On 11 November 2022 a digital platform for the mapping and reconstruction of houses destroyed or damaged as a result of the military aggression against Ukraine at the community level was presented at the National Information Agency "Ukrinform".

• Recommendations for national bodies and territorial communities on assessing the damage caused by the military aggression and implementing the digital platform at the local level were also presented.

The digital platform and recommendations were developed by the All-Ukrainian Public Organization "Housing Ukraine" within the framework of the action "Facilitating access to housing solutions for IDPs and the conflict-affected people at community level”, which is implemented under the grant support of the Council of Europe Project "Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions. Phase II".

Reliable recording, mapping, and damage assessment are fundamental challenges for the war-affected people and local authorities. The digital platform is aimed at facilitating the proper administration of all stages of rebuilding destroyed and damaged housing, as well as cooperating with donor organizations and investment funds to restore such housing.

The platform ensures:

• applicability to the settlements that suffered from the destruction of housing as a result of armed aggression against Ukraine;
• availability of tools for prioritizing housing assistance based on vulnerability criteria and needs assessment;
• assessment of the scale of damage;
• recording of housing assistance provided, etc.

Lilja Gretarsdottir, the Head of Cooperation Programmes Division of the Directorate General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg) addressed the audience with a welcoming speech.

Ms. Gretarsdottir expressed her solidarity and support to all partners and the Ukrainian people who are courageously resisting Russian military aggression. She emphasized that:

“the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in its Resolution 2463 (2022) as of the 13th of October 2022 on the “Further escalation in the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine” called on Council of Europe member States to ensure a comprehensive system of accountability for serious violations of international law arising from the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine. In particular, to set up a comprehensive international compensation mechanism, including an international register of damage, and actively co-operate with the Ukrainian authorities on this issue...

Clearly it is a shared responsibility of the whole international community to ensure the rebuilding of Ukraine and access to housing for the people affected by this devastating war as well as to support financially the reconstruction of Ukraine…

We trust that the digital platform will serve as a source of reliable verified data on the scale of housing damage and the list of beneficiaries of housing assistance at community level also for the future interventions of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). When Ukraine completes an accession to the Bank and becomes its member, the IDPs and war-affected people may benefit from the Bank´s projects, contributing to improving the living conditions of the most vulnerable groups”.

Serhii Komnatnyi, the Honorary President of "Housing Ukraine", pointed out, that:

“As a result of Russia's aggression, entire cities and villages need to be restored. According to preliminary estimates, our country's need for housing reconstruction has reached 69 billion USD. At the same time, Ukraine still lacks a systematic mechanism for assessing the damage caused and providing compensation or assistance to those who have suffered from military aggression.

To ensure the proper functioning of the digital platform in a territorial community and administration of its operations, the community was given recommendations on internal regulatory documents to be adopted at local level”.

The pilot launch of the platform took place within the Ivanivska territorial community (Chernihiv Region), which has expressed interest in cooperating with the project. As a result of military aggression, 1,513 residential buildings were damaged on the territory of this community. The Head of the Ivanivska territorial community, Olena Shvydka, shared with the participants the first experience of implementation of the digital platform and outlined further steps for rebuilding the community.

Jonathan Edgar, the Head of International Organisation "Red Rose CPS", spoke on behalf of the donor community and outlined the prospects for a pilot project to restore part of the houses in Ivanivska community using data from the digital platform.

Within the framework of the event, Serhii Komnatnyi also presented the Analytical Report "The Creation of Housing and Building Cooperatives as a Mechanism for Solving the Housing Issue of IDPs and Persons Suffering from the Military Aggression Against Ukraine" along with practical experience and recommendations, develop under the Council of Europe support.