Supporting pensioners living in the combat zone and having low pensions is the goal of the joint project of the Ministry of Social Policy, the UN World Food Programme and the Pension Fund of Ukraine, which is currently being successfully implemented and extended until the end of the year.

“More than 470,000 Ukrainian pensioners have already received benefits from the UN World Food Programme in the amount of over UAH 2 billion. And we are very grateful to our partners for this support,” said Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy, during a meeting with the WFP delegation headed by Corinne Fleischer, Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, and Richard Ragan, the new WFP Country Director for Ukraine.

The participants discussed projects for further cooperation. Oksana Zholnovych stressed the importance of modernising the social sector through digital solutions simplifying the process of providing assistance. In particular, they focused on the further development of the Unified Social Information System, which allows for more effective assistance to vulnerable categories of the population and those who were forced to leave their homes due to the war.

“A large number of people in Ukraine have migrated several times. The digitalisation of data, for example, on IDPs in this register will help us see where the internally displaced persons are, understand their needs and difficulties, and quickly provide the necessary support in the form of payments or social services,” Oksana Zholnovych emphasised.

Corinne Fleischer, in turn, noted that WFP would continue to cooperate with the Ministry of Social Policy to support the most vulnerable Ukrainians. The partners expressed their readiness to support the continuation of payment of benefits to vulnerable categories and the digitalisation of the social sector.