Presentation of the study Rural IDP women’s participation in community life in government-controlled areas of Luhansk region

This study examines the existing methods of civic participation of female internally displaced persons (IDPs) residing in rural communities along the line of contact in Luhansk region, identifies obstacles for their participation in local decision-making, and explores possible paths to overcome them.

The representatives of Ministry for Reintegration of Temporary Occupied Territories of Ukraine, Ministry of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine; Luhansk and Donetsk Regional State Administrations, as well as of Hirske and Popasna Civil-military administrations (CMA) took part in the presentation. Furthermore, the representatives of the Community initiative groups, participants of the focus-groups discussions and experts, whose support was crucial for the creation of the study also joined the event. Among the speakers was a representative of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working on the implementation of several recommendations of the report.

In his speech, Samir Chalhoub, Advocacy Manager of PIN Ukraine, noted that the struggle for women's rights continues and will continue: sadly, in 2021, progress in women's empowerment is not very impressive. Jakub Lewandowski, the Third Secretary, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ukraine, said: "I hope that today's report will inspire women living along the line of contact to believe that a change in their lives is quite possible."

For her part, Natalia Zinchenko, Leading Specialist of the Section of Social Protection of the Department of Social and Humanitarian Policy and Internally Displaced Persons, Ministry for Reintegration for the Temporary Occupied Territories of Ukraine, recalled the recent approval of the Strategy for Integration of Internally Displaced Persons and the implementation of medium-term decisions on internal displacement until 2024”. This document takes into account the gender perspective and aims to create appropriate conditions for the integration of IDPs into community life. Iryna Ostapenko, Director of Centre for social services of Hirske CMA, thanked for the document and said that its findings would inform the administration's plans and programs. Alla Shakhova, Head of the Department of Social Protection and Health of Popasna CMA, said that the community is already implementing the recommendation of the study on the introduction of the position of starosta: there have been formed starosta districts, and starostas will soon work in the community.

Olena Nizhelska, Head of Crisis Media Centre Siversky Donets (Sievierodonetsk CMA), spoke about her unique experience in working on the document: “On the one hand, I was among the experts with whom in-depth interviews were conducted for the study. On the other hand, after the report was finalised, I got acquainted with its recommendations, and our NGO is currently working to implement some of them, including those related to the dissemination of success stories of internally displaced persons.“

The recording of the event is available in Ukrainian here. 

The study is embedded into People in Need Ukraine’s efforts to promote and facilitate a locally-driven Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus transition and contributes to informing its Vilnius Task Force initiative, in particular as a follow-up to the prioritisation framework Realising the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus through civic participation and civil society engagement in decision-making in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The study was produced with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Its contents are the sole responsibility of People in Need Ukraine and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.