Round table between representatives of the Khmelnytskyi Charitable Foundation "Hesed Besht", Regional Center for Providing Free Secondary Legal Aid in Khmelnytskyi Region, government agencies and public organizations aimed to discuss important issues related to the provision of legal aid to the population. The resulting fact was the signing of a multilateral agreement on cooperation and the outline of specific steps for working with people on the ground.
[youtube]4Blh1PpW6fk[/youtube]
Read also:
Legal aid will become more accessible
One of the charitable foundations of the Khmelnytskyi region and the Regional Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid signed an agreement (Photo, video)
The issue of legal awareness and timely assistance always occupies a prominent place in the development of a democratic society. And, since our country as a whole and the region in particular are still at the stage of forming a legal state, people often have difficulties with jurisprudence. Especially in cases when something serious and untimely happens, which concerns the field of law. But in fact, thanks to state programs and the activities of non-state institutions, such situations are easy to solve. The biggest obstacle is the low awareness of citizens about where, when and how such legal assistance can be obtained.
The relevance of the round table is associated with the increase and development of the structure of the Center for the Provision of BVPD in the Khmelnytskyi region. As a state project, the organization creates representative offices in various settlements of the Khmelnytskyi region, seeks different forms of work with the population, the most effective in different regions, according to their geographical location. The main problem of the Centers, as noted during the conversation, is the low awareness of citizens about the services that the network can provide.
By services we mean the provision of legal advice, free appointment of lawyers, educational work and finding ways to resolve issues related to jurisprudence - this is far from a complete list of the capabilities of the Centers for the Provision of Legal Aid. Therefore, informing the population about them is necessary and urgent. It is worth noting that "free of charge" in no way affects the quality of services: the Centers conclude agreements with lawyers and advocates who undertake consultations with citizens. According to the volume of work performed, lawyers receive payment, but not from the client, but from the state. Therefore, if a client contacts the Center for the Provision of Legal Aid and receives a lawyer, this is the same as if he contacts the lawyer through an advertisement, but, at the same time, he does not owe him anything. Of course, the mechanism for receiving assistance is not so simple and has rules, clients must meet certain criteria to receive assistance, but the main thing is that consultation on obtaining legal aid is available to everyone.
Why did our organization actively participate in legal educational work? It's extremely simple: firstly, the Hesed Besht Foundation has an extensive network of representative offices in the Khmelnytskyi region, which has been building up for 16 years. Secondly, our foundation, as a social organization, carries out a high humanitarian mission of comprehensive assistance to everyone who needs it, and legal support fits perfectly into the goals and objectives of the organization. Thus, having the appropriate resource, non-governmental organizations should cooperate with each other for fruitful work for the benefit of citizens. The example of cooperation between the Hesed Besht Foundation and the Center for Providing Secondary Free Legal Aid shows how effective such cooperation can be and what non-governmental organizations can achieve together.
During the round table, the Director of the Hesed Besht Foundation, Honored Worker of the Social Sphere of Ukraine Igor Ratushny presented the activities of the Hesed Besht Foundation, highlighted the topics of the meeting and outlined the problems. The Head of the Main Territorial Department of Justice in the Khmelnytskyi Region Viktor Khudyak placed great hopes for the success of cooperation in his speech. The work of the Center for the Provision of Social Assistance was presented by the Acting Director Olena Varfolomeeva. It was extremely pleasant to hear high praise for the activities of the Hesed Besht Foundation from the partners invited to the round table. In particular, from the Director of the Khmelnytskyi Local Center for the Provision of Social Assistance Hryhoriy Gotskyi and the Head of the Department for the Affairs of Disabled Persons, Citizens Affected by the Chernobyl Disaster, and the Organization of Social Services of the Department Ivan Glowatskyi. The meeting was attended by both regional heads of the Centers for the Provision of BVPD and regional curators of the Hesed Besht Children's Charity Foundation, so we were able to talk together about a wider range of issues and the situation in the regions.
After negotiations, presentation of activities and outlining plans, the roundtable participants signed a cooperation agreement, according to which each party assumes more responsibility for supporting citizens in matters related to free legal aid. We hope that now the work on informing citizens will become more active and fruitful. As Andriy Shevtsov, Head of the Department of Support and Infrastructure Development of the Regional Center for the Provision of Legal Aid in Khmelnytskyi Region, noted, word-of-mouth advertising works best. Therefore, when one of our fund's clients tells another person where to get legal aid, this will be the best driving force in informing society.
