Four communities in eastern Ukraine now have access to social services online thanks to EU and UN

September 17, 2020

Residents of pilot communities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts will now be able to order social services in advance and communicate with social workers online

The Centre for Integrated Social Services, Bilovodsk, Luhansk Oblast / Photo credit: Vitalii Shevelev / UNDP in Ukraine

Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, 17 September 2020 – Centres for Integrated Social Services in four communities of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts launched websites and mobile applications through which residents will be able to order social services and communicate with social services online. The technology solutions were developed with the support of the United Nations Development Programme in Ukraine (UNDP) under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, with the financial support of the European Union.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine restrictions and the decline in the economy, the number of people and families in difficult life circumstances and in need of outside help, including social services, has significantly increased.

Until recently, the residents of Bilovodsk and Bilokurakyne communities in Luhansk Oblast and Volnovakha and Soledar communities in Donetsk Oblast received information about social services and their providers exclusively from stationary Centres for Integrated Social Services.

But from now on, residents of the pilot communities will be able to report a case that needs the attention of social workers and order social services online without leaving their homes.

The coordinator of the Local Governance and Decentralisation Reform Component of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, Olena Ruditch, stressed that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic would not hinder the diversification and transformation of social services and efforts to help vulnerable populations in eastern Ukraine.

“Accessibility and safety are our key priorities when developing websites and mobile applications,” said Ms. Ruditch. “They will help make social services in communities more accessible in the long run, and the work of the institutions that provide them even more efficient.”

The websites, which will operate on the basis of the Centres for Integrated Social Services, will provide information on social services provided at the local level and apply for services such as the transport service “Social Taxi” or “Home Care”, “Crisis and emergency intervention” or “Social support for families (persons) who are in difficult life circumstances”.

Svitlana Zaichenko, the Deputy Head of the Volnovakha District State Administration's Social Protection Department, thanked the international partners for their fruitful cooperation and noted that the website of the Centres for Integrated Social Services would help residents of their community receive timely social help and assistance.

“Residents of communities, wherever they are and at any time, will be able to communicate with social protection and social services online, as well as take an active part in planning services and evaluating the quality of social services,” said Ms. Zaichenko.

The network of Centres for Integrated Social Services, which currently covers four communities in eastern Ukraine, is one of the key elements in implementing decentralisation reform being actively supported by the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, along with national and international partners.

Background

The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Thirteen international partners support the Programme: the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Media enquiries

Maksym Kytsiuk, Communications Associate, the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, maksym.kytsiuk@undp.org, +380 63 576 1839