Partnership with communities, territorial development and bringing the state closer to people – key priorities for the newly established Ministry for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons

Vitalii Bezhin, Ukraine's Minister for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, presented the Ministry's main areas of work and action plan during a meeting with communities. These include:

• State Nearby. Access to public services must be guaranteed for every Ukrainian. That is why we are launching the "State Nearby" project — strengthening the role of village heads (starostas) and bringing public services closer to people.

• Frontline territories. We are consolidating existing support tools into a single system and scaling up "State Nearby. Frontline."

• Mountain communities. The Government has already designated 85 mountain territorial communities. The next step is to fill this status with concrete programs and development opportunities.

• Community development funding. We are relaunching the State Regional Development Fund (SRDF) and creating a separate institution.

• Project office in Ivano-Frankivsk. We plan to train 1,000 managers who will help communities develop quality investment projects and prepare to work with European funds.

• Support for IDPs. The Ministry's task is to bring together fragmented solutions into a single, clear pathway for people. At the same time, we are gradually shifting from temporary accommodation to long-term housing solutions.

• Barrier-free accessibility. The target is 500 barrier-free routes in communities.

• Preparing for the EU Cohesion Policy. We are synchronizing national, regional and local strategies, linking planning to funding, and already building a system capable of operating effectively with European funds. Different territories have different conditions — so the state support tools for them must differ too.

The Ministry for Communities, Territories and Internally Displaced Persons remains a reliable partner for communities, regional military administrations, and local self-government bodies.