With U-LEAD’s support, the Tarutyne Village Council has developed a programme for the integration of internally displaced persons, which includes a number of measures for the employment and retraining of personnel and their accommodation in the municipality.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 2,400 people have officially received the status of IDPs in the Tarutyne municipality, of which 446 have already returned home. As of 1 January 2023, 1,960 IDPs live here. This was reported by Hanna Stoianova, Head of the Social Protection Department of the Tarutyne Village Council.

The implementation of a comprehensive programme for the support and integration of IDPs in 2023 and 2024 will help IDPs with employment and the acquisition of new professional skills. For displaced children, gadgets, textbooks and stationery necessary for schooling are to be purchased, and they will be offered rehabilitation and recreation options. The programme also covers social and medical services.

“In 2023, one million hryvnias was allocated for the programme from the local budget. Of these, 150,000 hryvnias are planned as a stimulus for employers who will create jobs for IDPs. We also have agreements with educational institutions regarding professional training, retraining and advanced training of 10 registered unemployed IDPs,” said Ms Stoianova.

11 displaced professionals have already found jobs in the municipality. Two of them work in a local outpatient clinic, a school hired a teacher, and the rest of the unemployed IDPs found jobs in the private sector. Last year, the municipality organised a job fair so that employers and the unemployed could communicate and introduce themselves.

“We currently have an otolaryngologist from the Kherson oblast. If he agrees to long-term cooperation, we will be able to allocate 100,000 hryvnias from the local Healthcare Programme as startup funds under a five-year contract. The Integration Programme also envisages the purchase or repair of houses and apartments for 4 medical specialists,” said Ms Stoianova.

As part of the implementation of the programme, IDPs who are going to stay in the municipality can receive assistance from the local budget for the repair of housing they buy or rent.

Another direction of the programme is providing continuous in-patient care for 10 wards from social care facilities located in the war zone.

“With U-LEAD’s support, Tarutyne, as a border municipality, received humanitarian aid in 2022 to ensure the transit and stay of IDPs on its territory. But the issue of integration of the new arrivals into the social environment is no less important. Aware of this, the municipality joined the competition to support the development of the IDP integration programme and now has a practical document,” said Yuliia Molodozhen, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Odesa oblast.