A Community Support Centre has been launched in Ukraine to provide expert assistance to communities in implementing new veterans’ policy tools.
The Centre was opened as part of the project of the NGO ‘Spaces of Opportunity’, in which the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities is a partner. The project will be implemented with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.
The Centre will provide professional supervisory support to communities in the development and implementation of local veterans‘ policies, as well as ensure quality communication with communities on the implementation of veterans’ policies in the regions, promote new tools for veterans’ reintegration, and assist in their implementation.
Among the key issues the Centre’s experts will address are:
- How to introduce the position of ‘specialist in support of veterans and demobilised persons?’
- How to open a veterans’ space?
- What are the needs and demands of female and male veterans?
- How to work with this target group?
- What is veteran policy?
- What are the effective tools for implementing veterans’ policy in communities?
- How to develop and implement a local veterans’ programme?
What are the responsibilities of the Centre’s expert group?
information gathering and analytics
Strategising in communities
training of local government leaders and community professionals
Information and advisory services
A multifunctional integrated digital solution (chatbot) has been created for the Centre’s work. It will carry out the initial identification of needs, assist in referrals, and advise communities on specific issues related to the implementation of the ‘specialist in support of veterans and demobilised persons’ project.
According to Oksana Kolyada, project manager of the Space of Opportunities NGO and former Minister of Veterans Affairs in 2019-2020, the NGO has received more than 500 requests from communities in the last two weeks alone.
‘How to write a local veterans‘ programme, how to open a veterans’ space, how to employ a veterans’ support specialist and where to go, etc. Realising that communication should be faster and more efficient, we decided to open a new structural unit of the Space of Opportunities – the Community Support Centre,’ she said.
Ihor Abramiuk, Development Director and Deputy Executive Director of the UARC, noted that the establishment of the Centre was a logical continuation of the project ‘Reintegration of Veterans: from Effective Solutions for Communities to Effective National Policy’, which the UARC has been implementing this year in partnership with the NGO ‘Space of Opportunities’ and in cooperation with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs with the financial support of the International Renaissance Foundation. The piloting of work with twelve pilot communities showed that a comprehensive solution for the entire system is needed – and the Community Support Centre is just such a solution.
For the UHHRU, this partnership and this format of cooperation is optimal, as the association strives to have solutions for the entire system in each area, not just for individual communities. This will allow the UHHRU to focus on helping partners to maximise community coverage and collective expertise with the involvement of the UHHRU Veterans Committee.
Ihor Abramiuk noted that in the area of veterans, the All-Ukrainian Association of Communities works with all 1469 communities, not just its 911 members, as the policy is cross-cutting and there are virtually no differences in the interests of different communities. The veterans’ area remains a priority for the UARC, and therefore the partnership in the newly established Community Support Centre is a priority.
More about the Community Support Centre can be found here: https://bit.ly/4fMhxXf
