UKRAINE 2019 UNHCR PARTICIPATRY ASSESSMENT
null and thus home visits for the purpose of verification and any subsequent suspensions should
not take place.
Housing
IDPs in all groups said housing was a top priority. Many insist that stable housing is a key to integration,
since would allow building social links and stable employment/private entrepreneurship.
Specific problems exist for residents of collective centers (CC):
In two facilities administrations imposed restrictions for IDP residents, including unexplained
requests that IDPs inform them in advance if they plan to be absent for over two days;
Five out of six groups expressed fear of unexpected forced evictions, including through power,
water and electricity cutoffs;
Most CC residents lack private space, which affects their relations with other family members and
with neighbours. Teenagers mentioned that this interfered with their ability to build social links due
to impossibility to invite friends. Some children had difficulties in finding space to study;
In three groups, participants mentioned no special equipment/proper conditions for persons with
severe disabilities, including children.
For IDPs residing in private apartments/houses, lack of permanent housing is the core problem:
The majority rent apartments and feel insecure due to the reluctance of owners to sign rent
agreements. They face unpredictable increases in rental costs and requests to vacate the rented
housing;
For IDPs in settlements at the seashore, summer evictions are part of their displacement stories,
since landlords prefer to rent their properties by the day during the holiday season. At least three
individuals told personal stories of being refused to extend their rent in May. One IDP informed that
this stress caused a long-lasting serious health problem;
Targeted assistance barely covers utility costs, let alone rent payments.
"We first pay for housing, and we thrive to survive with what is left ..."
Elderly IDP woman residing in Kropyvnytskii
Employment and livelihoods
Most participants expressed concern regarding employment. Some challenges mentioned by
participants are common to the general Ukrainian population such as vacancies available through
employment centers are low-paid and available employment opportunities are in the informal sector.
Challenges that are more specific to IDPs included that skills and experiences were not applicable in
the host community, so they required requalification/re-training; employers reject students and recent
university graduates based on the assumption that they could unexpectedly return to their original place
of residence. Students in four groups mentioned considering employment abroad (Poland, other EU
countries; for Kherson it was with foreign maritime companies). At the same time, IDPs with successful
employment experience expressed an opinion that five years of displacement is long enough to recover
and start taking responsibility for one’s life.
Health care
Health care is another acute issue mentioned by most IDPs. Many IDPs said they feel their health
deteriorated after displacement. In particular, IDPs mentioned serious health conditions having
occurred during the second or third year of displacement. Older persons mentioned that they had
suffered strokes after displacement or experienced exacerbation of chronic diseases.
“I had to sell my house in NGCA for 10,000 UAH to pay chemotherapy. I had no other way out.”
Female IDP from Donetsk oblast now living in Zhytomyr
IDPs living with HIV have necessary access to the ART therapy. However, since a large share of their
monthly income is spent on housing, they face difficult choices about having either proper nutrition or
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