19 February 2016

Over thirty culture clubs, libraries, secondary and music schools and other social institutions in six regions of Ukraine will be re-opened after renovations done by IOM with funding from the EU, to serve the needs of IDPs and local communities. Chuguiv Culture Centre Image, Kharkiv Region (pictured above) and a family medicine centre in Yuriivka, Dnipropetrovsk Region (pictured below) are among those already renovated and officially re-opened. More objects to open their doors in the nearest weeks in Zaporizhia, Odesa, Donetsk and Luhansk (government-controlled area) regions.

IOM, with funding from the EU and in partnership with the NGO Western Ukrainian Resource Centre, supports integration of IDPs into host communities through social cohesion events and renovation of important social institutions. The initiative groups, consisting of both local residents and IDPs, received training on community development, and came up with ideas of social infrastructure objects refurbishment. It is worth mentioning that local authorities have also contributed to the projects. For example, new chairs and curtains for the Chuguiv culture centre, and renovated heating system at the Yuriivka family medicine centre were funded from the local budgets.