What should the dialog be like between local authorities, communities, and internally displaced people? How should IDPs adapt and integrate into communities? These were the key issues discussed at the Forum of IDP Councils held on January 25 in Ivano-Frankivsk.
The event was organized by the Rokada Charitable Foundation, which helped establish 80 IDP Councils in the western oblasts of Ukraine.
The event brought together representatives of civil society and local authorities from Ivano-Frankivska, Lvivska, Chernivetska, Zakarpatska, Ternopilska, Volynska, and Rivnenska oblasts. The event was attended by Fedir Danylchenko, UNHCR Legal Adviser, Yevheniya Mnyshenko, representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in Ivano-Frankivska Oblast, and Liudmyla Sirko, Deputy Head of Ivano-Frankivska Oblast State Administration.
Valeriya Vershynina, Director of Legal Affairs and Project Manager at the CF SSS, and Anna Borysova, Director for Humanitarian Response and Advocacy Manager at the CF SSS, spoke at the Forum.
“We presented the trends of 2024 regarding internal displacement, discussed why members of IDP Councils cannot receive salaries, and what the good and bad practices of working with IDP Councils are. Of particular interest to the participants were the recommendations not to turn IDP Councils into a service body but instead to focus on their advisory function. Participants actively discussed the role of IDP Councils as compared to NGOs. Much attention was also paid to social housing and the importance of evaluating existing housing programs,” said Valeriya Vershynina.
Strengthening the network of IDP Councils is one of the priority areas of our Foundation’s work. Last year, we helped communities establish more than 100 such advisory bodies. This year, our activities are aimed at strengthening the capacity of IDP Councils.
We are establishing IDP Councils as part of the Supporting the Capacity of the Social Protection System to Register Internally Displaced Persons project, implemented with funding from the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.
