Strengthening Community Paralegals in Ukraine

About this grant

The project goal is to strengthen the practice of community paralegals in Ukraine. Building on its initial efforts to develop a flexible and responsive system for managing legal assistance requests, the Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation will give special attention to refining digital processes for linking paralegal assistance with the formal state-supported legal aid system. This will allow for better coordinated and more responsive assistance. Additionally, the grantee will work to strengthen mutually supportive networks of paralegals, community health care workers and related professionals in order to provide psycho-social support to paralegals working on traumatic issues. In 2022-2024, over 200 paralegals received training through the grantee’s online course. Over 11,000 consultations were provided to clients, with the bulk of these receiving further support from the state legal aid system. The grantee organized over 100 meetings to bring paralegals together with social service agencies, civil society partners and psychological support services aimed at strengthening service provision. The Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation works to ensure access to justice in Ukraine through the support and provision of legal aid services and through improving the responsiveness of the justice system.