Today, Dnipro is one of the largest hubs hosting internally displaced persons from the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. More than 140 thousand IDPs are officially registered in the city.
Tetiana Mamchych, the regional coordinator of the CF SSS in Dnipropetrovska Oblast, spoke about the accommodation and living conditions of IDPs in Dnipro and their prospects for returning home.
According to Tetiana, IDPs in Dnipro are not left homeless: there are plenty of shelters and Collective Centers (CCs). Currently, there are about 20 CCs in the city, half of which are municipal institutions, including university and vocational school dormitories. To settle there, IDPs need to apply to the Department of Social Protection of the Dnipro City Council with an application and the required documents.
Tetiana Mamchych noted that Collective Centers are best suited for families, as they offer the opportunity to get a separate room for a family. When it comes to shelters funded by NGOs and charity foundations, privacy can no longer be expected, as these are usually rooms for 6-8 people, where residents have to live with random neighbors. However, such CCs may have slightly better living conditions, fresher repairs, and newer appliances.
Even lone elderly people and people with disabilities receive proper attention: they are cared for by a separate NGO, partially funded by the Department of Social Protection. Later, such residents are resettled in specialized institutions throughout Ukraine.
According to Tetiana Mamchych, while there are no problems with temporary housing in Dnipro, the situation with long-term housing programs is somewhat worse: they need to be improved, and systemic solutions need to be developed that would be effective in the long term. After all, many IDPs will have nowhere to return to after the victory as their houses have been destroyed.
Time will tell how such solutions will be developed. Still, the coordinators of CF SSS, including Tetiana Mamchych, are actively engaging with local authorities and civic activists in Dnipropetrovska Oblast to develop joint ideas. In particular, as part of the project Promoting Transitional Justice and Human Rights of Conflict-Affected Persons and IDPs, civil society representatives in Dnipro will develop recommendations for local solutions, including housing issues. This project is being implemented by the Charity Foundation Stabilization Support Services together with the CF Right to Protection with the support of the Norwegian Refugee Council and the European Union.
In addition, the project developed information materials for IDPs in Dnipro, which contain important information on the procedure for obtaining an IDP certificate, applying for state benefits, opportunities for temporary accommodation, as well as useful contacts. They will be distributed to CCs and social security departments, exactly where they are most needed. We will also share these materials on our social media soon.
If you are an IDP in Dnipro or Dnipropetrovska Oblast, let us know in the comments how you solved the housing issue: do you rent an apartment on your own? Do you live with relatives? Or perhaps in a CC?
This publication was developed with the assistance of the Norwegian Refugee Council in Ukraine – Legal Aid with the financial support of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the exclusive responsibility of Stabilization Support Services and should not be interpreted as representing the opinions of the European Union or the Norwegian Refugee Council in any way.