We continue to support the country within the framework of the project «Supporting the Capacity of the Social Protection System to Register Internally Displaced Persons».
In April, we implemented a number of measures to improve the quality of social services and their accessibility for IDPs. We share the results of our work with you.
First of all, we actively cooperate with the social protection institutions and the communities and provide mentoring support to the initiative groups for the creation of IDP Councils as well as to the newly created Councils. In total, our regional teams held 23 meetings with the management of social protection institutions and representatives of target communities. In particular, we discussed their current needs and possible long-term solutions to support the capacity of the social protection system.
Olha Vovchenko, Head of the Yustyna NGO, a participant in a meeting with the initiative group to create an IDP Council under the Chernihivska Oblast Military Administration, said: «We saw good results after two hours of lively discussions. On the one hand, we have a common vision of the problems and activities of the IDP Council under the Chernihivska Oblast Military Administration. On the other hand, thanks to our different experiences, we can share information about difficulties that our colleagues have not encountered in their work. We have compiled a list of areas that our Council can potentially address. Next, we have even more difficult work ahead of us – assessing our strengths, evaluating resources, and choosing the ideas we can implement».
We also support the involvement of IDP youth in the activities of IDP Councils, with three such events implemented in Lvivska and Rivnenska oblasts.
Another important activity is training events for female employees of Social Protection Departments. The April webinars covered social protection for war veterans among IDPs, social guarantees for IDPs, and compensation for damaged or destroyed property. We also organized 19 trainings on combating professional burnout.
We also shared useful information with IDPs. We held 11 seminars on pressing issues such as compensation for damaged or destroyed property, IDPs’ living allowance, and IDPs’ labor and social rights under martial law. IDPs from Bakhmut had the opportunity to attend our training on how to recover lost or destroyed documents.
Our work to support targeted communities in preparing social passports is also gaining momentum. In April, we organized 23 workshops for working groups in 10 oblasts.
«We are considering various ways of economic development of the community, looking for additional funding, but these are one-time events that solve local problems. Given the challenges of the war and the number of IDPs in the community who are expected to stay for a longer period of time, the development of a social passport will strengthen the social protection system and improve the quality of life of citizens», said Vasyl Havryshkiv, Deputy Chairman of the City Council of Zolochiv, Lvivska Oblast, head of the working group on social passport development.
In April, our regional teams also met with partner organizations to discuss joint projects and opportunities for cooperation. In particular, the Foundation participated in coordination meetings with representatives of UNHCR regional offices and the Ombudsman, Charity Foundation Right to Protection, Proliska humanitarian mission, D.O.M.48.24 NGO, YaMariupol assistance center, Ukrainian Red Cross Society in Ivano-Frankivsk, ACTED.
We will continue to help improve the social protection system in the territorial communities of all regions. We implement these initiatives with the support of the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.