Hosting of internally displaced persons
Project description
Title: Strengthening Ukrainian communities hosting internally displaced people
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Ukraine
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Social Politics of Ukraine; Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine
Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine
Overall term: 2015 to 2019, finished
Context
The conflict in the eastern part of Ukraine has forced around 2.8 million people to flee the disputed territories. Approximately 1.4 million people are registered as internally displaced persons (IDPs), of whom some 255,000 are living in the administrative districts (oblasts) immediately to the west, namely Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya (as of August 2019). The large number of internally displaced persons and the constantly changing situation present the host communities with major challenges. For this reason, municipal and civil society institutions are unable to meet the increased demand for basic health and social services.
Objective
Municipal and civil society institutions are better able to meet the increased demand for basic services.
Approach
The project strengthens the capacities of governmental and non-governmental actors in the host communities. It is primarily active in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya Oblasts. Since 2017, the project has expanded its activities to selected municipalities in the government-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts directly affected by armed conflict.
The project aims to improve access to administrative, social and psychosocial services and make them more demand-oriented. This is achieved through professional development processes, new equipment and advisory services, as well as through the increased participation of citizens in the planning and implementation of public services. At the same time, conflict-alleviating exchange between internally displaced persons and the local population is being promoted, as is active participation in community life.
The core idea of the project is to strengthen cooperation between governmental and non-governmental structures to the benefit of internally displaced persons and host communities, especially poor, vulnerable sections of the population. The project builds resilient structures with sufficient capacities and staff and lays the foundations for their further development.
Results
- The political participation of internally displaced persons has been strengthened. For example, 23 decisions from citizen participation formats have been taken into account in municipal decision-making processes.
- Over a three-and-a-half-year period, 392 institutions have been provided with equipment, including citizens’ bureaus and social services offices. More than 3,300 employees have been trained to provide better municipal services.
- Over 35,000 children and young people are benefiting from an improved learning environment. 550 teachers and educators have received training in the inclusion of children with disabilities. The integration of children from conflict regions is also being promoted by mobile theatre groups in schools.
- The project has equipped more than 120 medical facilities with modern devices, furniture and medical bags. 1,600 doctors as well as nursing staff have taken part in further training courses. The topics covered included doctor-patient communication and working with computers.
- 50 experts in different fields from a total of twelve rehabilitation centres for children with disabilities have received training in cross-disciplinary therapy methods. The equipment has been modernised in five centres so far. More than 2,000 children with disabilities and their parents are benefiting from these measures.
- Together with communities and volunteer youth workers, 25 youth centres have now been opened. More than 50,000 children and young people participate in independently organised training courses, cultural events and other leisure activities each year. They thus play an active part in community life.
- Psychologists and social workers from more than 60 local social centres (at community and rayon level) have received training in the area of conflict management and, building on this, more in-depth training on mediation with a focus on family mediation.