On 27 March, Kyiv hosted a roundtable discussion "Support to the hotlines for internally displaced and other war-affected people". The event brought together representatives of the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the Kyiv Center for Working with Loss, and the main hotlines of NGOs.

The roundtable was the final event in the framework of the action successfully implemented by the Civil Holding "Group of Influence" with the grant support of the Council of Europe Project "Strengthening judicial and non-judicial remedies for the human rights protection of the war-affected people in Ukraine" (hereinafter - the Project). The action was aimed at strengthening human rights protection and access to reliable information for war-affected persons by expanding the capacity of the national hotlines for IDPs and other war-affected population.

Ganna Khrystova, Project Manager, emphasised: "In 2022, with the support of the Council of Europe Project on Internal Displacement, the Civil Holding “Group of Influence”, with whom we have been working closely for over 7 years, has been providing comprehensive expert advice to the newly created hotline of the Commissioner for IDPs of the Ministry for Reintegration. This experience was so positive and requested by national partners that in 2023 we decided to continue it. At the same time, as the role of hotlines will only increase, it is necessary to ensure effective cooperation and referrals between the various existing hotlines providing consultations to internally displaced and other war-affected people in Ukraine."

The first hotlines for IDPs appeared back in 2014, when Ukraine faced the first challenges of internal displacement caused by the temporary occupation and hostilities. The telephone consultations for IDPs were provided by NGOs, namely Donbas SOS, Right to Protection, Vostok SOS and CrimeaSOS. Perennial experience accumulated by these organisations formed a solid ground for the operation of new hotlines already established by the state.

"The hotlines that are currently working for IDPs, including those operating since 2014, understand the needs of people facing the consequences of war and occupation the best. The information we receive through the hotlines is the voice of those people whom the state sometimes cannot hear, especially if they live under occupation. That is why it is important that such unique information does not disappear, but is passed on to the state authorities," said Tetyana Durnyeva, Chairman of the Board of the Civil Holding “Group of Influence”.

During 7 months of the grant implementation, the team of the Civil Holding “Group of Influence” provided expert and informational support to the existing hotlines for IDPs and other war-affected people. Experts delivered regular consultations for the hotline operators on changes in the legislation on protection of IDPs' rights. In turn, cooperation with the hotlines allowed the Group of Influence to collect information on the current needs and problems of the affected population. Based on this information, reports and recommendations were prepared and presented at meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy, the Pension Fund of Ukraine, the State Employment Service of Ukraine, and the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine and impacted the improvements of the regulatory framework and law enforcement practice in the field of internal displacement.

The collected information on the hotlines` operations, the most requested services from IDPs, and the practical experience of consultants was accumulated in a comprehensive manual that will be useful not only for hotline operators, but also for community representatives and government officials. It contains recommendations for counselling IDPs, algorithms for answering the main topics of calls, and response scenarios helping to navigate the conversation with a person and provide the most relevant reply. In addition, the manual contains the links to useful materials on the latest updates in the field of internal displacement.

You can download the manual by the following link – https://rm.coe.int/-5-20-03-24/1680af2765

Worth to note that the hotlines’ operation relies on people who pass each problem that an IDP calls the line with through themself. The psychological burden on the operators leads to rapid "professional burnout". With that in mind, the Civil Holding “Group of Influence” paid special attention to emotional and psychological support of the operators of the hotline of the Ministry for Reintegration through psychological individual counselling and group work.

"Since June 2022, when our two hotlines were launched, and until December 2023, our operators have handled more than 850,000 calls. In the first three months of this year, we received 95,000 calls. This means that the need for hotlines remains high. We are grateful for support to our hotlines received from the Council of Europe and the Group of Influence team: both for assistance in preparing operators to work with rapid changes in legislation and for psychological support for the operators themselves," summed up Kateryna Koval, Head of the Department for Crisis Response of the Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine.