On February 6, a roundtable discussion was held on the topic: “Project “Vision 2033″: internally displaced persons as a source of labor force in Ukraine today”.
Organizers: All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies, International Renaissance Foundation.
Participants: Svitlana Kalinina, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Law of Mariupol State University (Kyiv), Doctor of Economics, Professor, Academician of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Ukraine; Tetiana Tsyba, Member of Parliament of Ukraine; Maksym Tkachenko, co-founder and head of the NGO “IDPs of Ukraine”, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, member of the “Servant of the People” faction; Oleksandr Gladun, Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Demography and Quality of Life Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Bohdan Matviychuk, Director General of the Directorate for Targeted Support of the Population of the Ministry of Social
Moderator: Vasyl Voskoboinyk, President of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies.
Issues for discussion:
Involvement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in work in the regions where they currently reside.
Socialization of IDPs and activation of these people in the labor market.
Economic growth is the way to win the war.
Large-scale demographic change in Ukraine’s population means new realities of labor distribution.
Construction of new enterprises in the conditions of war – is it realistic?
Summary materials:
Experts name employment as one of the biggest problems of IDPs
Difficulties in finding a job is one of the biggest problems of internally displaced persons in new communities.
This was emphasized by the participants of the roundtable discussion “Project “Vision 2033″: internally displaced persons as a source of labor in Ukraine” held at Ukrinform.
“The issue of IDPs cannot be considered separately from the issue of labor supply in the international dimension,” emphasized Svitlana Kalinina, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Academician of the Academy of Economic Sciences of Ukraine.
She noted that as a result of the full-scale aggression by the Russian Federation, a significant number of IDPs are actually becoming external forced migrants, thus intensifying the processes of international migration, which have reached unprecedented proportions in recent decades.
Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian territories in 2014 and full-scale invasion in 2022 have significantly worsened the demographic situation, which affects all components of the country’s life. One of the consequences of the Russian aggression is large-scale population movements both in and out of the country,” said Oleksandr Gladun, Deputy Director for Research at the Institute of Demography and Quality of Life Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
According to him, the number of registered IDPs since February 2022 has increased by more than 3 million people and now amounts to 4 million 865 thousand people, according to the Ministry of Social Policy, and their location across the country has changed significantly.
The scientist emphasized that some IDPs need employment, so an important issue is the ability of regional labor markets to attract them.
Tetyana Tsyba, MP from the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, emphasized that to improve the situation of IDPs, the state acts in accordance with the developed Strategy of State Policy on Internal Displacement for the period up to 2025, namely: “material assistance, temporary housing, compensation for utilities and expenses for those who have sheltered a person with this status are provided.”
“Measures are also being taken to promote employment. Through the Employment Fund, programs are implemented to provide grants for retraining, starting a business, employers are compensated for labor costs for each employed IDP for whom the employer pays the unified social tax, etc. In addition, IDPs have certain peculiarities in obtaining unemployment status during martial law,” she added.
Maksym Tkachenko, MP from the Servant of the People faction and head of the NGO IDPs of Ukraine Maksym Tkachenko, MP from the Servant of the People faction and head of the NGO “IDPs of Ukraine”, said that the most important problem for internally displaced persons is housing, as it is the availability of housing that ensures the quick integration of IDPs into a new community and their employment.
“Of course, there is also a big problem of employment of IDPs. While the state and the public have created many programs and opportunities to provide IDPs with jobs, it is necessary to strengthen information policy in this direction. Unfortunately, as we see from our constant communication with IDPs, they know very little about employment opportunities, retraining programs, etc.,” he emphasized.
At the same time, Bohdan Matviychuk, Director General of the Directorate for Targeted Support of the Population of the Ministry of Social Policy, emphasized that the living allowance is provided to ensure social support for IDPs from vulnerable groups and to encourage internally displaced persons of working age to find employment.
“Accordingly, the government is constantly changing the criteria for providing assistance in order to encourage able-bodied persons to look for work and integrate at their new place of residence,” he said.
Olha Chabaniuk, deputy head of the Trade Union of Education and Science Workers, announced that the union, together with the All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies, is launching the project “Student Vision for the Reconstruction of Ukraine.”
She explained that within the project, students from different regions will develop mechanisms for engaging young people in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine by accumulating best practices in youth work and create a community for public discussion, exchange of experience, and support for youth projects.
“Many countries in the world have experienced wars recently and know what the IDP problem is and how to solve it. We must carefully study this experience and implement the best practices for engaging these people in economic activity and further rebuilding the country,” said Vasyl Voskoboinyk, head of the Vision 2033 project and president of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Employment Companies.
In addition, Olha Kupriy, Director of the Department of Strategic Planning, Budgeting and Statistics at the State Employment Center, emphasized that the SES can offer internally displaced persons seeking employment vacancies, vocational training or grant support in setting up their own business. “At the same time, employers receive financial support for hiring internally displaced persons,” she emphasized.
Source: Ukrinform
