“Key challenges of reintegration of veterans in Ukraine. What needs to change to support and successfully adapt?”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Instead, reality makes its adjustments: the burden does not disappear, it just becomes different. It is difficult in war – and this is understandable: the price of a mistake there is the health and life of you and your brothers and the future of the country. And in civilian life there are difficulties that you do not expect.
Obtaining documents, services and benefits; physical and psychological rehabilitation; employment and returning to society — all this turns out to be much more difficult than it should be. In addition, after returning, the veteran is forced to make his own way, because the state does not offer a clear sequence of steps.
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Today there are about 1.5 million veterans in Ukraine. This is more than 10% of the working population. And this number is growing. The US experience shows that the most acute problems of reintegration appear on average six years after return. Therefore, the main challenges of reintegration in Ukraine are still ahead.
What are the problems and what should the state do to improve the situation? Today, there is a lack of a legislative framework: a clear definition of the term “veteran” and a well-thought-out policy that would take into account the different experiences and needs of people returning from war.
Therefore, the policy needs to be created anew and it should be done with the involvement of the veterans themselves. Representatives of veteran associations should become full participants in this process, because no one understands our needs better than us.
In order for such a policy to work, several key tasks need to be solved in sequence:
- create a map of real needs of veterans;
- simplify bureaucratic procedures for obtaining status and benefits;
- provide conditions for high-quality physical and psychological rehabilitation;
- create conditions for economic reintegration (employment, establishment and management of a veteran’s business).
Below is a brief description of each of them.
1. Create a map of real needs of veterans Before you can make policy, you need data. Today in Ukraine there are no systematic studies on the physical, psychological, social and economic condition of veterans.
Veterans are a heterogeneous community. Some were severely wounded or disabled, had mental disorders, others did not take part in hostilities. The pace of adaptation, the level of injury, the ability to return to work — everyone is different.
Therefore, the state should start with research: segmentation of veterans, analysis of their real needs and forecasting how these needs will change over the years. Only on this foundation can you build an effective policy that will not work blindly.
2. Simplify obtaining the status of “veteran” and related benefits The process of obtaining veteran status and related services is still overly complicated. A person is forced to visit several institutions and repeat the same actions. For veterans with injuries or limited mobility, this becomes especially exhausting and sometimes impossible.
It is necessary to unify, simplify and maximally digitize the procedures. Obtaining the status should be inclusive – without the need to “run around the offices”.
It is equally important to train specialists: they must know the legislation, understand the procedures and have communication skills with people who may have psychological vulnerabilities after the war.
3. Provide quality treatment and physical rehabilitation In its current form, the system does not cope with the volume and complexity of injuries that the military receives in combat operations. 73% of Ukrainian veterans received injuries or illnesses directly related to military service (IOM data2023). At the same time, almost 20% of respondents reported that they were denied medical care (UVF data2024).
In addition to refusals, which are often caused by a lack of places in medical and rehabilitation facilities, other problems are a lack of qualified specialists and long queues for equipment and prostheses. In addition, in complex, atypical cases, prosthetics or restoration may require individual solutions, which the state is currently unable to provide.
It is necessary to create a sufficient number of rehabilitation facilities and provide them with specialists. There should also be a clear route for a person with an injury: where to go, what stages to go through, how long to wait. Prosthetics, physical therapy, restoration of mobility – these services should be the basic standard for the injured, regardless of the complexity of the case.
4. Introduce a systematic approach to psychological support Psychological difficulties do not always appear immediately – sometimes it happens months or even years after the return. As the experience of the United States shows, the peak of such challenges falls on average in the sixth year of civilian life.
At the same time, international practice states that the risk of PTSD or suicidal behavior is most influenced not by the fact of combat itself, but by the level of support after returning.
It is important that this support is systemic, takes into account the key needs and specifics of each veteran’s experience, and is based on international standards and practices for working with people who have experienced combat.
In Ukraine, there are high-quality public initiatives that support veterans, but their capabilities are limited. Therefore, a public system must appear alongside them, which will provide affordable and predictable assistance for all, from screening upon return to clear support routes. In such a system, the veteran does not seek help on his own, it is available in advance and without unnecessary barriers.
5. Create conditions for the economic reintegration of veterans Returning to work is one of the key conditions for successful adaptation. But today, veterans often face hiring biases from employers and closed access to financing for entrepreneurial activities: banks often refuse because of stereotypes about the “riskiness” of the military.
The state can make a difference through business incentives — tax breaks, offsetting some of the costs of training or adaptation — and through retraining programs to help veterans quickly get back into the workforce.
Now there are isolated cases when special programs for veterans are developed by employers themselves. These are mostly private companies that adhere to international employment standards and are aware of their corporate social responsibility. Such programs include Kernel, WOG, DTEK.
Our non-profit military education platform, Backyard Camp, for example, only works with veterans because of the value of their experience to our field, and because we strive to be an example of an inclusive environment for others. At the same time, there is still no policy at the state level that would transform such losses we are on a systematic mandatory approach.
A separate tool is state guarantees and special loans or grants for those who want to start their own business. This will open access to entrepreneurship and remove the barriers that financial institutions create today.
How to improve veteran-society interaction? The experience of other countries shows that the level of support after returning home affects the psychological state of veterans more than the combat experience itself. The atmosphere to which a person returns determines how smooth the transition to civilian life will be.
In Ukraine, we are all just learning to live together in new roles. According to the “STEEL” foundation, every fifth veteran feels that it can be difficult for civilians to communicate with him – and this is natural. We found ourselves in a situation for which no one was prepared. Now we are building a new society together, in which people with different life experiences should co-exist qualitatively.
The main thing is that the veteran does not find himself on the sidelines of social and economic life.
Help the veteran feel that he is not alone with his experience. Listen, offer household support or tell where to go for the services you need. If you have relevant experience or knowledge, offer mentoring, internships or advice on starting your own business.
As a society, we all live in a reality that we did not choose, but in which we must learn to coexist. Everyone has their own experience, their losses and their own path. But the common denominator of healthy interaction is one: respect, readiness to hear each other and understanding that we are building the country together.
Artem Veselov
A column is a type of material that reflects exclusively the point of view of the author. It does not claim objectivity and comprehensive coverage of the topic in question. The point of view of the editors of “Economic Pravda” and “Ukrainian Pravda” may not coincide with the author’s point of view. The editors are not responsible for the accuracy and interpretation of the given information and perform exclusively the role of a carrier.