On 27 September Stepan Kubiv, First Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Economic Development and Trade, and Satu Kahkonen, World Bank Country Director for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, signed an agreement that envisages provision of the grant from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to Ukraine in the amount of USD 2.85 million. The funds will be used to improve the access of vulnerable groups to social services in 30 amalgamated hromadas (AHs) in certain rayons of the Ternopil and Odesa Oblasts. These AHs have been selected by the World Bank by the vulnerability methodology and risks of social exclusion.

Stepan Kubiv emphasised that signing of the agreement will help Ukrainian regional hromadas to strengthen their institutional capacity to provide social services in remote villages and small cities, services for the most vulnerable and socially unprotected population. Joint efforts will address the key issues of access to social services and the preconditions for creating a strategy for this sector in the medium term.

“Human capital development, its comprehensive support is one of the key tasks that the Ukrainian authorities are actively pursuing today through the joint work of the President, the Government and the Parliament. We are ready to present Ukraine's vision of Ukrainian human capital development strategy in October this year during the Annual Meeting of IMF and World Bank member countries to be held in Indonesia,” said Stepan Kubiv.

Background

The grant of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the “Social Services Provision Project” is funded at the expense of the Japan Social Development Fund. The Ukrainian Social Investment Fund (USIF) will be grant’s recipient, and the Ministry of Social Policy will be the project beneficiary.