On November 18 Right to Protection CF with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Program organized an event in the format of an online consultation “How can amalgamated territorial communities (hromadas) receive financial assistance (subvention) from the state to provide housing for internally displaced persons?”
The event was attended by representatives of 50 united territorial communities of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions. During the consultation, the existing opportunities for international technical assistance for socio-economic development of united territorial communities in Ukraine in above mentioned regions were also discussed.
As been noted by Myroslava Sushchenko, the Head of the offices of the Right to Protection CF in Dnipro and Zaporizhia, decided to organize this consultation event for the members of amalgamated hromadas, who have repeatedly approached our specialists for information on existing financial opportunities to provide housing for IDPs, which exist primarily through the receipt of a subvention from the state to local budgets.
SPEAKERS AND TOPICS
- Maksym Alekseenko-Lemovsky, Chief Specialist of the Department for Formation and Implementation of Housing Policy of the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine told about the procedure and conditions for providing a subvention from the state budget to local budgets.
- Myroslava Sushchenko spoke on how to develop and approve the Local Targeted Program for Housing for IDPs and on the procedure for establishing a temporary housing fund, providing it for the use of IDPs, purchasing apartments on the secondary market and providing migrants with housing on financial leasing terms.
- Vartan Muradyan, a field adviser at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Slovyansk told about their work.
- Markiyan Zhelyak, Public Engagement Specialist of the Emergency Loan Program for Ukraine’s Reconstruction Program, spoke in detail about the achievements and results of implemented projects in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia oblasts, as well as future potential UNDP projects.
- Anna Aladzhalyan, Chief Community Development Consultant of the Eastern Regional Office of the Ukrainian Social Investment Fund introduced the participants to the projects and activities of the USIF.
“Every amalgamated hromada has the opportunity to receive financial assistance from the state to purchase housing for IDPs. The main thing here is to set the right priorities, calculate your own strengths and write projects in proportion to the community’s capabilities in order to receive the appropriate subvention. For example, this year 10 apartments in Kramatorsk, 8 in Pokrovsk, and 1 house in Primorsk, Zaporizhia Oblast, were purchased at the expense of the subvention. It may be just one house, but it is still a step towards solving the housing problem of at least one socially vulnerable family of migrants. I urge communities to participate in the competition for a state subvention for socio-economic development of the territories, ”
– commented Ms. Myroslava.
USEFUL MATERIALS PRESENTED DURING THE EVENT:
HANDBOOK ON HOUSING PROGRAMS FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS, REVIEW FOR MARCH 2020 (IN UKRAINIAN).
This guide provides an extensive overview of existing state and local housing programs in the housing sector. It will be useful for local governments, as it will allow them to analyze existing practices in the context of housing policy in all regions of Ukraine.
A collection of model documents that includes various options and examples of legal regulation for the provision of IDPs’ housing rights. The collection was designed to facilitate the development of an appropriate documentation framework for communities that intend to implement programs to help address the housing problems of migrants.