On July 22, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Social Policy and Veterans' Rights, together with its partners, held a forum entitled "Veterans - the Way Home: Community Capacities to Protect the Rights and Meet the Needs of Veterans." It was attended by more than 200 participants, including the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada, line ministries, key veterans' and civil society organizations, donors and other stakeholders.
The event was moderated by MPs Yevheniia Kravchuk and Taras Tarasenko and supported by USAID RADA: Next Generation Program.
In her opening remarks, USAID Deputy Mission Director for Ukraine Theodora Dell said: "After the harsh realities of war, it is often difficult for veterans to return to civilian life. Both the state and society have a responsibility to make this transition as smooth as possible. USAID is proud to promote initiatives that support the reintegration of veterans. Today's event is very important. With the participation of all parties, we will be able to improve the policy of rehabilitation and reintegration of veterans. In this work, the United States stands side by side with you, with Ukraine."
Matthew Johnson, Veterans Stabilization Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, added: "Support for veterans should include social assistance, reintegration programs that include family members of veterans, basic health care and psychological support. While they are fighting on the front line, a ready-made system of support for them should be developed when they return."
Ms. Dell and Mr. Johnson spoke about the grant programs and opportunities that the United States is already providing to support Ukrainian veterans.
RADA: Next Generation program helps Verkhovna Rada committees and MPs of Ukraine hold public discussions on socially important topics and engage as many stakeholders as possible to jointly address existing problems.
Igor Kogut, Senior Strategic Advisor of the Program, noted: "Parliament is the place where policy is formed. And today we have a lot of new social phenomena and challenges that the parliament and the government have to respond to. Our Program supports various interactions between the Parliament and the society, involvement of stakeholders and experts in policy development. This forum is one of such formats. It is also important because local self-government is involved in this dialogue, and in general, such discussions contribute to political consensus in the parliament."
Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities also called the development of a veterans' policy a priority. Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk said: "One of the main tasks is to provide the necessary conditions for a decent life for veterans. There are a number of veterans' bills in the Parliament, and most of them are ready for consideration in the first reading. We are ready for systematic and effective cooperation for the sake of our veterans."
At the same time, Vice Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk emphasized the key role of communities in this issue: "I believe that the cult of the veteran should be formed in a positive way in our country. Communities are the key to success in veterans' policy, because that's where our veterans go, where their family members live, and it all starts with communities."
The forum participants discussed which government and donor programs to support veterans are effective and what best practices can be adopted by communities. After the discussions, the participants worked in working groups in 4 areas: continuous rehabilitation; veteran-society communication and trauma psychology; employment and entrepreneurship; and the social sphere in the state-community paradigm.
The video broadcast of the forum is available here.
