Strengthening social infrastructure for hosting internally displaced persons (completed)

Project description

Title: Strengthening social infrastructure for hosting internally displaced persons
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Ukraine
Lead executing agency: Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine
Overall term: 2016 to 2021

 

Ukraine. Reconstruction of a home for the elderly and disabled in Dnipropetrovsk © GIZ

Context

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has forced about 2.8 million Ukrainians to leave contested areas. Almost 1.4 million people have fled to western parts of the country and are registered as internally displaced persons (IDPs), including some 255,000 people in the administrative districts (oblasts) of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia (figures from August 2019). The large number of IDPs poses problems for host communities when it comes to accommodation, service provision and integration. The buildings used to support social infrastructure sometimes have considerable structural deficiencies and more premises are needed to provide the services required.

Objective

Social infrastructure for IDPs and the local population is improved in selected host communities.

Approach

The project carries out renovation and extension activities to create additional premises and adapts or improves existing buildings. To ensure cost-effectiveness, including with regard to operating costs, this work focuses on energy-saving measures. Training courses on energy-efficient building management are provided alongside these construction measures. The Ukrainian Government and other donors have made extensive financial resources available to expand social infrastructure. To help the municipalities tap these resources, the project offers training in drawing up requirements plans, developing construction projects and submitting funding applications. One city has already drafted integrated, needs-based housing strategies that focus in particular on vulnerable groups and IDPs.

In order to implement construction measures in the government-controlled oblasts in Kharkiv, cooperation agreements have been concluded with the Danish Refugee Council, the Luxembourg Red Cross and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). This mainly involves reconstruction measures for war-damaged buildings. The project is also cooperating with another GIZ project in Ukraine, Energy Efficiency in Municipalities II.

In addition, it works with the Odessa Municipal Energy Agency. This partnership was initiated through the Establishment of Energy Agencies in Ukraine project, which is financed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). Within the scope of this partnership, energy audits and consultations on sustainable building management are carried out.

Results

The project’s activities provide structural support. The quality and quantity of social infrastructure is increased, which directly benefits the entire population in the project communities.

All communities with IDPs were asked to submit project ideas. More than 340 buildings were assessed during the project term and further evaluations were also conducted. In the end, 235 properties were selected for rehabilitation and technical upgrading:

  • 64 schools: more than 33,000 school students benefit from the measures, including almost 1,500 IDPs
  • 35 kindergartens: 4,500 children benefit, more than 250 of whom are IDPs
  • 13 state-run homes for around 3,200 people in total, of whom about 120 are IDPs
  • 33 medical facilities: 950,000 people benefit; almost 63,000 are IDPs
  • 90 projects in public spaces: more than 775,000 people benefit, including over 37,000 IDPs

Construction work was completed at the end of 2019 and more than 1.7 million people now benefit from improved infrastructure.

Additional information