Government adopts series of decisions to enhance social protection of internally displaced persons

Today, September 17, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine held an off-site meeting in Sumy. The agenda focused on supporting vulnerable population groups, improving the social services system, and increasing the effectiveness of assistance programs for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Several resolutions were supported to ensure the rights and enhance the social protection of IDPs.

In particular, IDPs after evacuation will have an opportunity to receive additional medical care within the framework of a pilot project to fund long-term nursing care. The project's goal is to stabilize the health condition of individuals who were forced to flee their homes and underwent evacuation due to hostilities. At stabilization points, IDPs will have immediate access to consultations with medical professionals. If necessary, evacuated individuals will be transported to a medical facility where they will receive treatment throughout 30 days. During this period, a social worker will conduct an individual needs assessment, inform them about available services, and assist in finding housing.

From now on, IDPs belonging to the category of low-mobility citizens will be eligible to benefit from a new social accommodation service, which not only helps them find a home but also supports their integration into the community. The state has provided support for providers of this social service through co-financing from the state budget and the budgets of territorial communities from which citizens were evacuated. The service provider not only ensures a bed for low-mobility IDPs but also assists with household management and self-care.

A new approach to helping families in difficult circumstances will be introduced in Ukraine, named basic social assistance. This aid aims to combine a number of existing social benefits into a single system, simplifying the process of obtaining them and reducing bureaucracy. The amount of basic social assistance, which is set by a decision of the Cabinet of Ministers for a calendar year, is expected to be 4,500 UAH. 100 per cent of this basic amount will be paid to the authorised representative of the family, children under 18 and persons with disabilities of groups I and II. Others will receive 70 per cent of the basic amount.

The Government will also provide an additional one-time payment to living assistance for internally displaced persons who have worked continuously for a period of six months. The main goal of the support is to encourage employment and self-employment among internally displaced persons of working age. The amount of the payment is UAH 2,000.

The state is allocating UAH 1 billion for local authorities to build, renovate and refurbish temporary accommodation for IDPs. An important condition is that all accommodation must be adapted for people with reduced mobility. The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the relevant subsidy. For communities in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kherson regions, 100% of the work can be financed from the subvention. For all other regions and the city of Kyiv, no more than 60% of the work will be financed from the subvention and 40% from local budgets.