Four years of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine have led to the massive destruction of critical infrastructure, housing, and life-support systems in hundreds of Ukrainian communities. It is no secret that among other regions, the communities of the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions have become particularly vulnerable. Having been partially occupied at the start of the war, they now face regular shelling. Almost every attack causes damage to housing and critical infrastructure, leading to prolonged interruptions in electricity and water supplies. Coupled with a "brain drain" of skilled personnel and a deficit of resources, this significantly reduces the capacity of local self-government bodies to respond promptly to recovery challenges.

In these conditions, an urgent need has emerged - not just for emergency repairs, but for a systemic approach to recovery that combines technical solutions, institutional support, and active cooperation between local authorities and Ukraine's international partners. This logic forms the basis of the "Sylna hromada" project, implemented by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation in partnership with the NGO "DESPRO", funded by the Swiss organisation Swiss Solidarity.

Thanks to DESPRO's many years of experience in local self-government development, water supply, and municipal infrastructure, the organisation became the key executive partner for the project in Ukraine. In 2025, activities focused on communities where the level of destruction and the recovery situation demanded rapid yet sustainable solutions.

The project concentrated on the restoration of water supply systems in communities and the restoration of damaged apartment buildings and private households. Additionally, one of the project's focal points was supporting local non-governmental organisations through grants for the implementation of recovery projects. Restoration of water supply and sanitation infrastructure in the communities of Kharkiv and Kyiv regions.

“Among all areas of humanitarian response, water and sanitation recovery projects are not only a key focus for the DESPRO team but also one of the most complex and responsible. Water is a basic need, and any decision in this sector directly impacts people's lives, the stability of communities, and their ability to recover. Even with almost 20 years of experience in the water sector, every new project for us is a separate challenge. It must be carefully verified, the right technical solution must be found - adapted to the specific conditions of the community - while simultaneously ensuring the rational use of funds entrusted to us by our partners,” says Project Manager Viacheslav Sorokovskyi.

The projects implemented by DESPRO vary greatly in complexity. Some are relatively simple - for example, the supply of pumping equipment or other critical components. Others require full-scale design, comprehensive construction work, the integration of complex technical solutions, and close interaction with local water utilities and authorities.

“Essentially, for DESPRO, there are no thematic limitations in the field of water supply and sanitation. We have extensive experience in implementing any projects in this direction - from emergency response to long-term modernisation of systems, the effect of which may only be felt after some time. The main thing is that these projects are realistic in terms of implementation deadlines and correspond to the financial frameworks defined by our partners.”

“During the restoration of water supply systems in communities, we focus on several key areas: increasing energy efficiency, modernising pumping and other equipment, automating processes, replacing worn-out networks, and implementing solutions that allow systems to operate during scheduled and emergency power cuts - specifically through solar power plants,” explains Andriy Kavun, an expert at NGO “DESPRO”.

“We do not work according to a template. For each community, we first analyse real needs, the technical state of infrastructure, and existing risks, and only then do we make decisions that are most effective in these specific conditions.”

 

 

Special attention within the project is paid not only to repairing existing networks but also to their modernisation using energy-efficient solutions. In particular, the use of solar and hybrid energy sources is gaining momentum, ensuring the continuous operation of systems even during power cuts. In some communities, people effectively do not feel the power outages because water, thanks to the installed solar power plants, continues to be supplied even in the absence of grid power.

It is worth noting that among the most typical damages are water towers, which were often destroyed or damaged as a result of hostilities, as well as wells and water supply networks. Old systems built 40-50 years ago cannot withstand the vibrations and loads, leading to cracks, silting, and loss of water quality. In such cases, facilities are restored or modern alternative solutions are implemented.

“Even in a humanitarian response format, we apply development project approaches: we carefully select equipment, optimise it for the real needs of the community, automate system management, and provide training for utility company personnel. This allows us not only to quickly restore water supply but also to make the system more resilient in the long term,” says Andriy Kavun.

A separate focus of activity in this direction is the restoration of sanitation systems and treatment plants, without which it is impossible to ensure stable water supply and the environmental safety of communities. One of the latest successful cases is the support provided for the restoration of sanitation equipment in the Ukrainka territorial community (Kyiv region). New sludge pumps supplied thanks to NGO “DESPRO” and partner support returned the sanitation system to normal functioning for a city of thousands on the banks of the Dnipro and prevented an ecological disaster.

In 2025 alone, the DESPRO team, together with Helvetas, implemented 14 projects in the field of water supply and sanitation. In total, over more than three years of cooperation between NGO “DESPRO” and the Swiss company Helvetas, more than 60 such projects have been implemented. Thanks to them, access to high-quality drinking water and sanitation was restored or improved for at least 100,000 residents across various communities and regions of Ukraine.

Within “Sylna hromada”, Helvetas provided 20 grants totalling over 10 million UAH to civil society organisations for the implementation of recovery projects. In this way, almost 14,000 people received targeted support. In addition, over 7,000 people in Kharkiv received assistance in securing their homes (closing building envelopes) after hostile attacks.

At the same time, the scale of infrastructure destruction in Ukraine requires not only resources but also the strengthening of the capacity of local community organisations involved in recovery processes.

Many organisations are newly formed and require practical tools for quality planning and project implementation.

In response to this demand, Helvetas organised organisational capacity-building training for 60 civil society organisations within the framework of “Sylna hromada”.

 

 

Helvetas, together with partners, also systematised the experience gained in Ukraine into the "Methodological Recommendations for Assessing the Recovery Needs of Territorial Communities". The document is a practical guide: how to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the community's current needs, prepare project documentation, analyse the load on municipal infrastructure, attract external funding, and ensure high-quality implementation of reconstruction initiatives.

Restoration of apartment buildings and private households in communities

As a result of hostilities, significant destruction was caused to both apartment buildings and private homes in the communities of the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions. In many cases, residents were left without proper protection from cold weather conditions during the autumn-winter period.

“Within the project, NGO DESPRO implements the humanitarian restoration of apartment buildings with light and medium damage. This primarily concerns roof repairs, the replacement of windows and doors in entrances, and the restoration of common areas,” notes Viacheslav Sorokovskyi.

“The selection of buildings takes place in close coordination with local authorities and includes a technical appraisal of the objects, determination of the degree of damage, and preparation of the necessary documentation. All repair work is performed transparently - with the approval of the authorities, the involvement of contractors through established procurement procedures, and constant technical supervision by DESPRO specialists.”

 

 

As a result of the project, 48 apartment buildings in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions have already been repaired, improving living conditions for over 6,200 people.

Furthermore, the project is aimed at supporting owners of private houses affected by the war. According to UNDP estimates, over 290,000 housing units in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed, and a significant portion of them require urgent restoration. For such households, a “cash for repair” approach is applied, with a special focus on socially vulnerable categories of the population and those who do not fall under the state “e-Recovery” (e-Vidnovlennia) programme.

“Beneficiaries are determined according to clear technical and social criteria. Each household undergoes a mandatory inspection, and the degree of damage is documented by qualified DESPRO engineers using digital data collection tools. The final decision is made jointly with local authorities. Grants are provided in a fixed amount depending on the level of damage. If necessary, the project team can take on the organisation of repair work, but in any case, throughout the process, it provides technical support and monitoring of the quality of the work performed,” says Viacheslav Sorokovskyi.

Special attention in the project is paid to proper communication with partners and residents of damaged buildings. Throughout the entire restoration process, the project team ensures interactive communication with the recipients of assistance. From the initial assessment visit to the completion of repairs, owners have the opportunity to contact the project team with comments, observations, and suggestions, or via a designated "hotline" number. This allows for the prevention of misunderstandings during the work and promotes the establishment of mutual trust and synergy of efforts.

Grants cover both light repairs - replacement of windows, doors, partial roof repair, and internal finishing - and medium repairs, which involve the restoration of structural elements of buildings, roofs, internal walls, and heating and water supply systems.

As a result, more than 550 private houses have been restored within the project, ensuring safe and dignified living conditions for more than 1,900 community residents. Over half of the beneficiaries are women, and about 80% are representatives of socially vulnerable groups.

The ongoing destruction of the housing stock intensifies migration processes and requires systemic solutions in the housing sector. This stimulates Helvetas to search for effective methods for solving the problem of social housing and improving the situation in communities.

With the support of Switzerland, Helvetas - together with the Swiss construction company Divario AG and in strategic partnership with DESPRO - launched the public-private partnership project “Horizon Homes: Sustainable Modular Housing” this year.

The project combines housing solutions for war-affected families with the development of domestic production. In the Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions, 330 energy-efficient modular houses will be installed. Production will take place in Ukraine, which will contribute to the creation of at least 30 jobs, the development of local value chains, and the implementation of modern standards of sustainable construction.

The project is implemented in cooperation with the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine with the aim of piloting a model that will improve state approaches to housing restoration.

In parallel, Helvetas, in cooperation with the Housing Institute, conducted a market study of prefabricated construction in Ukraine, specifically modular housing. The study provides a detailed characterisation of the prefabricated technology market in Ukraine, identifies the main manufacturers by different types of structures, and provides an overview of best practices and experiences from the USA, Canada, Germany, France, the UK, and Japan. The analytics show significant potential for prefabricated construction technology, as well as regulatory barriers hindering its development in Ukraine. The combination of pilot implementation and analytics is intended to contribute to the implementation of the housing reform initiated in Ukraine in 2022.

 

The implementation of such projects has a long-term impact that goes beyond immediate repair work and the restoration of infrastructure. The solutions laid down form the basis for the sustainable development of communities in the post-war period.

Modernisation of water supply and sanitation systems using energy-efficient and autonomous solutions increases the reliability of critical infrastructure and reduces the dependence of communities on external factors, including power supply interruptions.

Restoration of the housing stock contributes to the preservation of the population in communities, the return of internally displaced persons, and the gradual recovery of the local economy.

Systemic work with the Government, utility companies, local self-government bodies, and local non-governmental organisations strengthens the institutional capacity of communities: from planning infrastructure investments to the management and maintenance of restored objects.

The performance of analytical work helps to adjust strategies for the restoration of territories at the national level and carry out smart reconstruction according to the “Build Back Better” principle. At the same time, analytical data provides a valuable evidence base for the formation of state policy. In a country experiencing the impact of a long-term war and where the situation is changing rapidly, access to evidence-based data is critical for making informed decisions.

These principles will allow communities not only to recover promptly after the war but also to become more capable and prepared for future possible crises and challenges.

 

The "Sylna hromada" project is implemented by Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation (Switzerland) and the non-governmental organisation "DESPRO" (Ukraine) within the framework of Switzerland's support for Ukraine, funded by Swiss Solidarity.