The month of June was filled with consultations, workshops, and meetings for the project team dedicated to “Supporting the Capacity of the Social Protection System to Register Internally Displaced Persons”. This year, the project’s reach extends across all oblasts of Ukraine. Let us delve into the outcomes of our activities.
Workshops on the Development of Social Passports
Our ongoing support to the target communities is reflected in the three workshops held in Zakarpatska and Cherkaska oblasts. The aim was to emphasize the significance of social passports and clarify the procedure to develop or refresh them.
In Luhanska and Ternopilska oblasts, five coordination meetings involving the heads of social protection departments and other entities instrumental in IDP registration were conducted. They discussed the efforts of the target communities concerning social passports and the attained results.
Capacity Building for Social Protection Institutions
A series of 26 workshops for social protection bodies were organized in 18 oblasts, including Vinnytska, Volynska, Dnipropetrovska, Donetska, Zhytomyrska, Zakarpatska, Zaporizka, Ivano-Frankivska, Kyivska, Kirovohradska, Luhanska, Lvivska, Mykolaivska, Poltavska, Rivnenska, Sumska, Ternopilska, and Chernihivska. The sessions addressed:
- The operation of the Unified Information System of the Social Sphere (UISSS);
- Social services for IDPs;
- IDP registration.
Ms. Tomoko Ishihara from the UNHCR Uzhhorod Field Office in Ukraine was a participant in the workshop focused on contemporary information technologies held in Ivano-Frankivska Oblast.
“We consider it crucial to empower social protection institutions working with displaced individuals. In this era, digitization has become a trend and a key factor in our operations. We gather, analyze IDP data and utilize various communication platforms where people can receive consultations. We trust this workshop will be advantageous, and the insights gathered can be applied in your daily operations,” stated Ms. Tomoko during her introductory speech.
Webinars for IDPs and War Survivors
Our regional teams conducted 16 webinars aimed at IDPs and individuals affected by the conflict initiated by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. During the meetings, the following topics were discussed in depth:
- Compensation for lost or damaged properties;
- Retrieving lost documents;
- Work and social rights of IDPs;
- Social protection of IDPs.
Liubov Naryzhna, an attendee of the “Recovering lost documents” workshop held in Truskavets (Lvivska Oblast), said, “We were generally aware that losing a crucial document necessitated a visit to the police. But now we’ve learned that several documents can be reissued through a mobile application or at the ASC, which is quite convenient.”
Legal Assistance
We offered 430 legal counseling sessions to social protection institutions and extended legal help to 1,884 conflict-affected individuals, including IDPs.
Supporting the Establishment and Operation of IDP Councils
We’ve had a fruitful month in this domain. Our regional teams organized:
- 17 meetings to offer coordination and mentorship support to initiative groups and newly formed IDP Councils;
- 24 meetings to engage the youth in the activities of the IDP Councils;
- 15 events to promote gender inclusion in IDP Councils, including the anti-discrimination game “Being a Woman”.
These events took place in the target communities of 16 oblasts: Poltavska, Vinnytska, Rivnenska, Chernivetska, Volynska, Donetska, Odeska, Khmelnytska, Cherkaska, Ivano-Frankivska, Dnipropetrovska, Mykolaivska, Chernihivska, Lvivska, Zhytomyrska, and Kyivska.
“The biggest problems of young people in our community are unemployment and low level of leisure opportunities for those who live in rural areas. I am confident that involving young people in the activities of the IDP Council will help solve the problems faced by IDPs. In addition, it will help the Council better understand the needs of this group,” said Maryna, a participant in the event on involving youth in the activities of the IDP Council at the Mena City Council (Chernihivska Oblast).
We will continue to implement these and other project initiatives to stabilize the social protection system and help IDPs integrate into new communities. These activities are funded by the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.