“In connection with the war, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other vulnerable groups of the population were massively faced with housing problems. Many people were without their own home or without work. Ukraine has an extremely large number of families who have damaged homes due to Russian attacks.”, – WRITE: www.pravda.com.ua
In particular, for those who are forced to evacuate and need housing, ITP (temporary residence/collective centers) work in Ukraine. But the war continues and only the MTP itself is not a good and long -term solution for IDPs.
In addition, due to a full -scale invasion, many of our fellow citizens went abroad. Returning them to Ukraine is an important and difficult task for the state. But how to do this if there are no long -term residential decisions in Ukraine in Ukraine for people who have lost their home or do not have access to it? The way out in such a situation can be to create accessible housing in communities for IDPs.
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Why is the place of temporary residence a long -term solution? Firstly, Just populate people in MTP is ineffective. This will lead to crowded collective centers and lack of places for everyone. The flow of able -bodied people in such places should move.
For example, Caritas charitable organizations have 27 temporary residence. Our practice shows that when an able -bodied person is inhabited in a collective center, he lives for free for half a year, in the future he is not going to rent a separate home and receives a lot of humanitarian aid, it begins to be dependent on constant support. People need to help, but at the same time it is not necessary to reduce their ability to adapt to a new environment, to develop and to provide themselves.
Of course, there are categories that need to be assisted on a permanent basis. These are people with disabilities and older people.
The MTPs themselves should have initiatives that bring a person out of a state of stress and help you adapt better in the new community: looking for a job, new acquaintances, training, obtaining various social services that are in the community and so on. For its part, Caritas charitable organizations implement such projects that help IDPs and other vulnerable groups to receive the necessary assistance, including legal, psychological, and housing assistance.
After all, housing is a basic need for human life. It is like soil under your feet. If there is a home, then there is something to start and move on, it is much easier to experience difficult situations and find the strength to move forward. Therefore, Caritas helps not only collective centers, but also provides various types of financial assistance (for rent, for payment of utilities, for the purchase of solid fuel for the winter). We understand that helping with housing is very important in our time, but at the same time we want to help needy people comprehensively solve their housing problems and with long -term effect. That is why we are working much on how to implement our organization better in cooperation with the authorities and international partners.
Second, Even if in Ukraine we have enough MTP for everyone, it will not help Ukrainians solve their own housing problems. Most classic collective centers are not able to give a person a true home comfort and feelings of home. It is not always possible to move families compactly into separate rooms and provide them with sufficient space for everyone.
If a person is able to provide himself, he usually wants to live separately. Such a desire for people in MTP should be actively stimulated and maintained by the state and charitable organizations. For example, Caritas of Ukraine through the project “Housing for Vulnerable Households in Ukraine IV” in particular provides cash grants for rent for six months. But we only give this help to people who are ready to find a job and adapt themselves and their family to life in a particular new community. With such people in Caritas work our case managers who keep such IDPs under their curation. In addition to housing lease assistance, our employees help people receive services and assistance from the state or other humanitarian organizations. They also help with employment and, if necessary, retraining.
In addition, it should be understood that the comfortable conditions in collective centers, not to attract economically capable Ukrainians who went abroad. Ukrainian MTPs can accommodate different families in the common room. Will such housing conditions be acceptable, for example, for a working lonely mom with a child who lives abroad on the local financial aid? If such a woman thinks of returning to Ukraine, but to spend on renting housing is not financially ready, then she will not consider the option with a place in the MTP, because her living conditions abroad are much better.
What are the possible short -term and long -term residential decisions for Ukraine? Among the options for effective IDPs and vulnerable groups of Ukrainians who can return from abroad, there are two types in total: 1) creation of social housing (in broad exchange); 2) providing cash assistance to cover the lease in the commercial sector. Such conclusions were reached by the authors of the study “From Temporary Housing to Sustainable Decisions”. It was conducted by the CEDOS analytical center.
In the short term, cash payments are an effective help tool for needing. But it is only suitable for able -bodied people.
Instead, creating social housing (in the broad sense) is a long -term solution. It allows to provide housing for a long time and is generally more effective. Such conclusions and recommendations have been reached by CEDOS experts.
It is also mentioned that “the development of a social housing system (in a broad sense) can not only provide IDPs with housing, but also promote the return of people who went abroad through the war.”
Social housing is an available housing for certain categories of citizens who pay rent below market. This housing decision is necessary in our realities, because otherwise the housing crisis for IDPs simply not solve a profitable way for Ukraine.
And in the country they have already started preparation for this, which, of course, pleases. At the end of last year, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law of Ukraine 4080-IX on the creation of a register of affordable housing for IDPs.
Such a register – – This is just the first step, but it will make it possible to understand how many real estate objects are in Ukraine that can be used to displace IDPs. Thanks to this base, government officials, charitable organizations and international partners will see a complete picture of what volume of work should be done in order to be internal Swent displaced people had available housing.
In addition, the process of filling such a base should be transparent and operational. And Caritas of Ukraine, as representatives of the International Fund, and with the formed teams of engineers at the local level, are ready to join in the commissions for inspection of real estate objects for IDPs. Accounting and ordering information about real estate objects will allow you to promptly make a decision on the distribution of housing in accordance with the requests of internally displaced persons and community capabilities.
Thus, there are a great chance of having a rulemaking base, the authorities, together with humanitarian organizations and international partners, will increase the amount of such housing required for IDPs. And such housing will be at an affordable rent or free of charge, given the situation of each community.
What to do with MTPs that are in Ukraine now? Most MTPs should be re -profiled into other social services: supported and inpatient care. But you need to approach it thoughtfully and not drive people outdoors.
In my opinion, in housing decisions for IDPs a huge role is played by local governments. And that’s right. At the same time, non -governmental humanitarian organizations can offer local authorities support in the form of funding, expertise and partnerships to create affordable housing. In particular, there are many successful examples in Ukraine, when such cooperation is very successful to convert existing IDPs. And now with the Law of Ukraine 4080-IX on the creation of a register of affordable housing for IDPs, such practice should become much more common and key to the displacement of internal displaced persons.
If communities cooperate with humanitarian organizations, it will also contribute to transparency and prevention of corruption. The latter – accountable to their donors and beneficiaries, and are therefore interested in the help of assistance projects are effective, without corruption and with long -term effect.
Summary Creating a social housing system (in a broad sense) is a long-term living decision for IDPs and Ukrainians who can return from abroad.
Now the state and humanitarian organizations are still actively implementing short -term decisions in help with housing. Some of these decisions are effective, but are not permanent and not designed for all Ukrainians whose homes are in the temporarily occupied territory.
We should also refocus on “playing long” because no one knows how much aggression of the Russian Federation will last. And housing problems – on time, especially for IDPs, which are now almost 4.6 million in our country. Fortunately, the state understands it and begins to form a register of available housing for IDPs. I hope this will help to find real estate objects in local communities in the near future, where internally displaced persons will be able to settle after repair.
Irina legHead of the Housing Program of the International Charitable Foundation “Caritas of Ukraine”
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