Final Grant Report for the “Land Rights: Consultancy, Advocacy, and Land Conflict Resolution in the South of Ukraine” activity

The project aimed to establish a system of legal awareness and provision of primary and secondary legal services to resolve land conflicts in the sphere of land ownership rights for Ukrainian landowners, personal peasant, and farm households in selected communities in the south of Ukraine. The project's objectives included developing the capacity of KROCVU to provide legal services on land rights to rural landowners and farmers in target territorial communities, providing consultations on land rights, resolving conflicts, documenting land rights, supporting primary legal service providers, and informing and educating the public. The project partners included the Odessa Regional Organization Committee of Voters of Ukraine, the Agency for Economic Development, the Kakhovska City Public Organization "Consumer," and the Fund for the Development of the City of Mykolaiv. During the project period, five Centers for Secondary Legal Assistance (CVYUP) provided free legal assistance to residents of the region on land-related issues. The statistics showed that the CVYUPs provided assistance to approximately 1,288 cases, with 752 cases in stationary reception and 536 cases in mobile reception. The lawyers of the CVYUPs conducted around 62 mobile receptions in rural areas of the three selected regions to provide land consultations. The project also included information and awareness-raising activities, such as publishing articles in local and regional newspapers, radio, and social media, as well as creating a section on the website of the KROCVU dedicated to land rights. The project also used social media platforms, including Facebook, to inform citizens about the project's activities and provide information on land rights. The typical problems faced by the project's clients included issues related to lease agreements, inheritance, and land ownership. The most common issues were related to non-payment of rent by lessees, lack of primary documents, and incorrect or incomplete information provided by authorized persons of rural councils when certifying a will. These issues often required correction in a judicial order, wasting time and money for landowners. The project also addressed the issue of obtaining land ownership by participants of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) and others. The Ukrainian legislation provides for the allocation of land to participants of the ATO, but the process is often complicated and requires additional documentation. Overall, the project aimed to improve the legal awareness and capacity of rural landowners and farmers in the south of Ukraine to resolve land conflicts and protect their land rights.