Applying for financial support is not easy, especially for those who are unaccustomed to or unfamiliar with the process. This was the case for Fikret Erdan, a 39 year-old farmer from the Mamuş/Mamusha municipality who unsuccessfully applied for COVID-19 economic recovery support from the Government of Kosovo (GoK) three separate times.
Then Fikret reached out to Social Housing and Property Rights in Kosovo (SHPRK), a civil society organization that specializes in offering free legal assistance to citizens in Kosovo. SHPRK provided Fikret with information on process and timelines, and helped him write and submit his request for assistance. Only after working with SHPRK was Fikret’s application approved.
Fikret reflected on the support he received, saying, “I am very satisfied with the assistance provided by the legal aid office…it is very important for our locals to have an office here in Mamushë, since commuting to Prizren and back will bring additional costs that citizens could hardly afford.”
Fikret’s story is not uncommon; there are many citizens in need of legal assistance who don’t know what information or resources are available. It can–as in Fikret’s case–be incredibly frustrating.
SHPRK is one of the USAID Justice Activity’s civil society organization (CSO) partners who aim to market and deliver free legal aid services to residents of underserved municipalities. Since the start of these partnerships in January, USAID’s CSO partners have responded to 402 requests for free legal aid, and have taken 95 cases related to property disputes, retirement, and social allowances to court.
USAID is applying a people-centered approach to justice, through improving institutional capacity and providing people access to quality services.
Chemonics for USAIDKosovo