From December 13 to 17, KyivLEPP-2021 participants will go through a design thinking course to develop their ideas. At the end of the course, their ideas will pass through the crash test. Teams whose ideas successfully pass the crash test will receive mentoring and financial support for ideas’ implementation.
16 different teams from Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Togo, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Ghana and Kyrgyzstan applied to the Kyiv Practical Legal Capacity Building Program (KyivLEPP-2021) this year.
To clarify the legal problems the teams have addressed to KyivLEPP, to discuss what makes teams’ ideas innnovative or people-centered program experts conducted video interviews with applicants. The main criteria for the interview evaluation were institutional and intersectoral balance of the group, coherence, motivation, clear formulation of the problem, vision of alternative strategies, gender balance etc. Finally, seven teams were selected according to the results of the competition.
And what are the teams` ideas?
Equal access to documents
People who for some reason do not have passports are unprotected and invisible to the legal system of the country. So, they can not officially work, receive medical services and other benefits of civilization. A huge number of people face this problem in different countries. It is very difficult to obtain a passport, ID card and other citizenship documents for the Somali community in Kenya. The team from Kenya has drawn the experts` attention to the problem and will try to develop a solution for this legal problem at KyivLEPP-2021.
Development of paralegals
The institute of paralegals in Kyrgyzstan existed de facto, but not de jure. Changes in legislation have reduced the impact of this problem, but there is still a need to develop and establish a paralegal network. The team from Kyrgyzstan addressed the challenges of networking, the formation of a community of paralegals and the improvement of the state-guaranteed legal aid system.
Strengthening the legal capacity of domestic workers
In Sierra Leone, wealthy families are involving domestic workers for housework. Usually, such work is made without a formal employment contract – that often means small salaries, absence of social security, medical and transport allowances, etc. Sometimes employers commit physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence against their employees. Due to a lack of awareness of their legal rights, services and procedures, most of these violations are not reported, the perpetrators go unpunished, and the range of abuses continues.
Protection against gender-based violence
The team from Tanzania raised the issue of violence against women and girls in their country. For Tanzania, the problem of gender-based violence is unfortunately very relevant, especially in rural communities. Moreover, during the lockdown restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cases of violence increased significantly, schoolgirls were often affected.
Outpatient medical care for people with disabilities
People with disabilities under the age of 26 receive special assistance in North Macedonia. Unfortunately, after reaching this age at least 50% of them do not receive outpatient care and remain outside the support system. Therefore, the team from Northern Macedonia proposes to amend the law and establish precise protocols for institutional care if special assistance is terminated.
Legal security for tourists
Nova Kakhovka city territorial community (Ukraine) pays great attention to the development of tourism. The team drew attention to the lack of a convenient service of legal assistance to tourists (both Ukrainian and foreigners). The team wanted to include tourists in Nova Kakhovka’s legal aid ecosystem through a legal tech solution.
Technical solutions for the availability of legal aid in Ukraine
The Ukrainian team paid attention to the fact that most people in Ukraine do not understand how to protect their rights. Representatives of the team analysed the existing technical solutions in this matter and concluded that each of them covers only a certain group of public requests. So now they aim to create a convenient service based on these solutions.
To find out what solutions will be developed during the Program this year follow our website or subscribe for our Facebook page.
