For people who can’t get to public services, those public services will be brought to them

Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, 1 October 2020 – The European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine have provided a specially equipped car and two mobile cases to expand the reach of social services in remote and vulnerable communities of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

UNDP Resident Representative Dafina Gercheva said that the development of the social services system in eastern Ukraine is aimed primarily at helping people who, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and long-term conflict, find themselves in difficult circumstances and in need of immediate social assistance.

“Communities in eastern Ukraine have repeatedly demonstrated exceptional resilience to crises, and have recovered rapidly,” Gercheva said. “Together with our partners, we continue to help them, and make every effort to ensure that – despite the armed conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic – the most vulnerable populations of these communities, those who need our help and support the most, can receive the necessary social assistance in a timely manner.”

The mobile centre for the provision of social services is equipped with all the required technology and equipment to Soledar City Council to provide comprehensive and high-quality social services right in customers’ homes. The car has instruments for making medical examinations, such as measuring heart rate and blood sugar levels, equipment for laundry and cleaning services, and tools for performing minor repairs of premises, gardening, firewood harvesting, clothing repair services and tailoring, hairdressing, hygienic manicure and pedicures. The car will also carry out deliveries of food and household goods, and can provide electrician, plumber, carpenter, social and psychological services.

Stefan Schleuning, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, noted the importance of access to administrative and social services for all citizens, including those who live in remote areas.

“In addition to the EU’s extensive work on renovating and modernising centres of administrative services in both Luhansk and Donetsk regions, we are pleased to introduce this mobile social centre. From now on, residents of the Soledar community can also receive social help and services at their doorstep”, added Mr. Schleuning.

The team of the mobile centre will consist of two social workers, a medical worker and a hairdresser. Single elderly people living in the community will not only be able to receive social benefits or benefits directly in the car without undue hindrance, but will also be able to seek medical advice and assistance.

Oleksandr Stepanenko, Head of the Soledar Amalgamated Territorial Community, thanked the European Union and UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme for reinforcing the system of integrated social services in the community and helping vulnerable populations. “Thanks to the joint efforts of our international partners, unique social services are appearing in the Soledar community, which will allow us to provide comprehensive services to the elderly and to people with disabilities who are under the care of the community,” he said.

In addition, UNDP, together with the EU, provided mobile cases for the provision of social services to specialists from the social protection department of the community of Volnovakha in Donetsk Oblast. These mobile cases are equipped with a laptop, a printer, a Wi-Fi router, a scanner, a mouse and a USB flash drive, so that social workers can bring social services closer to people living in remote areas who for certain reasons are unable to visit stationary centres. 

At the same time, the community of Bilovodsk in Luhansk Oblast received equipment for a social sewing workshop, a hairdresser's and a social-medical worker’s working stations, as well as computer equipment and furniture to create a computer literacy centre for the elderly. All of the equipment for the provision of social services was purchased with European Union funds under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme at a cost of US$210,265.

Earlier this month, UNDP and the EU supported the Centres for Integrated Social Services in four communities of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to develop several websites and mobile applications through which residents are able to order social services and communicate with social services online. More information on these digital solutions, which were developed under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, are available in this press release of 17 September 2020.

Background

The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Thirteen international partners support the Programme: the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Media enquiries

Maksym Kytsiuk, Communications Associate, the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, maksym.kytsiuk@undp.org, +380 63 576 1839