On August 17–18, our Foundation is organizing a congress of IDP Councils in Poltava with the participation of local authorities, internally displaced persons, and civil society representatives. This will be the first forum of its scale.
The two-day event will bring together 11 speakers, seven charitable organizations, and representatives of initiative groups for the establishment of IDP Councils from four oblasts — Poltavska, Sumska, Kharkivska, and Luhanska. Over the course of two days, members of the IDP Councils, human rights advocates from the civil society sector, and local authorities will discuss ways to address urgent issues faced by internally displaced persons and explore questions of their long-term integration into host communities.
The main format of the event will be panel discussions, during which participants will present cases on involving IDPs in shaping local policies in their oblasts and describe the most effective methods of engaging them in key socio-economic processes:
☑️ State and local employment support;
☑️ Mechanisms for overcoming barriers to IDP integration into communities;
☑️ Implementation of the right to housing and protection of property rights for internally displaced persons;
☑️ Humanitarian response and social-legal protection of IDPs;
☑️ Creation of an interregional network of IDP Councils as an effective tool for involving displaced persons in implementing local-level changes.
Key participants of the Forum will include representatives of initiative groups for the establishment of IDP Councils from Luhanska Oblast, Kharkiv city territorial community, Zmiivska territorial community of Kharkivska Oblast, and Poltava city territorial community.
National charitable and civil human rights organizations Proliska, Tenth of April, Right to Protection, Intersos, and CrimeaSOS will join from the civil sector.
If you represent local media and would like to attend the event, please fill out the registration form.
The event will be held with the support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.