Ministry for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, IOM to step up support for IDPs: Housing solutions and preparing communities for winter

Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine Vitalii Bezhin met with the team of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Ukraine. It was one of the first meetings between the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, as the body shaping policy on support for internally displaced persons (IDPs), and a partner with many years of experience in this field. The sides focused on the key issues: how to provide people with homes and how to help the communities that host them.
"Housing for IDPs is one of the most difficult issues. We want to address it through various support mechanisms, including a new social housing system that will provide affordable rental options for IDPs as well. At the same time, integration happens in communities. That is why we see our cooperation with IOM as a way to give communities ready-made solutions for building housing, as well as data that will help them understand how many people they will host and what those people need," said Vitalii Bezhin.
What was agreed:
- Housing. The sides will explore how to scale up to other communities the housing solutions IOM has already tested in nine pilot communities: renovating outdated housing stock and setting up modular housing. IOM confirmed its readiness to provide technical support to the Ministry.
- Winter. The sides will assess the needs of communities hosting IDPs and set priorities for attracting additional support. This is especially important because attacks on the energy system may force even more people to leave their homes. The Ministry also submitted a request for equipping transit centres and temporary accommodation sites for people evacuated from frontline areas. It will also seek support for the State Nearby (Derzhava Poruch) programmes.
- Data. The sides will further develop the regional development geographic information system (GIS). The goal is to bring together data, analytics, and modern digital tools so that the state can see the real problems of communities and regions, forecast development, allocate resources efficiently, and assess the results of its decisions. The regional development GIS, DREAM, and the urban planning cadastre are to become parts of this ecosystem.