Kyiv, July 4, 2019 – The presentation of an updated version of the Your Rights mobile application – a universal legal guide for people affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as people who have suffered from sexual and gender-based violence and trafficking people – took place in Kyiv on July 4.

"This application will help state agencies and specialised departments provide relevant and up-to-date information effectively to people who need consultations," said Victor Munteanu, the manager of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme. “Together with our partners, we’ve been working to improve and expand the functionality of the application, which we first launched in 2018. We are confident it will even better meet the needs of the public, including internally displaced people, people who often cross the ‘contact line’, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups. It will also be of use to people who have suffered from sexual and gender-based violence and human trafficking."

The mobile application has three main sections: "The Rights of People Affected by the Conflict in Ukraine," "The Rights of Persons Affected by Gender-Based Violence," and "The Rights of Persons Affected by Human Trafficking." For the convenience of users, the information in the first section is divided into separate categories, for: "Children," "Adults," "Pensioners," "Persons with disabilities," and "Foreigners and stateless persons."

Each section provides a list of basic topics under which people can search for answers. In addition to giving definitions and general information, these contain references to relevant regulations, and examples of relevant cases. But most importantly, with the help of the application a person can store information, links and documents they need. In addition, if necessary, the user can use a hotline to contact the Donbas SOS NGO to get legal assistance from a qualified lawyer. Some of the information in the application can also be accessed when a user’s device is offline.

"Your Rights is a mobile platform on which answers by experts to important legal issues faced by internally displaced persons and residents of the non-government-controlled areas have been gathered together,” said Artem Fomenko, the app’s project manager and a lawyer with the Donbas SOS NGO.

"We tried to make it the most convenient tool we could for the people who use it. From our own experience, we know that people often need advice when they’re outside an area with access to the Internet: for example, when crossing the ‘contact line’. So we took this into account.”

The Donbas SOS NGO developed the app in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ukraine and the United Nations Peace and Recovery Programme, and with funding from the European Union, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Norwegian foreign ministry. Experts from NGOs, activists, IDPs, journalists and government officials, in particular, from the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine, took part in developing the app.

With the support of the IOM in Ukraine, a new section entitled "The Rights of Persons Affected by Human Trafficking " was added to inform people about the problem of human trafficking, how to protect oneself from traffickers, what rights survivors of human trafficking have, and where get help. As in other sections, there are options for obtaining additional advice – namely through calling the national hotline for combating human trafficking and advising migrants.

However, as noted by the Donbas SOS NGO, active work on updating the application is still going on: "Our goal now is to get feedback from users, public organizations, state bodies, and take into account their requirements," Fomenko said. “We’re trying to make sure that the application really can help you to find the right information without having to resort to asking specialists."

The Your Rights application will be presented in other cities of Ukraine in the near future:

·         Lviv, July 5, at 12:00, at the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Centre, 29a Stryiskaya Street, Auditorium 302, the Ukrainian Catholic University School of Law;

·         Kharkiv, July 9, at 10:00, 57 Sumy Street, in the premises of the Don Calabria Charity Fund;

·         Severodonetsk, July 11, at 10:00, 10 Fedorenko Street;

·         Mariupol, July 12, at 10.00, 10 Nilsona Street (Halabuda Hub);

·         Kramatorsk, July 26, time and venue tbc.

The mobile app is available for free on iOS and Android by searching for "Твоє пр@во".

The UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Program is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Organization for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The programme is supported by ten international partners: the European Union, the European Investment Bank, as well as the governments of Denmark, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Japan.

For media queries, contact:

Yuliia Samus, Communications Specialist, UNDP Ukraine, communications.ukraine@undp.org, yuliia.samus@undp.org