Across Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, justice systems are adapting to reach people uprooted by war and crisis. Their experiences show what it takes to make legal aid work when people need it most.

Being forced to leave home can quickly create a maze of legal questions. How do you replace missing documents, access benefits or housing, or register in a new community? How do you protect your rights in a country whose language and legal system you may not know?

For millions of people displaced by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and for people displaced to Armenia following the Karabakh refugee crisis, these have become immediate, practical questions.

Across Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been working with national partners to help justice systems respond to these changing needs. One lesson is increasingly clear: having rights on paper is not enough. People also need to know those rights, understand how to use them and be able to reach the services designed to protect them.

A recent UNDP Justice Journeys in Displacement assessment found that all four countries have taken important steps to improve legal aid for forcibly displaced people. But practical barriers remain, including limited information, language barriers, distance, funding gaps and shortages of legal aid professionals.

Taking legal help to where people are

One response has been simple in principle: if people cannot easily reach justice services, bring those services closer. In Ukraine, the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights expanded its presence across the country, using mobile offices and hotlines to reach communities affected by the war. The institution received more than 150,000 complaints in 2025, up from 95,000 in 2023.

“We are facing massive violations of human rights. And we have the capacity to respond. We have expanded our presence across the country, and we understand the real needs, thanks to UNDP's support that is built on data,” said Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's Ombudsman.

Ukraine’s Free Legal Aid System has also remained an important source of support for people dealing with documentation, benefits, housing and protection. With support from UNDP and its partners, the system has adapted its services to respond to needs created by the war and displacement. In 2025, more than 316,000 people received assistance through consultations and hotlines.

In Georgia, with funding from Germany and support from UNDP, the Legal Aid Service has taken legal help on the road. A mobile legal clinic reached 136 towns and villages, providing 1,158 individual legal consultations, including in rural and conflict-affected areas.

In Moldova, a UNDP project funded by Germany helped provide legal assistance to more than 3,800 refugees from Ukraine. Ukrainian refugee community activists also provided legal information and advice to others navigating an unfamiliar system.

These approaches differ, but the idea behind them is the same: make legal help easier to find, understand and reach.

From emergency help to lasting services

Displacement is rarely a short-term challenge. As crises continue, temporary solutions are not enough. Legal support needs to become part of public services that people can rely on over time.

In Armenia, the state legal aid system provided free legal aid to more than 1,600 refugees, along with support for others facing barriers to justice. UNDP worked with national partners to shift from emergency assistance following the Karabakh refugee crisis to services that can be sustained through the national justice system.

Ukraine offers another example. Support to the Free Legal Aid System has focused on helping an existing public service respond to new legal needs rather than building temporary systems alongside it. This is also one of the main conclusions of Justice Journeys in Displacement: lasting access to legal aid requires stronger public ownership, reliable funding and services designed around people’s needs.