Launching of KyivLEPP has brought to life insightful discussions: how to put people at the center and focus on A2J solutions that solve people’s justice problems? what is the role of (non) lawyers in the inclusive ecosystem of access to justice? Participants shared experience and practical solutions with colleagues and friends from Bishkek to New York.
Roman Romanov, Director of the Human Rights and Justice Program of the International Renaissance Foundation, shared the idea of the KyivLEPP, its goals and objectives:
“From the very beginning, we in Ukrainian Access to Justice School of Practice have designed KyivLEPP as an opportunity to bring together people who work on solutions for their countries to increase access to justice. In the last 10 years, we have had the opportunity to experiment. We have created a wide variety of practices that create the preconditions to help those who are looking for ways to ensure access to justice for all. Unfortunately, we are accustomed to the fact that in many countries the justice system is built in such a way that it expands access and creates additional opportunities only for the privileged. Conversely, it narrows opportunities for those who depend on circumstances and belong to vulnerable groups. How to overcome this gap between justice and the demands and needs of society? There is no universal answer. That is why we came to the conclusion that such format of mutual experience exchange, development of ideas according to the methodology offered by design thinking can be the most useful to design people-oriented solutions. We tried to build a workflow of a program in such a way that takes into account local conditions, that allows teams to find their custom solutions”.
Yevgen Poltenko, Legal Development Network Executive Director, guided the participants through the visual tour of Kyiv LEPP, and its methodology of design thinking in ideas’ incubation
The need for human-centered justice has never been more urgent than in today’s conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. People-centered justice can help societies manage the fallouts from the pandemic and can help build more just societies for the future. KyivLEPP participants shared ideas how to provide equal access to justice for all with Maaike de Langen, Program Lead on Justice for All, Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies at NYU’s Centre for International Cooperation
https://www.justice.sdg16.plus
Community leaders are one of the keys to legal empowerment of the poor. Their work becomes especially effective when they have the appropriate tools,. Vivek Maru, human rights activist, CEO, NAMATI.
NAMATI is the legal empowerment network of leaders who advance justice by building a movement of people who know, use, and shape the laws that affect them.
Kateryna Yeroshenko, Head of the Programme, has been moderating the meeting. She shared the idea of the unique cooperation of justice actors in Ukrainian Access to Justice School of Practice.