Ongoing Empower Ukraine

News

Empower Ukraine supports new investigative journalism to highlight the situation of persons with disabilities in Ukraine.

• Time to come to light: Second exhibition in Ternopil Train Station LOS
• What is mhGAP program and what are its features? training in Ukrainian on how to provide psychosocial support to different sections of the population, especially with vulnerable groups? LOS
• Time to come to light: Exhibition opening in Ivano Frankivsk LOS
• Time to come to light video launch  LOS
• The support of the Storozhinetsk community in Bukovyna continues! NAPD
• “I lived thirteen years there as a child without parenting support.” – a disability activist who rescued locals from occupied Kherson speaks. EDF
• What is inclusion? Why is accessibility important? A discussion in Storozhinetsk
• Where does Ukraine stand on inclusive education? Accessibility and inclusion—alongside inclusive education—are relatively new priorities for Ukrainian policymakers. Read the article in the New Voice of Ukraine. EDF
• Volyn Oblast: social taxi began to work. Who can take advantage of this and how, details in the Suspilne news report NAPD
• The Empower Ukraine project brings us an article on the work done by Liubov Halan, a lawyer and a co-founder of Kyiv-based NGO Pryncyp, and discusses the work done to ensure that Ukraine prepares for a major influx of veterans in the future, so the state can serve the soldiers after the war in an inclusive and transparent way. EDF
• Life for Disabled Ukrainians Amid Russian War: the article discusses the move from victimhood to activism for a more inclusive Ukraine – Oleksandr Budko, a severely injured veteran, tells of his struggle to overcome his disability no more so than in other peoples’ minds. Read the article in the Kyiv Post. EDF
• Inclusive reconstruction of Ukraine: What’s at stake? Anna Romandash (an award-winning journalist from Ukraine, and the author of Women of Ukraine: Reportages from the War and Beyond) discusses in EuroActiv how the “war destruction offers a ‘chance’ to rebuild Ukraine in a way that considers its changing identity — and with special attention for people with disabilities such as soldiers and amputees. Romandash unpacks how even before the war has ended the rebuilding of Ukraine with a new possibilities is starting. EDF
• Is it possible to collect statistics during the war? NAPD
• Barrier-free community in 90 minutes: video training LOS
• Accessible Mamaivska Community: Features of Partnership and Interaction in the Community NAPD
• Educational activities in the Opishnian community  NAPD
• The story of a brother and sister from Torchyn NAPD
• Inclusive community is when an important information is accessible to everyone not just for a limited cycle of citizens NAPD
• Inclusive communities are when education is available to everyone, not just those who can walk the miles to school NAPD
• What is accessibility in communities? How can regions get involved in the local implementation of the National Strategy for the creation of a barrier-free space? NAPD
• How to make cities barrier-free: experts held a series of workshops in the regions LOS
• Knowledge that saves lives! Fire safety training at NAPD
• We continue to work further — making communities accessible to people with disabilities NAPD
• A gift for the Social Worker’s Day: Bicycles to help social workers National Association of Persons with Disabilities NAPD

• Follow the work done by League of the Strong and the National Association of Persons with Disabilities on their own project pages.

The Project in Brief

Access to improved living conditions and inclusive humanitarian assistance are basic rights for all people. The “Empower Ukraine” project works towards the better inclusion of at-risk Internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, veterans, older people, single-headed households, adults and children in institutions, and members of host communities with and without disabilities in specifically six oblasts (regions) in Ukraine. We will be working on the sectors of Food Security and Livelihoods, Protection, Shelter and Health (including mental health).

Project Partners

Our partners on this project are our EDF members in Ukraine:

• The National Association of Persons with Disabilities (NAPD)
• League of the Strong (LoS)

What we will do during the project

Our five actions are:

1. The provision of cash and voucher transfers for food, non-food items and shelter.
2. Strengthening access to inclusive primary health and rehabilitation services.
3. Providing inclusive Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services (MHPSS) at the community level, including strengthening of referral mechanisms.
4. Raising awareness of the rights, humanitarian needs and best interests of persons with disabilities within and outside the humanitarian coordination system.
5. Strengthening the capacity of the local partners to manage a scaled-up humanitarian response for the target group.

Project timeframe

18 months, from 01 July 2023 to 31 December 2024.

Funding

The project is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) and CBM.

Value: 2.400.000,00 EUR

Further information and contact

Phillipa Tucker – Central and Eastern Europe Coordinator

Email: phillipa.tucker@edf-feph.org