They help comprehensively and with the support of partners: lawyers take care of a grandmother and her granddaughter from the Kherson oblast

Publication date: May 18, 2023

Olha Mykolaivna* is an IDP from the Kherson oblast. She moved to nearby Mykolaiv with her granddaughter Valentyna*. The girl’s mother remained in the occupied territory not controlled by Ukraine…

The woman asked the lawyers of Mykolaiv NGO “Time to gather Ukrainians” to help officially confirm her family relationship with her granddaughter in order to register Valentyna as an IDP and issue her social benefits. It became clear from the grandmother’s story that the family has been through a lot and needs other help as well: humanitarian and financial support, and advice on compensation for war-damaged housing…

The organization’s lawyer, Kateryna Demchenko, consulted the grandmother and granddaughter and explained which package of documents Olha should prepare to resolve her issue. The lawyer drew up an algorithm for further actions and agreed on it with the family.

The lawyer personally accompanied the grandmother and her granddaughter to the Department of the State Register of Civil Status Acts in Mykolaiv, where they established family relations, as well as to the Department for Children, Guardianship and Care of the District Administration in Mykolaiv to sign an act recognizing the grandmother as a representative of a minor (her granddaughter) for the period of martial law.

• After we received the act recognizing the grandmother as the representative of a minor, specifically her granddaughter, the social worker provided social and physical support to the district Department of Social Protection of the Population in order to register the granddaughter as an IDP and issue her with social benefits. I also explained to the clients how to register to receive financial aid from international organizations, says Kateryna Demchenko.

For her part, the social worker accompanied the family to the Charitable Foundation “Right to Protection”, where Valentyna and Olha Mykolaivna were registered to receive cash assistance from the UNHCR, and also redirected them to partner organizations that provided the family with humanitarian assistance.

Olha also received a lawyer’s consultation and legal support in the matter of compensation for the destroyed house.

*Names has been changed for ethical reasons.

The material was created with the support of the international charity platform GlobalGiving and the Legal Empowerment Fund (Fund for Global Human Rights program) and the Legal Development Network. The content of the publication is solely the responsibility of the Legal Development Network and does not necessarily reflect the views of the previously mentioned organizations.

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