Civil society organizations will receive support for more effective assistance to displaced persons

Publication date: July 26, 2022

Since the beginning of July, the Legal Development Network has been implementing the project “ «Capacity development of local NGOs – legal aid providers in Ukraine». The project aims to strengthen organizations from Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv and Mykolaiv oblasts during the year. To help them create high-quality legal assistance services for IDPs, to develop partnerships that will strengthen each other. On this way, they will be supported by leading trainers, experts and mentors, practitioners with many years of experience and successful cases. Interested participants had the opportunity to talk with part of this team on July 21 at the project presentation. 

«After February 24, the problem of protecting the rights of temporarily displaced persons increased many times. Many legal challenges arose – how to find housing, apply for social assistance, access to medical and educational services, etc. It is impossible for the state to cope with these problems, even with the help of Western partners and international organizations. 

The participation of civil society is very important in this. It is equally important that this participation be as professional as possible. Therefore, by implementing this project, we aim to strengthen public organizations so that they become more capable of overcoming these challenges. In this, our many years of experience in the educational and practical program “Human Rights Friendly Community Program”, member and partner organizations that joined us after February 24, forming the “Solidarity and Justice” coalition, will be very useful to us», says Yevgen Poltenko, executive director of the Legal Development Network and head of this project.

The project will consist of two components: an educational one, which will last from September 2022 to May 2023, and a mentoring one. Participants will be able to strengthen their knowledge and gain “superpowers” on the topics of communications and interaction with the public (PR), organizational development, building quality service, communication with clients and providing legal assistance to IDPs.

One of the trainers of the project is Maryna Govorukhina, a specialist in strategic communications and branding. She told what “superpowers” she will help the participants of the project to acquire in terms of communications:

«You and I will learn to communicate so that you are heard. Because simply communicating is often not enough. We will learn to communicate through different channels and use communication tools, correctly define our target audience and what exactly to say to them so that they hear us. This knowledge can be applied not only when working with clients, but also for the development of the organization. We will work on the topics of communication strategy, storytelling*, copywriting* and many other important things. This knowledge is universal. They are like organizational wheels that you can go much faster with». 

Ruslan Bakhtyiev, head of the Garnet social technology studio, facilitator, trainer, will be a guide on the way of organizational development. The speaker will introduce management models, tell how to separate management and governance; how to create changes at the organizational and value levels; what tools can be used to deal with different challenges; about changes at the value level, and how to apply them. A large part of the educational block will be devoted to the topic of leadership.

«We will move from the theoretical part to practice, as many have difficulties at the stage of applying the knowledge they have acquired», mentioned the trainer.

The mentoring program will consist of two parts.

During the first part, experienced experts will help identify one or more areas in which the organization wants to develop and will accompany it in this. In the second part, the organization will determine for itself the focus, the goal of organizational development. Together with Anna Uvarova, an expert in the development of teams and organizations who has more than five years of experience in the formation of mentoring programs for CSOs, we will develop a plan to achieve it. 

«This is a rather effective method of development of both organizations and people. It is actively used by Western companies, businesses and communities. Because mentoring is learning in action. I think we have an exciting development journey ahead of us, and I’m already looking forward to it»,says Anna Uvarova.

«We will create such conditions in which organizations will be able to immediately apply the knowledge and skills gained during the year of participation in the project. Participants will receive tools in the training component, with mentoring provided to each participating organization. Due to the fact that they will become capable and self-charging, they will receive the necessary skills to independently or in partnership find resources for the implementation of their developments», noted Vitalii Okhrimenko, program director of the Legal Development Network.

Registration for participation in the project lasts until August 1, 2022

*Storytelling is the art of exciting storytelling and using it to convey the necessary information in order to influence the listener’s emotional, motivational, and cognitive spheres. This technique was developed and successfully tested on personal experience by David Armstrong, chairman of the international company Armstrong International. 

* Copywriting – writing advertising and presentation texts (advertisement (direct or hidden) of goods, companies, services, etc.).

The project “Capacity development of local NGOs – legal aid providers in Ukraine” is implemented by the Legal Development Network with the support of UNDP within the framework of the UN Peacebuilding and Reconstruction Program with the financial support of the Government of Canada.

The UN Reconstruction and Peacebuilding Program (UN RPP) is implemented by four UN agencies: the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Framework for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and the United Nations Agricultural Organization (FAO).

The program is supported by twelve international partners: the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the US Embassy in Ukraine, as well as the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

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