Photo @UNHCR/Bathoul Ahmed
Kyiv, 18 April 2022 – Today, Oleksii Chernyshov, Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine and Karolina Lindholm Billing, the Representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Understanding which aims to find sustainable and accessible housing solutions for people who have been forced to flee their homes due to the war.
The war against Ukraine has triggered one of the fastest-growing displacement and humanitarian crises ever. In just over 50 days, 11.7 million people – more than a quarter of the population of Ukraine – were forced to flee their homes. More than 4.6 million refugees have fled Ukraine, making this the fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II. A further 7.1 million people have been displaced internally within Ukraine.
‘The intensive shelling has forced millions of Ukrainians out of their homes and caused extensive material damage in large parts of the country. People’s greatest wish is to return home, but for so many, there is no house or apartment left to return to. Repairs will need to start as soon as areas are safe, but this will clearly not be enough. What we hope to do through this partnership is to support the government and the people of Ukraine to find dignified and sustainable housing options for people who have lost their homes’ said Karolina Lindholm Billing.
Although comprehensive data on the magnitude of the destruction and damage is not yet available, owing to the volatile security situation, initial assessments indicate that damage to housing is a major concern for residents in 75% of surveyed settlements in Donetska, Kharkivska, Luhanska, and Zaporizka oblasts.
‘For displaced people, finding a safe and dignified place to live is clearly a top priority. UNHCR has been supporting the local authorities in numerous oblasts, where people have arrived to seek safety, to scale up the capacity of temporary reception centres. But this is just a temporary solution. We will also support with refurbishment and repurposing of collective centres, and work with the authorities and partners, and displaced people themselves, in developing a variety of sustainable housing solutions for people who will not be able to go back to their places of origin anytime soon’ added Lindholm Billing.
Through this MoU, UNHCR reaffirms its commitment to work with the Government of Ukraine in finding solutions that complement their response efforts to the humanitarian crisis in the country. Within its role as shelter cluster coordinator of humanitarian organizations implementing shelter programs in Ukraine, and as an organization with longstanding experience in providing emergency shelter to displaced people, UNHCR will contribute to mapping and assessing the scale of damages and destruction to civilian housing, conducting repairs of damaged homes and refurbishment of collective centres, and help develop dignified and safe housing solutions for displaced people. In all its programmes, UNHCR takes a people and community-centered approach to ensure that the people themselves are at the centre of policies and programs.
There should be “nothing for the people without the people”, says Lindholm Billing.
This is key for ensuring sustainability and the achievement of long-term solutions for displaced people of various backgrounds, including older persons, persons with disabilities, families with young children and single households.
“There is no one-size fits all, and it’s by involving the people affected in the solutions that we make sure that resources are invested in solutions that actually match peoples’ needs and aspirations”, adds Lindholm Billing.
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