The United Nations Development Programme’s interventions within Component 1 of the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) focus on fostering economic revitalization and promoting sustainable development in the war-torn areas of Ukraine, and specifically stimulating employment and economic growth by assisting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through the development of demand-driven business services and professional skills training, as well as restoration and strengthening of the institutional and educational infrastructure needed for effective functioning of the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in the regional economy.

Between 2015 and 2022, over 4,300 new jobs were created in Ukraine by businesses supported by the UN RPP. Some 1,460 MSMEs (of which 639 were women-led) received grants from the Programme to launch and develop their services. In addition, more than 10,000 entrepreneurs (55 percent women) gained new knowledge and skills in business management, marketing, and fundraising.

Nine production value chains were identified and supported by the UN RPP in conflict-affected areas of southern and eastern Ukraine: Hospitality, Food Processing, Fruit and Vegetables, Industry and Engineering Services, Grain and Oilseeds, Textiles and Clothing, Dairy and Beef, Ceramics, and Poultry and Eggs. Some 1,084 businesses (733 women-led) benefitted from improved services provided by value chains and entrepreneurial networks supported by the Programme.

The eight East Expos conducted between 2017 and 2023 – two regional and six national-level events – enabled 350 MSMEs from the south and east of Ukraine to present their goods and services to a significant audience. As a result, 70 percent of the MSMEs found clients and partners through business-to-business (B2B) meetings held during the events, and over 12,000 people visited the expos in total.

Over US$53,000 was raised by entrepreneurs from conflict-affected communities for their businesses with support from the Crowdfunding Academy – a unique programme for entrepreneurs and startups. The methodology was first tested in 2017, in collaboration with the UNDP Alternative Funding Laboratory and the Spilnokosht online crowdfunding platform. It was successfully replicated and scaled up between 2019 and 2023.

Moreover, 85 online stores were developed for conflict-affected MSMEs, and a new e-learning platform for entrepreneurs – Start.Business – was created. By the end of 2022, 23 online business courses had been developed and launched by the Programme.

The multifunctional Svoi.Market marketplace was developed and brought together 135 local micro, small and medium-sized producers from the target areas on a single online platform. The marketplace is free to use and has an integrated communication network for registered vendors and buyers.

More than 4.6 million people have benefitted from the rehabilitation of 41 pieces of infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts since 2015. These include water stations, bridges, schools, medical centres and other essential facilities.

The Programme has overseen the professional training of individuals willing to gain skills in 16 professions, to enhance employment opportunities for internally displaced persons. As a result, over 440 people from 17 oblasts of Ukraine, including temporarily occupied territories, took part in 33 training sessions in Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi and Lviv oblasts. On average 64 percent of the training graduates have found employment.

Thanks to the UN RPP, 16 State Employment Service (SES) and vocational education institutions in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv and Volyn oblasts received more than 1,200 items of equipment and software to improve teaching standards, accommodation conditions and provision of services.

In partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and as part of the technical assistance project funded by the EU, the UN RPP has contributed to the strengthening of infrastructure resilience and enhancing the delivery of accessible public services in the target oblasts where Ukraine Early Recovery Programme (UERP) sub-projects have been implemented. Thanks to the UERP, over 7.3 million women and men, including 770,000 internally displaced and vulnerable persons, will have benefitted from the infrastructure improvements of 238 social infrastructure facilities.

After the outbreak of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation of Ukraine in February 2022, the UN RPP, within Component 1, continued the activity aimed at the economic recovery and restoration of critical infrastructure. In particular, we are delivering professional re-skilling courses for war-affected people who lost their jobs, disbursing small grants to increase resilience of over 200 MSMEs with a focus on the reintegration of displaced enterprises, providing training on business skills development, improving living standards in the vocational education and training (VET) schools sheltering internally displaced persons from east and south, and enhancing the VET and SES systems’ capacity to serve persons with disabilities in their operations.

To find out more, please download the four-pager in PDF on the Component 1 activities available here.