OPORA Foundation provides various forms of assistance to displaced Ukrainians in the Netherlands, such as mental health and legal aid. OPORA Foundation’s legal team consists of Ukrainian volunteers and Dutch law students who provide free legal advice on different areas. The legal team helps displaced Ukrainians with migration-, family-, housing-, civil-, administrative -criminal – and labour law. In the case of housing law, for instance, the foundation reports complaints to government agencies if their clients face problems in a municipal shelter.

OPORA Foundation provides direct legal support in individual cases and empowers Ukrainian displaced through legal webinars, by hosting information sessions and by posting legal video’s on their YouTube channel.
OPORA Foundation regularly reaches out to Pro Bono Connect:

“The communication with the team of Pro Bono Connect has always been very good and we really appreciate the work the lawyers from their partner firms are doing for us. We receive help from Pro Bono Connect in connecting with Dutch lawyers who can support our organization on an organizational level, but they also assist with the activities of our legal team such as webinars and support to displaced Ukrainians. For example, together with a lawyer from one of Pro Bono Connect’s partner firms we helped someone who got evicted from a municipal location. The case was successfully resolved in court. With the help from the partner firms of Pro Bono Cnnect, we could address legal issues while setting up a contract between our mental health team and another organization. Also, they helped us with establishing our own GDPR rules.”

OPORA Foundation stresses the value of Pro Bono Connect as a bridge between NGOs and law firms, fostering justice and the protection of rights. As the foundation is often approached by displaced persons from Ukraine about employment issues, such as non payment of wages, dismissal during illness, denial of workplace injury recognition, and workplace discrimination, the team of OPORA receives pro bono support to keep up to date on these issues. This allows the team to enhance their own expertise and provide more effective response to inquiries they receive.