Behind IDP Status: Observance of the rights of internally displaced

September 20, 2018

KYIV, 13 September – What are the recurring human rights issues faced by internally displaced persons? A recent sociological poll of internally displaced persons and service providers working with them confirmed that they face many socioeconomic challenges. These include need to submit additional documents and certificates, to confirm acts of civil status in courts and to undergo verification procedures, as well as the challenges that displaced people face due to relocation, that put IDPs in a more vulnerable position and sometimes means they face discrimination.

The study revealed that the IDPs generally struggle with a lack of information about their rights. Analysis of responses to open-ended questions shows that this issue is complex, as it affects nearly all government agencies and bodies, the media, public organizations and IDPs themselves.

The survey also identified a number of gender differences in socioeconomic status and the challenges faced by internally displaced men and women. Internally displaced women are more vulnerable than men, often more financially dependent on other family members than men, more likely to be taking care of children (a 14.5 per cent gender gap), less active on the labour market and in starting their own businesses, and much more frequently faced with insufficient funds and forced to economize than internally displaced men. Generally speaking, internally displaced women and men in Ukraine often reproduce the gender roles and gender stereotypes established in society: the functions of serving and caring for children and other relatives remains the responsibility of women, and the function of “security” that of men.

To tackle these issues, the national authorities, civil society, international organizations, and the Ombudsperson’s Office discussed the results of the survey and possible solutions to these problems. Participants at the discussion also stressed the extreme importance not only of eliminating and simplifying barriers related to internal displacement to the extent possible, but also of creating opportunities for IDPs to integrate into local communities, as well as the transition from a fire-fighting strategy to predicting future problems and solving them step by step.

The analytical report was done by a group of experts based on the sociological study conducted by the CO Ukrainian Institute for Social Research after Oleksandr Yarmenko with the support of the “Strengthening Capacities of the Office of the Ombudsperson” project, implemented between 2015 and 2018 by the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine with financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

The analytical report is available in English at the link: https://bit.ly/2xNSH5m

Media inquiries:

Yuliia Samus, Communication Specialist, UNDP Ukraine, +38 097 139 14 75,  communications.ukraine@undp.org; Yuliia.Samus@undp.org