our activities, thus making us more recognizable. For us, the network is a platform where we can find partners and like-minded people who are useful to us and who can help us to implement our project and statutory activities,” says Andrii Korbetskyi.

The Head of the NGO is convinced that the proactive position of the CELD, and the experience and competence of the organization’s representatives add strength to the Legal Development Network. “I want us to expand our activities individually and in the Association, to involve more organizations in our projects, to scale up. We have outgrown small projects and are now ready to influence processes not only in Lviv but also in other regions,” emphasizes Andrii Korbetskyi.

The material was created with the support of the international charitable platform GlobalGiving, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of the Legal Development Network Non-Governmental Organization.

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