The United Voices in Action initiative continues to establish IDP Councils, which safeguard the rights of IDPs and facilitate their integration into new communities. In the past month, such organizations have emerged in Khmelnytskyi, Uman, and Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district.
➡️ We would like to remind you that the IDP Council is an advisory body comprising representatives from IDPs, NGOs, and government agencies. These councils can operate under city or district councils, oblast state administrations, mayors, or other local authorities. Regardless of their affiliation, IDP Council members can shape the decisions made by these authorities and advocate for the interests of IDPs within the community of the city, region, and so on.
🔵 The IDP Council in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district was inspired by the Obolonskyi district Council, which has successfully demonstrated real assistance to IDPs in its brief existence. Oleksandr Yavtushenko, the coordinator of the United Voices in Action program in Kyivska Oblast, introduced the concept of the Council, and the regulation for its establishment was adopted two months later. On April 20, the founding assembly approved the Council’s composition. Now, members will deliberate on the action plan and strategies to aid IDPs during future meetings.
Oleksandr Yavtushenko
An IDP Council at the district level is genuinely effective. It is somewhat easier to mobilize assistance at the local level. Kyiv has a unique administrative and legal status, featuring a two-tiered government structure that is atypical for other Ukrainian cities: there is the city government represented by the Kyiv City State Administration and the mayor, as well as separate authorities for the city districts. To effectively defend the rights and liberties of IDPs, we are creating a similar two-tier structure of IDP councils at both the district and city levels. We are currently in anticipation of the electronic voting to elect members of the Kyiv citywide IDP Council.
🔵 On April 6, the Coordination Council for Internally Displaced Persons in Khmelnytskyi was established. It is composed of 16 individuals, including IDPs, representatives of local authorities, NGOs, and charitable foundations (such as our coordinator of the United Voices in Action program in Khmelnytska Oblast, Serhiy Yatskovskyi). The mayor chairs the council.
At the new IDP Council’s inaugural meeting, several solutions were proposed concerning the social protection of IDPs, education, and healthcare. Specifically, plans to retrain IDPs to obtain category B and C driver’s licenses were discussed, making it easier for them to secure employment. The local employment center and an organization that joined the Council are prepared to assist in this endeavor as the organization collaborates with driving schools in Khmelnytsky and intends to join. In collaboration with the employment center, a training program for IDPs on starting a business has also been planned.
Serhiy Yatskovskyi
We discovered that up to 50% of IDP children do not attend local schools but continue their education online. Their parents are reluctant to enroll them, fearing language-based discrimination since the displaced individuals from the east predominantly speak Russian. We agreed to launch an informational campaign, submit proposals to the City Council’s work plans, and prepare an integration event for displaced and local children. This will allow the children to meet, interact, and understand that they have more in common than they might have initially thought.
The newly established Council has numerous plans for the future
🔵 Uman is now home to the latest IDP Council, which was established on April 13. Larysa Khodakovska, the regional coordinator in the Cherkaska Oblast, notes that there are numerous proactive and determined IDPs in Uman who have already integrated into their new community and are prepared to help others do the same.
Operating under the executive committee of the Uman City Council, the new body comprises 28 individuals, 19 of whom are IDPs. The first meeting is scheduled for May, during which priority areas of work will be identified.
Larysa Khodakovska
The IDP Council is an excellent mechanism for integrating IDPs. The council members are already actively participating in public life, and they can later contribute to the development of legislative documents to enhance the lives of IDPs within the community.