Today, residents of the Luhanska Oblast are scattered throughout Ukraine, and the oblast authorities are based in Dnipro. At the same time, active IDPs joined forces in 2020 and created an IDP Council in Luhanska Oblast with the support of our Foundation. Last week, we brought together representatives of the government and civic activists from the oblast in Kyiv to develop mechanisms of cooperation that will help resolve the issues of IDPs from Luhanska Oblast.
On July 6-7, we held a coordination meeting, “Implementation of the Strategy of the State Policy on Internal Displacement until 2025 at the Local Level”. The moderator and co-organizer of the event was Viktoriya Slipets, regional coordinator in Luhanska Oblast. The event was attended by the leadership of the Luhanska Oblast Military Administration, raion and city military administrations, social protection departments, and members of the IDP Council in Luhanska Oblast.
Kateryna Bezhinska, Deputy Head of Luhanska Oblast Military Administration, joined the meeting. In her welcoming remarks, Ms. Bezhinska said: “The format of the event is highly appropriate, as it is aimed at strengthening the protection of internally displaced persons at the local level. This meeting allows us to discuss best practices, as well as present regional programs and the work of the IDP Council.”
Serhiy Larionov, the project coordinator at CF SSS, presented the Strategy of State Policy on Internal Displacement until 2025 and explained the benefits of establishing an IDP Council for the authorities and the community.
Yana Liubymova, Head of the IDP Council of Luhanska Oblast, spoke about the work of the Council, its plans and tasks for the near future.
How to look for tools to implement social support initiatives for IDPs in Luhanska Oblast? Anna Riasna, Director of the Luhanska Oblast Center for Support of Youth Initiatives and Research, addressed this topic.
During the event, Olena Polishchuk, Director of the Department of Social Protection of the Oblast State Administration, presented the draft Oblast Comprehensive Targeted Program for IDP Support until 2025 in Luhanska Oblast. She also spoke about the activities of the Civilian Assistance Centers.
Oksana Voloshyna, deputy head of Lysychansk city administration, spoke about the work of the administration in addressing the housing issues of the community residents. In particular, she spoke about the establishment and operation of Collective Centers in Kyiv.
In addition, the meeting discussed the current situation with support for IDPs from Luhanska Oblast in the communities, and exchanged experiences and best practices.
Yuliana Hasanbekova, coordinator at CF SSS for the development of social passports of communities, spoke about the goals and results of the meeting: “Over 90% of Luhanska Oblast is temporarily occupied territory. But what matters most is the people for whom the oblast and local authorities do their work. Almost 200 thousand residents of the oblast have become internally displaced. Through this meeting, we sought to identify mechanisms and tools to help our fellow citizens to develop a roadmap for joint work between the authorities, philanthropists, and the public sector. In general, the results have been achieved: work on the Oblast Targeted Program of Social Support for IDPs is nearing completion (including suggestions). Equally important, this meeting allowed us to see and hear individuals who share our values and who care about their cause and their land. Luhanska Oblast is Ukraine!”
We held this event as part of the project “Supporting the Capacity of the Social Protection System to Register Internally Displaced Persons,” funded by the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.