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05.11.20

On October 30, 2020 in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Right to Protection CF held a workshop «Common action of public authorities, legal aid centers and the public sector in support of asylum seekers in Ukraine»

Event was attended by the representatives of the State Migration Service of Ukraine and the Department of the State Migration Service in Chernihiv Oblast, the State Border Guard Service, the Chernihiv City Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid, the Regional Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid in the Chernihiv Region, the Chernihiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, and the Chernihiv Temporary Holding Facility as well as the Ripky District Court of Chernihiv Region.

During the Discussion such issues were spoken out:

  • Peculiarities of interaction of public authorities with the secondary free legal aid centers and human rights organizations in cases for asylum seekers, which are located in temporary holding facilities for foreigners during the quarantine operation;
  • difficulties for governmental institutions in the process of processing the cases of asylum seekers;
  • The ways to solve the existing problems.

The seminar was held in a mixed format – most participants were physically present on the event, some joined through the use of videoconferencing tools, which became a new and interesting practice for participants. They were actively involved in the discussion.

According to Oleksandra Lukyanenko, a lawyer at Right to Protection CF, such meetings are a very important tool for establishing joint action with public authorities, free legal aid centers and human rights organizations in our common sphere of providing aid to the asylum seekers in Ukraine.

Project Manager, Lawyer at R2P Oleksandra Zhurko noted that such workshops are useful as they provide an opportunity to meet directly with all parties, as everyone are able to get answers to their questions in the shortest time possible.

05.11.20

On October 29, within the framework of the project for the integration of refugees Right to Protection CF organized an online training with experts from various businesses.

The purpose of the event was to acquaint the beneficiaries with business representatives, to give practical advice. It was held in the format of group coaching in 4 business areas at once: restaurant business, project management, translations and real estate.

Mashraf Khaidarov, owner of Mazza_cafe_halal, spoke about his successful experience of integration into society and doing business in Ukraine. Mashraf is a refugee from Tajikistan and has the status of a person with protection. He managed to win a grant from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) program, thanks to which he was able to open a small business – cheburechnaya (Kavkaz self-service type of small cafe – edit. note).

«In the business plan, I wrote everything down to the smallest details: location, product, miscalculations to every cent. And most importantly – for whom I will do it, who is my client. This business grant helped me to start, was a perfect basis, and then I began to collect money and plan a larger-scale business», 

–  Mashraf mentioned during his speech.

In his opinion, Ukraine is a favorable country for doing business. During the quarantine period, Mazza_cafe_halal were able to increase their profits and open 2 new points.

Igor Bilyk, Project Manager Coordinator at SoftServe IT company gave practical recommendations on how one can improve their life and systematize the workflow by using project management tools.

«The project manager needs to consider a large number of parameters in order to arrive at the desired goal. As in life, in project management it is necessary to be responsible, proactive, energetic, analyzing»,

– Igor shared.

Exclusively for the event participants, SoftServe provided 2 training certificates for the course in HTML / CSS / JavaScript Fundamentals. The first certificate was handed during the meeting, and the second will be given based on the results of the creative task.

Igor Zagrebnoy, CEO at i-translation.pro and Money Coach spoke about how one can make good money as a freelance translator.

«Nobody wants a cheap translation, everyone wants a high-quality and fast one,» 

– says Igor

Speaker advises to look for clients all the time, everywhere, even when one just starts their own business. The expert also emphasized that it is important to have your own specialization and motivated the participants of the event:

«Taking absolutely all the orders you get is just not profitable. … The law of the Universe is: the client whom you can serve a quality product once will then always buy from you!»

– Igor said. 

Elena Zvonareva, CEO at the Kub Real Estate Agency and a Business Coach also shared her experience.

«You can master the profession of a realtor without special education. In this sphere, recommendations are important, not certificates. The client always goes to the personality of the realtor, or to the atmosphere of the agency, and not to pieces of paper»

– Elena shared.

R2P thanks the speakers and companies who supported the event, thereby showing a high level of openness and corporate social responsibility!

You can also view the full version of the online meeting recording

04.11.20

Olena was born in Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1977. Her childhood was far from happy because of an armed conflict that took place in her native land in 1989. As a teenager, Olena was forced to flee from war to Ukraine.

In 2010, the woman received a certificate from the Georgian consulate stating that she was not a citizen of this country. In 2011, Olena received a permanent residence permit in Ukraine as a stateless person. Today, this certificate is valid and Olena legally resides in Ukraine.

Olena lived in Horlivka for several years, and in 2014 she had to to move again. The conflict forced her to move to a new city in Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Olena dreams to become a citizen of Ukraine and has all the legal rights for it, as she has been living in Ukraine continuously for the last five years.

Today, it is not possible for Olena to obtain such a certificate, as all the case materials remain in uncontrolled Horlivka. To obtain a new certificate, Ms. Olena must first come to Georgia and pay the consular fee. Her identity must be confirmed by at least two Georgian citizens. In addition, the woman lost her birth certificate, and its duplicate simply does not exist. The circle is closed…

Does Olena feel happy?

Undoubtedly, the lack of a passport does not allow you to live fully and realize all your desires. But Elena has six wonderful children, which are her greatest happiness today. All of them were born on the territory of Ukraine and have birth certificates. Last year, with the help of a lawyer of the Right to Protection CF the eldest daughter already received a passport of a citizen of Ukraine

But unfortunately, Olena herself continues to live in the status of a stateless person…

In support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Global Campaign to Combat Statelessness #IBelong (#Яісную) Right to Protection CF tells stories of 5 different people who have faced the problem of statelessness in Ukraine. In fact, there are thousands of such stories across the country. And they all bring together completely different people who, under certain circumstances, live without documents. We want to address this issue and help solve it!

02.11.20

Natalia is a happy mother of five wonderful children: Adeline, Arsen, Ivan, Carolina and Diana. The family belongs to the Roma minority. Until 2014, they all lived in the city of Yasynuvata in the Donetsk region, but after the start of the conflict, the family immediately moved to Mariupol.

What sets this family apart from others?

Neither the woman nor her children ever had passports and birth certificates. That is, no documents that would say: yes, these people actually exist. Natalia’s parents did not make documents for her. She, in turn, was unable to issue birth certificates for her five children, who were born in what is now beyond the control of the Ukrainian government. Natalia really wanted a decent life for the children. That they exist in the world not only physically but also legally.

The woman turned to the Right to Protection CF for help, with the words:


“I want my children to go to school; I don’t want the road of life to lead them to prison.”

Natalia understood that an undocumented person is a an out of society human being, that is deprived of the opportunity to work, study and be useful to others.

Lawyers of the Right to Protection have started a struggle for a dignified life for women and their children. Six lawsuits were initiated. Eventually, all five children received birth certificates. Natalia herself is currently undergoing the procedure of acquiring citizenship.

However, the problems did not end there. After receiving birth certificates, children continue to face discrimination and denial of public services. They are denied access to the education system, they are not enrolled in technical schools and colleges, medical institutions do not sign declarations with them, they cannot officially get a job. And all this because the migration service does not issue a passport to their mother.

Natalia’s children are required to obtain identification numbers at the tax office and confirm their registration of residence, which cannot be done without a passport. The migration service of Mariupol is also not hurrying up to issue passports to Natalia’s children, various reasons appear all the time: lack of legislation, desire, time, etc. Meanwhile, winter is coming, which will be a horror for  the whole family. It is not certain if they will survive it. Lack of documents is an obstacle to make a rental agreement, as well as to the ability to work and pay for these apartments.

Natalia and her children are waiting and believe that their problem will be finally solved successfully!

In support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Global Campaign to Combat Statelessness #IBelong (#Яісную) The Right to Protection CF tells stories of 5 different people who have faced the problem of statelessness in Ukraine. In fact, there are thousands of such stories across the country. And they all bring together completely different people who, under certain circumstances, live without documents. We want to address this issue and help solve it!

Read more stories:

2/5: To become a citizen to live a happy life

3/5: To have a citizenship is to have the rights

4/5: To be citizen to receive medical treatment

5/5: Roma people (video)

02.11.20

Dialogue projects, despite the effectiveness of this tool, are always a challenge for those who conduct and organize them, because of the difficulty to keep all the sides with opposing views included in the process. 

However, such activities allow not only to obtain additional information, but to look at the problem or situation differently. The participant of one of our dialogue projects shared with us his thoughts and impressions from the dialogues. So we decided to also share it with you.

«Last year I got acquainted with the dialogues. Those are not just talks about “how is the weather today”, but the main goal is to understand people, each other. And this is a very interesting process that leads to deep self-reflections (re-awareness).  But it’s not that simple. I don’t advise anyone to dive deep while trying to talk to people, because everyone has their own depth and you can dive way too deep. That’s not the most pleasant. But still, it works. The process gives the opportunity to understand and accept yourself and others.

[…]

We once discussed this with our family and realized that it is very difficult to explain what dialogue is and what is its impact. When you try to clearly explain you then got asked: “What is the result? And what’s the point? And which method?” And the answer is not so simple, because different people have their own ideas and it is difficult to explain that this is the thing that changes you as a person and not the situation around. In order for the situation to change, it is necessary for everyone involved to change it. And you’re not alone.

[…]

Dialogue is a tool. Being inspired by the process, I couldn’t understand why one would not easily come to the dialogue? Why wouldn’t one look for points of contact? How to focus on things which divide rather than unite. And the answer to all such questions lies on the surface. There should always be two sides in the dialogue, if one side vanishes, it then becomes a monologue. And it is perfectly normal not to continue discussion if such a decision is made. 

[…] 

After all, either the two sides of the dialogue are trying hard and looking for a common solution, or everyone dictates their terms and the stronger one wins (although usually in such case this results not in a win-lose, but into a lose-lose).

[…]

The result is achieved during the process. I came to the conclusion that this is exactly how it works. But there is a catch: the goal cannot become an end in itself. For example, people do not climb up the mountain just to visit the mountain. People do it to walk the long path, see the horizon and move on after all.

[…]

The way to achieve a goal is more expensive, because the end point will always change if development, not stagnation is a desired path. It is necessary to plan and look at life not by tasks and goals, but by the way. And be prepared for the fact that in the process goals may change. Always check them to see if they fit your purpose and mission. And most importantly, the goals must not become an end but a continuation of Your path.»

30.10.20

On October 29, 2020 at 12:30, a roundtable «Risks and Protection: Legislation and Practice» was held at Ukrinform.

Discussion was organized by the Right to Protection Charitable Foundation within the framework of the European Union-funded Disaster Risk Reduction project in Eastern Ukraine and implemented by the #3P Consortium.

The roundtable was attended by governmental representatives and members of parliament, military-civil administrations, employees of state enterprises* . Legal Analyst at Right to Protection CF Anastasia Bondarenko was a moderator at the event.

Risks and Protection: Legislation and Practice round table

A number of important issues were discussed during the four-hour conference, including:

  • Increasing the population’s readiness for risks with the help of legal instruments;
  • The role of local self-government in preparing the population for emergencies;
  • Challenges in the processes of increasing the readiness of the population in the context of decentralization reform;
  • Environmental and man-made risk management in Donbas Region.

In addition to the thematic discussion, the White Paper was presented – an analytical document developed by experts from the 3P Consortium, which offers practical recommendations for public authorities for refinements and additions to the Unified State Civil Protection System of Ukraine.

White Paper was presented – an analytical document developed by experts from the 3P Consortium

Click the links below to download electronic versions of all the above-mentioned documents:

WHITE BOOK (IN UKRAINIAN AND ENGLISH)

ANALYTICAL REPORTS (IN UKRAINIAN AND ENGLISH)

During the discussion of the Lesya Vasylenko, Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Climate Change and Atmospheric Air Protection of the Verkhovna Rada noted about the serious problems with mines in the occupied territories, namely that facilities pose a real threat and can cause a humanitarian catastrophe due to their uncontrolled flooding.

«We need to consistently collect information about the quality of soil, air and water. This should be done not just once in a few years, or when international funding is received, but systematically, on a regular basis. … In order to make environmental projects work we need to ensure the existence of special site, where topics on ecological safety of whole Donbas region will be discussed»

– Ms. Vasylenko said.

Deputy also invited all those who were present at the event to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management hearings, which will be on November 10, 2020 in Zoom video conference format..

Taras Polishchuk, Head of the Technological Safety Department of the Department for Emergency Prevention, pointed on the importance of promoting the idea of mandatory insurance for all the enterprises, which pose technological risks.

«Ukrainian insurance sector just does not work when it comes to the safety of facilities. For example, in European countries all such facilities have obligations to insure for emergency cases, so they are afraid to do anything that can potentially yield any harm to ecology»

– said Mr. Polishchuk.

Recording of the whole discussion is available on YouTube

* Complete list of participants of the round table: 

Lesya Vasylenko – Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Climate Change and Atmospheric Air Protection of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management; 

Anastasia Bondarenko – legal analyst of the Right to Protection Charitable Foundation, moderator; 

Anna Cherkasova – Chief Ecologist of the MCA in Toretsk; 

Oleksandr Ashchaulov – Deputy General Director for Labor Protection of Toretskvugillya State Enterprise; 

Taras Polishchuk – Head of Technogenic Safety Department, Department of Emergency Prevention; 

Oleksandr Leshchenko – Deputy Director of the Department – Head of the Department for Protection of Population and Territories, Department for the Organization of Civil Protection Measures; 

Bohdan Danyliuk – Deputy Head of the Operational Duty Service and Preparedness of Control Points, Emergency Response Department; 

Maksym Ivanov – Deputy Head of the Civil Protection Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Luhansk Oblast; 

Serhiy Andriychuk – Chief Specialist for Defense Work, Civil Defense and Law Enforcement Interaction, Popasna Regional State Administration; 

Oleksiy Babchenko – Head of the Military-Civil Administration of Zolote and Katerynivka village in Popasna district, Luhansk region; representative of the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

29.10.20

On September 2, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft Law on Administrative Procedure № 3475 dated 14.05.2020 in the first reading.  The Right to Protection CF considers it appropriate to provide the Committee with its analysis of the draft law and recommendations on the preparation of the draft for the second reading.

General caveats

Right to Protection CF considers that some of the project proposals are appropriate and can improve the realization of the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities in relations with the state. Such proposals should include the consolidation of the presumption of legality of actions and requirements of the person in Art. 15 of the draft, the obligation of the administrative body to collect evidence independently and not to transfer this obligation to the applicant in Art. 16 of the draft, detailing the requirements for the administrative act in Art.  67 of the draft, fixing the possibility to declare an administrative act invalid in Art. 85, etc.

In general, the creation of a unified procedure for consideration of appeals and decision-making on them can guarantee the possibility of personal protection of their rights and their timely implementation. However, the Right to Protection CF agrees with the position of the Main Scientific and Expert Department and believes that if the draft is adopted as a law, there may be negative consequences for a large number of existing procedures and administrative services that cannot be implemented within the general administrative procedure.

Risks to the procedure for processing an application for recognition as a refugee or as a person in need of complementary protection

1. The current legal framework, including a number of international treaties, enshrines the special vulnerability of this category of foreigners and stateless persons as asylum seekers, in particular, due to forced relocation, difficulty to obtain the documents proving their identity, low level of education, lack of sufficient funds to ensure a decent standard of living, experience of physical and psychological suffering, lack of language knowledge of the country, where they apply for protection.

Therefore, in order to ensure the rights of these persons and to prevent discrimination, the legislation establishes certain guarantees that are used by asylum seekers during administrative proceedings.  Among the most important guarantees of access to international protection, enshrined in current legislation, are:

  • the procedure for submitting an application by a person who is illiterate or has physical disabilities;
  • the right to submit an application and documents substantiating the need for protection, in the native language and the obligation of the State Migration Service of Ukraine (SMSU) and other state bodies to provide an interpreter;
  • the procedure for submitting an application by a person who has illegally crossed the state border of Ukraine;
  • the procedure for action of the SMSU and other state bodies in the case of applying for protection of a child separated from his family;
  • the right to submit an application by a person who does not have identity documents or such documents are false, and the procedure for further consideration of such an application;
  • an exhaustive list of grounds for deciding to refuse to accept an application for recognition as a refugee or a person in need of complementary protection, etc.

However, the draft Law does not take into account the special vulnerability of asylum seekers. Thus, Article 7 of the draft stipulates that foreigners and stateless persons use guarantees during administrative proceedings, but these guarantees are not enshrined and listed separately, which indicates their declarative nature.

2. The draft significantly expands the range of opportunities for a person to protect their rights during administrative proceedings, in particular, the right to submit petitions, an exhaustive list of which is directly enshrined in the draft, access to case materials, the right to submit explanations and comments, the right to be heard by the administrative body before decision in the case is taken, the right to initiate and participate in hearings in the case, etc., but due to the special vulnerability of asylum seekers for most of them the realization of these rights is not possible without representation.

At the same time, it should be noted that the draft does not provide the amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Free Legal Aid”, and under current regulation access to legal aid for asylum seekers is complicated: 1) the range of asylum seekers entitled to such assistance is  significantly narrowed;  2) a clear procedure and procedure for attracting or appointing a lawyer from the free legal aid center are not defined;  3) the obligation of the bodies of the State Migration Service of Ukraine (SMSU) to inform the relevant center for the provision of free legal aid about the need for such assistance to asylum seekers is not provided;  4) the term for consideration of an application for the provision of free legal aid is twice as long as the term for appealing against decisions of the SMSU, etc.

Therefore, in case of adoption of the draft Law as is without any required amendments, applicants for protection will be deprived of the opportunity to exercise their rights during the administrative proceedings.

3. One of the guarantees of access to international protection, as mentioned above, is to enshrine in law an exhaustive list of grounds for a decision to refuse to accept an application for recognition as a refugee or a person in need of complementary protection.  In contrast, according to the draft, the possibilities of the administrative body to refuse to consider the application are significantly expanded.  For example, Article 42 provides for a list of applications that are not subject to review, and Article 40 provides for the application to be left without motion or withdrawn from review. This may limit access of asylum seekers to international protection, thus violating Ukraine’s international obligations.

 4. The particular vulnerability of asylum seekers requires a special approach to the proof and evaluation of the application for protection.  This approach is explained in p.  196, 197 Guidelines on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol.  Instead, the requirements for evidence and proof set out in the draft do not take into account these recommendations, which may lead to a violation of the rights of asylum seekers.

Risks to the procedure for processing of an application for recognition as a stateless person

The Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons” stipulates that the procedure for consideration of applications for recognition as a stateless person shall be established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (within three months from the date Law enters into the force). The draft contradicts this provision of the Law, as it tries to regulate in particular the procedure for consideration of applications for recognition as a stateless person, without specifying this procedure in the list of exceptions from the scope of the draft. Instead, a significant number of project provisions are inconsistent with the procedure for recognition as a stateless person, some directly contradicting it.

1. Part three of Article 19 of the draft Law requires the applicant to translate documents provided in a foreign language, contrary to Article 6-1 of this Law, which obliges the state body to translate documents provided by the applicant when applying for recognition as stateless person.

2. Although Article 36 of the draft provides a form of application, which includes oral (including submitted in a personal application, which is added to the case file via transcribing it by an official), does not take into account the possibility of application by an illiterate person or person with disabilities. Instead, the second paragraph of the first part of Article 6-1 of this Law indicates the procedure for filing an application by such a person. In addition, as our practice shows, among undocumented persons with uncertain citizenship who meet the criteria for determining as stateless, there are often illiterate people who have not received an education.

3. This Law stipulates that if a stateless person has no documents that are required by Law, after his / her written consent was received, relatives, neighbors or other persons (at least three) will be interviewed to confirm the fact of statelessness (paragraph three of the first part of Article 6-1 of the draft Law). The draft provides the status of “case review facilitators” to the aforementioned people, but it cannot be taken into account that the interview is conducted only with the written consent of the applicant. In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will establish the procedure of interviewing persons during the consideration of an application for recognition as a stateless person.

4. Article 33 of the draft provides the possibility of initiating proceedings by an administrative body, which has the potential to yield a positive impact on the process of identifying undocumented stateless persons. However, consideration of the application for recognition as stateless is not provided by the above-mentioned law in any other way than through the application of the person.

5. The procedure for suspension and resumption of administrative proceedings provided in Article 60 of the draft is also not consistent with the procedure for recognition as a stateless person, defined by Law.  The draft introduces the possibility to suspend the consideration of the application at the request of the applicant, instead it is not able to take into account the procedure for termination and resumption of the application for recognition as stateless person (in particular at the time of consideration of the application for protection in Ukraine, as in the second article 6-1 of the said Law).

6. The administrative appeal introduced in the draft (Articles 74-81) will not be available to the applicant for recognition as stateless person, as the draft Law provides only the possibility of judicial appeal. The extension of the application certificate for recognition as a stateless person is provided only for the time of the court appeal.

Summary and recommendations

Thus, the special vulnerability of asylum seekers and persons applying for recognition as stateless is not taken into account in the process of administrative proceedings in the draft Law. There are no separate guarantees for these categories. In the process of exercising the rights during the administrative proceedings proposed in the draft, both asylum seekers and stateless persons will obviously face significant difficulties. In fact, rights will remain declarative for them.

Based on the above, we recommend to add paragraphs 6 and 7 of the following content to the part 2 of Article 1 of the draft law:

6) submission and consideration of an application for recognition as a refugee or a person in need of complementary protection, decision-making on this application and its appeal, adoption and appeal of a decision on loss and deprivation of refugee status and additional protection and cancellation of a decision on recognition as a refugee or a person needs additional protection;

 7) consideration of the application for recognition as a stateless person in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Recognition as a Stateless Person”.

28.10.20

The beneficiary of the Slovyansk Office of the Right to Protection CF, together with our lawyer came through a difficult and long way to obtain a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for the first time in his life.

This was the whole process: renewal of lost documents, courts, confirmation of citizenship. The final step in this case was to obtain a passport, the man had to apply to the State Migration Service of Ukraine (SMSU) in Bakhmut and provide all the documents collected within two years.

But a few days before the appointed date an accident happened to a 66-year-old man – one of his legs stopped functioning, so he lost the ability to move independently, even with a stick. Our beneficiary did not have special funds, and could not buy or receive assistance free of charge due to lack of a passport. So, as of Monday, the lawyer had to look for ways to take the man from the Chasiv Yar town (Bakhmut district) to Bakhmut and help him climb to the third floor of the SMSU department, that is not equipped for people with limited mobility and people with disabilities. Given the situation with CoVID-19, it was difficult to find transport to relocate the man, as most organizations now do not provide social support with their own transport. The search took almost two days.

The Proliska NGO responded to the request for assistance, temporarily not carrying out transportation due to CoVID-19, but they found a volunteer who took the man to the Bakhmut SMSU. A neighbor of our beneficiary also responded, who, despite the working day, accompanied him from the apartment to the Migration Service and back. In three weeks the man will have to visit the SMSU again and it is unknown what difficulties he will deal with next time.

Today, none of the departments of the State Migration Service in the north of Donetsk region, with which the representatives of the Right to Protection CF worked, are properly equipped or even not equipped at all for people with disabilities or with limited mobility. Some local offices are located on the second or even third floor of buildings, so people sometimes cannot get the necessary services at all.

28.10.20

On October 23, 2020, a round table  “Risks and Protection: Legal Regulation and Practice” for representatives of Volnovakha district was held online.

The roundtable was e-attended by representatives of Regional Civil Protection Department, local communities, Volnovakha Civil-Military Administration, and organized by members of the 3P Consortium, consisting of Ukrainian and international non-governmental organizations (ACTED, IMPACT Initiatives, Right to Defense, Danish Red Cross, Austrian Red Cross,  and the Ukrainian Red Cross).

 A number of important issues were discussed during the event:

  • Application of a risk-oriented approach by local communities;
  • The impact of decentralization reform on the civil protection system at the district level and on inter-level communication in general;
  • How to improve community living along the line of demarcation preparedness for emergency situations.

Roundtable was conducted within the context of European Union funded “Reducing Disaster Risk Vulnerability in Eastern Ukraine” project, being implemented by #3PConsortium.