How the Suspension of USAID Funding Has Affected the Operations of the Legal Development Network’s Member Organizations

Publication date: March 1, 2025

Author: Yuliia Bilyk, Communications Manager at the Legal Development Network

According to Ekonomichna Pravda, as of December 31, 2024, there were 39 programs of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) operating in Ukraine, with a total budget of $4.28 billion. The suspension of funding for all USAID foreign assistance programs has significantly limited the ability of the Legal Development Network’s member organizations to provide professional, free legal and psychological assistance to the most vulnerable groups of citizens and to respond to other challenges posed by wartime conditions. This article provides further details on the impact of this funding halt.

The Legal Development Network is a public association that brings together 22 civil society organizations across most regions of Ukraine. In 2024, its member organizations provided free legal assistance to 65,724 people. Throughout the same year, the Pravoman Legal Consultation Portal for Ukrainians abroad delivered 301,372 legal consultations.

Due to the suspension of USAID programs, the Legal Development Network’s member organizations have had to discontinue the following activities:

• Operation of justice centers within communities and provision of services to community residents (3 organizations),

• Operation of shelters for displaced persons and provision of social and legal services (2 organizations),

• Research on human rights compliance at the local level, advocacy efforts, and policy development (1 organization),
• Operation of resource centers for internally displaced persons (3 organizations),
• Training programs to empower displaced persons and vulnerable groups (including women, youth, veterans, and survivors of gender-based violence) (2 organizations),
• Mobile legal consultations and legal awareness initiatives in remote and hard-to-reach settlements (2 organizations),
• Support for retraining and employment assistance (2 organizations).

On average, each member organization requires between $5,000 and $10,000 to sustain and develop its ongoing initiatives. There is a significant risk of losing experienced professionals and of grassroots civil society organizations ceasing their operations, particularly those addressing urgent social and humanitarian needs. Some organizations are already being forced to reassess their approaches to service delivery in response to these challenges.

“The number of lawyers handling citizen consultations has decreased, as has the number of consultation days — from two days a week to just one. On other days, we now provide consultations only by phone. We are no longer able to conduct mobile outreach visits to remote settlements or locations where internally displaced persons reside. Additionally, our capacity to hold educational events within communities has been significantly reduced,” shares Anastasiia Ploshchynska, Executive Director of the NGO Podilska Legal League (Khmelnytskyi city).

The NGO Northern Human Rights Group from Sumy city was forced to suspend an important project that provided legal assistance to the population, including legal education initiatives and legal consultations for individuals affected by the war. However, despite the project’s suspension, the organization continues to provide legal assistance using its own resources.

“The specialized legal clinic project for students, which helped them gain knowledge and support in resolving legal issues related to wartime realities, has also ceased operations. Additionally, we were unable to launch several new initiatives that could have strengthened the protection of citizens’ rights and contributed to community recovery. Unfortunately, our ability to support individuals during this critical time is now severely limited,” notes Nataliia Yesina, Executive Director of the NGO Northern Human Rights Group.

“The member organizations of the Network are primarily focused on project-based activities rather than institutional development. As a result, the suspension of USAID project funding has affected all local organizations without exception, regardless of whether they were directly implementing USAID-funded projects or not,” notes Iryna Chaika, Director of Organizational Development at the Legal Development Network.

“Recently, we have not had any projects supported by USAID. However, other international partners to whom we submitted project proposals have also declined our applications. With the suspension of USAID funding, our chances of securing financial support have drastically decreased due to the reduction in available programs and increased competition among organizations,” says Vitalii Dorokh, Head of the Khmilnyk NGO Pravo (Vinnytsia region).

Following the full-scale invasion, this organization established the Murashnyk Humanitarian Hub in the city — a welcoming space providing support for both displaced persons and local residents. Through Murashnyk, individuals receive not only legal assistance but also comprehensive support, to help them adapt to new realities in wartime conditions. However, the future of the hub remains uncertain.

Despite limited resources needed to implement key initiatives supporting both individuals and communities as a whole, civil society organizations remain optimistic and simply continue doing what must be done.

“We continue to work, adapting to new conditions, seeking alternative funding sources, and focusing on the most efficient use of available resources. Our goal remains unchanged — to support communities and ensure their development, even in the most challenging circumstances,” emphasizes Andrii Korbetskyi, Head of the NGO Center for Economic and Legal Development (Lviv region).

In turn, the Legal Development Network is striving to find ways to support its member organizations, particularly by establishing connections with partners capable of providing flexible funding.

“The first thing we did in this situation was to identify the immediate needs of our member organizations and compile a list of requests. We have already communicated with our partners who have provided us with systemic support to begin emergency response efforts. We hope that our efforts will provide real assistance and that the member organizations will receive funding to support their activities, gaining time to reformat their operations and search for further funding,” notes Olha Nastina, the Executive Director of the Legal Development Network.

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