The chatbot is the only way for residents of temporarily occupied communities to receive legal consultations

Publication date: August 14, 2023

Author: Serhiy Starushko, CF “Berdiansi — svii dlya svoikh”

The charitable fund “Berdiansi — svii dlya svoikh” has established a convenient ecosystem for providing legal assistance to internally displaced persons. The fund is one of the participants in our project ” Capacity Development of Local NGOs – legal aid providers in Ukraine .” We provide more details about the initiative in our new article.

The CF “Berdiansi — svii dlya svoikh” implements this initiative with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine and the financial assistance of the European Union. The ecosystem combines the option to pre-register and consult with a lawyer by phone, come for a personal consultation, view consultations on current topics in video format, access printed informational materials and their digital versions, or ask questions through the chatbot. We delve into the specifics of creating and operating this service in the fund.

Photo: information about the services can be found on banners at the assistance centers of the CF “Berdiansi — svii dlya svoikh,” in informational materials, and on the foundation’s Facebook page. Photo by CF “Berdiansi — svii dlya svoikh.”

Photo: Viktor Tsukanov, the head of the CF “Berdiansi — svii dlya svoikh.” Photo from Viktor Tsukanov’s personal archive.

“When we were creating this initiative, we were thinking about how we could be more helpful to the people of Berdiansk. We saw a demand for legal assistance not only from veterans’ organizations but also from residents of the temporarily occupied territories. So, it was important to make the provision of assistance as safe and convenient as possible. This is where the advantages of the chatbot come in: through it, people can reach out at any convenient time; if the question is personal, they can ask it anonymously; and the inquirer has time to consider the received information, ask clarifying questions, and send the necessary documents,” noted Viktor Tsukanov, the head of the foundation.

The foundation’s team, including volunteers who had previous experience in engaging with the audience through a chatbot, developed the technical requirements. An IT professional was then invited to implement these requirements, assisting with the technical aspects of this initiative. Over the course of the project’s implementation, which took four months, more than 400 individuals sought legal consultation through the chatbot. The questions covered various topics, such as obtaining various certificates, consultations related to legal proceedings, inheritance issues, birth and death certificates, labor disputes, and many other matters relevant to the people of Berdiansk. Approximately half of the received inquiries came from residents of the temporarily occupied territories. For them, the chatbot is the only convenient and safe means of getting consultation.

“All the lawyers who worked on the project were added to the chatbot’s administrator group,” explained Viktor Tsukanov, the head of the foundation. “They answer questions in the order they come in, at a convenient time for them to provide detailed responses. Notifications are sent to the inquirers once answers are given. Our lawyers strive to provide consultations as quickly as possible, usually taking less than a day.”

The photo shows an example of informational materials on the topic of labor relations developed by the “Berdiansk – Our Own for Our Own” foundation. These and other materials are available for public access.

The most pressing questions received by the chatbot became the basis for expanded video consultations and informational materials. In some cases, more detailed issues led to extended publications in the media.

Even after the project’s implementation period, the chatbot continues to work and provide legal consultations.

You can access the chatbot of the “Berdiansk – Our Own for Our Own” foundation by using the link: @InfoBerd_bot
For online legal consultations from the Legal Development Network, you can use this link: https://ldn.org.ua/section/legal-help/

For reference:

The initiative “Capacity Development of Local NGOs – legal aid providers in Ukraine” is implemented by the Network of Legal Development with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, funded by the Government of Canada within the framework of the UN Peacebuilding Fund.

The UN Peacebuilding Fund is implemented by four UN agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

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

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