Support for Ukrainians in Ukraine and abroad: Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity, UNHCR discuss stronger cooperation

Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine Denys Uliutin met with UNHCR Representative in Ukraine Bernadette Castel-Hollingsworth. One of the key topics was the coordination of winter assistance in frontline communities.

The Minister thanked UNHCR and other humanitarian partners for the assistance already provided, while stressing the need to intensify coordination among all participants in the humanitarian response.

"Our task is to reach as many vulnerable people as possible in as many communities as possible, within available resources. Today, different organizations determine their own geographic areas of work and categories of aid recipients, which creates gaps in some places. This is especially noticeable in large frontline cities such as Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, where the scale of needs is very significant. That is why we need a shared operational picture, so that we can set common priorities and direct resources where they are needed most," said Denys Uliutin.

The parties also discussed further work on a single mechanism of support for IDPs and people affected by other crisis situations. Denys Uliutin stressed that the previously developed pathway should be integrated into a broader social protection system. This means a continuous process, from emergency assistance to needs assessment, social adaptation, access to housing, employment and other necessary services. For her part, Bernadette Castel-Hollingsworth supported continuing work on this mechanism and noted that, in the future, it should also cover Ukrainians returning from abroad.

The parties paid special attention to further cooperation on supporting Ukrainians abroad and facilitating their voluntary return. In particular, they discussed the tools Ukraine is already developing, including the Unity Hub Network. They also discussed the prospects of integrating the Dodomu platform with UNHCR's Ukraine is Home information resource and developing joint approaches to counselling Ukrainians on voluntary return.

As a result of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue joint work in the outlined areas.