On May 15-17, a parliamentary-municipal forum dialogue "Housing for Internally Displaced Persons" was held in Transcarpathia, organized by the Temporary Special Commission (TSC) of the Verkhovna Rada on the Protection of the Rights of IDPs and Others with the support of the USAID RADA: Next Generation Program.
Mark Elingstad, Director of the Office of Democracy and Governance of the USAID Mission in Ukraine, in his welcoming speech assured that the partners will continue to help Ukraine in this important issue: "Internally displaced persons face numerous problems: job search in a new place, limited finances, integration into new communities. However, housing is perhaps the most important problem. I hope this forum will accelerate the provision of assistance. People who have been forced to leave their hometowns should not be left alone with these problems. Russia destroyed their homes, but could not break their spirit. We are all here to support them and lend a helping hand."
First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniyenko also addressed the participants of the forum: "The enemy offensive continues and the number of immigrants increases. The state should look for mechanisms for resolving issues, including doing so in a quadrangle - with the executive, local and central authorities and our international partners. The task for the Parliament and the Government is to develop policies that will take into account the interests of all parties as much as possible and coordinate positions."
The program "RADA: Next Generation" helps the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to effectively carry out the control function and attract a wide range of stakeholders to find common solutions to socially significant problems, in particular under martial law.
As the director of the USAID Program "RADA: Next Generation" Igor Kogut noted: "This format is important for our Program, because it allows the parliament to actively interact with local authorities, better understand the specifics of regional problems and the needs of different environments and groups. It also involves non-governmental, volunteer, international organizations, which now give great support in solving many social problems. Parliamentary control is also one of the key topics that we would like to see in the activities of committees and temporary special commissions. It is important that the commissions not only point out shortcomings, but also offer certain policies and visions on how to solve problematic aspects at the legislative level. It is valuable that today MPs within the TSC demonstrate a rational approach to parliamentary control. This allows us to develop proposals and recommendations that will become an important element of further legislative and political work in parliament."
Just on the first day, the forum was attended by 240 participants, and the subject discussions lasted more than 9 hours! Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal addressed the participants in writing, and Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk, Minister of Social Policy Oksana Zholnovich, Chairman of the TSC on the protection of the rights of IDPs and others Pavel Frolov, other people's deputies, representatives of local authorities, the public, international partners and others took part.
Participants discussed how:
Watch the video broadcast of the event on the page of our Program – part 1 and part 2.
After the first day of public discussions, people's deputies of Ukraine, representatives of authorities, public organizations, and international partners visited the places of temporary residence of internally displaced persons in Transcarpathia.
They personally talked with IDPs, and as a result of field meetings, the participants organized a round table, during which they summed up and outlined the problems that need to be solved.
On the third day of the forum, a meeting of the TSC on the protection of the rights of IDPs and other persons was held, during which:
The photo report of the TSC meeting is on the FB page of our Program.
