Month: June 2023

On June 30, Kyiv hosted the National round table “Development of social services during the war: challenges and opportunities” which held the R2P as a partner of the Ukraine Response Consortium coordinated by ACTED. The program is undertaken with the financial support of the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance USAID (BHA).

Representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the National Social Service of Ukraine, territorial communities, international, national and local non-governmental organizations, social workers, social service providers discussed the development of social services during wartime.

Opening the round table, Nadiya Kovalchuk, program director of the R2P, told about the humanitarian and human rights activities of the R2P in 22 regions of Ukraine and the program of social services and social protection, which appeared and implemented by the R2P in connection with an unrealistic burden on the social sphere and the number of people in difficult life circumstances who need support due to the challenges of war.

“It is very important for us that we make this contribution to support people and that today in this circle there are representatives of government, local self-government, territorial communities and civil society who are ready to make sure that the social sphere is able to give an answer and support our people in these difficult times”.

Catherine Vizcaino, coordinator of the Response Consortium, also addressed the participants of the event, who spoke about the history of the Consortium, cooperation of partners, the implementation of the project and multi-industry assistance programs.

“We are pleased to partner with the R2P and will continue to do everything possible to help as many people as possible in Ukraine”.

Ulyana Tokareva, Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine, spoke about the restart of the social sphere by the Government of Ukraine as a mechanism for responding to the challenges caused by the war. Tatyana Laktionova, Deputy Head of the National Social Service of Ukraine, outlined the prospects for the implementation of state policy in the field of social services.

The event became an important platform for determining priority areas for reforming the state policy in the field of social services, sharing experiences and ideas on the challenges and opportunities for social service of people in territorial communities, as well as developing recommendations for improving the system of social services under martial law and post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

R2P has been included in the Register of providers and recipients of social services. It means that now the government officially recognizes social workers of the R2P as providers of such services.  

All organizations that provide social services must work in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “About Social Services”, meet the criterias for the activities of social service providers and be included in the Register of providers and recipients of social services. In order to be included in it, you must meet several criterias and complete the appropriate  registration.

“We wanted to become officially recognized by the government as providers of social services, as this provides a mechanism for the transparency of the market of providers of such services. Thanks to the existence of the Register, the government and social protection authorities have access to information about all social service providers. This allows us to urgently and qualitatively satisfy the needs of the people,” – said Olha Nosova, coordinator of the social protection of the R2P. 

Inclusion in the Register also contributes to the distribution of information about the available social services provided by the R2P, and will facilitate easier access to them by such intermediaries as government and local government offices who may be looking for resources to help people.

Social services – are actions aimed at preventing difficult life situations, overcoming such situations or minimizing their negative consequences for individuals/families who are in them. 

Services included in the Register from the social protection program of the R2P:

• informing;
• consultancy;
• representation of interests (conducting negotiations on behalf of the recipient of social services, help in drafting or restoring documents, etc.); 
• social prevention (a complex of actions aimed at preventing, limiting and stopping negative social phenomena and their consequences);
• physical accompaniment of people with disabilities who have musculoskeletal disorders and move around in wheelchairs, with intellectual, sensory, physical, motor, mental and behavioral disorders;
• transport services (in Kyiv region, Kryvyi Rih, Pavlograd, Chernivtsi region);
• social support of families/persons in difficult life circumstances (in Chernihiv and Sumy regions).

Besides the above services, there are 6 social services, which are included in the Register and will be implemented by social workers R2P: 

• social support during employment and at the workplace (help in the adaptation of a person to the work, arrangement of the workplace for persons with disabilities);
• social adaptation (training, formation and development of social skills, correction of behavior in everyday life);
• social integration and reintegration (correction of behavior in everyday life, help in strengthening/restoring family and socially beneficial ties); 
• care at home (for the elderly and persons/children with disabilities), help in self-care, movement in household conditions, help in organizing interaction with other specialists and services, help in providing technical means for rehabilitation;
• sign language translation (translation of sign language and verbal language for persons with hearing and speech impairments during their visit to some administrative institutions, social, medical, educational and other institutions); 
• emergency (crisis) intervention (psychosocial first aid, consulting, informing, representation of interests, help in the organization of receiving free legal aid, asylum, etc.).

In May 2023, R2P launched the program “Economic Resilience & Early Recovery Program”.

The goal of the program is to increase the economic inclusion of vulnerable populations. The Foundation aims to boost income-generating activities through training and facilitating access to employment for vulnerable youth.

The program is implementing the project “Business skills development and encouraging economic activity of IDP youth in Dnipropetrovsk region” supported by the German government through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). Target audience – IDPs who have faced career difficulties after forced displacement. As well as those who wanted to find a job or become an entrepreneur. Project duration: 7 months, until the end of November 2023.

As part of the project, beneficiaries can take a career development course to develop master modern digital literacy, learn how to effectively manage finances and improve their soft skills in particular. ]

Students of the course can also receive legal advice on the current labor and employment market and career counseling on adapting to professional and career changes.

Enrollment for the training course is currently underway.

Another component of the project’s activity is the legal chatbot “Legal Advisor for IDPs” which could give comprehensive information about labor law and employment issues, and other userful legal advices for IDPs.

In May 2023, the teams of the Reinforcing Civil Protection and Preparedness for Conflict Escalation in Ukraine projects completed a series of training on civil protection for representatives of social institutions and trainings on humanitarian standards for community representatives. The project was supported by ACTED and funded by the European Union.

In particular, the following topics were discussed during the events:

• basic humanitarian standards;
• important segments in the civil protection system;
• risk management; algorithm of actions in case of emergency; community forces and means during an emergency;
• basic steps to ensure security.

The training participants worked out the procedure for local governments to act in the event of a threat or emergency, modeling various situations, and determining the order of steps, forces, and means to ensure protection in the community.

The trainer also focused on the specifics of organizing assistance to vulnerable populations in the event of a threat or emergency. The training participants worked in teams, performed various practical tasks, presented their developments, discussed them and made suggestions, and tested their knowledge through testing.

The purpose of the events was to provide the most useful and practical information and share experience. During the course, participants were able to assess their own emergency preparedness, identify and analyze gaps and understand how they can be addressed. A total of 35 events were held, with more than 700 participants. These figures were three times higher than planned.