On 12 July 2018, the first Steering Committee Meeting of the Council of Europe Project “Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions” took place in Kyiv. The Project will be implemented under the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021 and aiming at strengthening the capacities of internally displaced persons, displaced professionals, displaced institutions and other key stakeholders to improve the human rights protection of internally displaced persons in Ukraine.

The Project will last from April 2018 till September 2020, focusing on three main pillars: enhancing competencies of IDPs and displaced professionals; strengthening the legal and regulatory framework on internal displacement; empowering IDP agency and integration at local and regional level.

The Project “Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions” will build upon the achievements of the previous project “Strengthening the Human Rights Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine”, which has been implemented in 2015-2017 and which outcomes were highly appreciated by the partners and beneficiaries.

Participants of the Steering Committee Meeting were welcomed by Ms Lilja Gretarsdottir, Deputy Head of Division, Independent Human Rights Bodies Division, DGI, Project Coordinator, Mr. Georgiy Tuka, Deputy Minister of Temporary Occupied Territories and IDPs of Ukraine, Mr Mårten Ehnberg, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine and Ms Milica Vesovic, Project Manager from Strasbourg.

Among 40 participants who attended the meeting, there were high management of the Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine and Ministry of Social Police of Ukraine, representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry for Regional Development, Building and Housing of Ukraine, Coordination Centre for Legal Aid Provision, representatives of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in Autonomous Republic of Crimea, partners from the Institute for Economic and Legal Research of the NAS of Ukraine, Notary Chamber of Ukraine, National School of Judges of Ukraine, State specialized financial institution “State Fund for Youth Housing Assistance”, Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University, leading Ukrainian civil society organizations in the field of IDPs’ protection.

During the activity Ganna Khrystova, Senior Project Officer, Kyiv, introduced a draft Work plan of the Project for the period August 2018 – August 2019.

Members of the Committee positively noted activities of the Project to be organized for strengthening capacities of displaced institutions through tailor-made tools and trainings; advancement of laws and court practices as regards access to justice, housing and property rights for IDPs; engagement of IDP-led NGOs in designing and implementing local/regional grant schemes addressing issues where IDPs are most in need.