Comprehensive research will help develop effective tools to boost security in communities

Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, 11 August 2020 – The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine along with a team of experts from the Independent Researching Group has launched a comprehensive study on security in communities in the Azov Sea region. The study is being carried out under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with funds provided by the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The study will cover the communities of Berdiansk, Kyrylivka and Prymorsk communities of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, as well as Yalta village council in Donetsk Oblast – communities covering both urban and rural areas with different levels of infrastructure development and different needs of their populations. This will allow for a comprehensive study of security problems and the development of effective tools to increase the level of security in line with the needs of these communities.

Rustam Pulatov, the coordinator of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme’s Social Cohesion and Community Security Component, said that the study would provide practical recommendations to help communities in eastern Ukraine respond more effectively to public nuisance-related problems, and thus community residents will be able to feel safer.

The comprehensive study will consist of four interim reports for each community, as well as a final report, which will include all the recommendations developed. The first report on the results of the public safety survey in the Yalta village council is already available in Ukrainian via this link. In particular, the key results of the study showed that:

• Almost a quarter of residents of settlements of Yalta village council of Donetsk Oblast do not consider their community safe. The reasons for this situation are both national problems (the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, unemployment, corruption) and local (theft, drunkenness, hooliganism, lack of lighting, water problems, etc.).
• The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has been going on for more than six years, continues to be a major cause for concern and anxiety for the community.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the community's sense of security, with almost one in ten saying the coronavirus is a cause of danger. But the pandemic isn’t the main security problem that worries the people of Yalta: One in ten respondents named the main problem as unemployment, while another 12 percent identified the main cause of danger as being poverty.
• One third of the population does not consider the community to be cohesive, which indicates the need for measures to increase social cohesion.
• Assessments of the police are polarized, but the number of negative assessments is higher. Every fifth crime victim says they rely on their own resources, or friends and relatives. Almost one-fifth don’t know what to do in the event of their being the victim of a crime.
• Significant needs that affect the sense of security in the community include the repair of water supplies to settlements, construction of sewers, the cleaning of shorelines of silt and algae, and the completion of dam construction.
  

The general trend suggests that many of the existing problems can be solved by local governments actively involving the public (including NGOs and non-governmental foundations) in the dialogue and decision-making process in the community. This will not only help restore community trust in the authorities, but will also increase the public’s sense of security, as residents will be able to join in the discussion of pressing issues and monitor the progress of their solution development.

The survey in the Yalta village council’s community was conducted using focus groups and in-depth interviews. The team of experts involved representatives from various segments of the population, including vulnerable groups, such as people who have experienced gender-based violence, people with disabilities, internally displaced people and the elderly.

"Comprehensive research will help to develop long-term mechanisms and create a safe environment for all residents of communities, leaving no one behind,” added Mr. Pulatov.

The results of further research and the final report will be published later on UNDP Ukraine’s website.

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).

The programme is supported by twelve international partners: the European Union, the European Investment Bank 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 18 39