An Advisor on IDP Issues will appear in the Chernihiv region

CrimeaSOS and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine introduced five advisors on internally displaced persons. Nadiya Edieva, a lawyer at the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, became the Advisor on Internally Displaced Persons for the Chernihiv region within the framework of the project “Strengthening Civil Society Participation in the Work of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and the Process of National Reconciliation”.

“A total of 27 advisors were selected, of which 25 will provide assistance to IDPs in the regions of Ukraine at the departmental and district levels, and two more at the central level,” said the head of the Department for the Organization of Social Protection of Victims of Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, Serhiy Marushchenko, at a press briefing on August 26, 2015 at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center
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The main goal of the program is to build effective communication between representatives of the public sector, state authorities and IDPs. During the two weeks of the competition, the organizers received about 120 resumes from different regions of Ukraine. “Applications were sent by both public figures, activists and representatives of state authorities who have experience in the field of social protection. A large number of applications came from the IDPs themselves, who, as a result of the selection, also became advisors,” said co-founder and coordinator of the CrimeaSOS public initiative

Tamila Tasheva

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The program, established by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the CrimeaSOS public initiative and the international organization Stabilization Support Services with the support of the British government, is designed, first of all, to ensure a rapid exchange of information on the problems of IDPs and ways to solve them. “The program will create conditions for ensuring contact with each IDP, as well as contribute to the unification of Ukrainian society and building peace in the country,” said the regional counselor of the British Embassy for conflicts in Ukraine and Moldova

Patrick Tobin

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The program will begin operating on September 1, 2015, and the main responsibilities of the counselors will be to receive citizens, identify and solve specific problems of IDPs at the local level and exchange this information at the central level, interact with state departments and cooperate with the public sector using relevant experience in the future. The project also provides for a program of small and large grants for forcibly displaced persons, which should stimulate the unification of displaced persons into project groups and the organization of their activities on the ground.