The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has begun rehabilitating unused and damaged buildings including school dormitories and hotels to provide safer temporary accommodation to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Zakarpattia Region, Ukraine, as part of a new shelter rehabilitation program targeting almost 1 million IDPs.
“Residents of these newly established, and in many cases improvised collective centers, include pregnant and single women, families with many children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly,” said Marco Chimenton, IOM Ukraine’s Emergency, and Stabilization Programme Coordinator. “IOM-led rehabilitation work will improve accommodation conditions for these vulnerable populations, at the same time providing jobs for local communities and indirectly supporting the local economy.”
The UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the governments of Germany and Japan, and the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are providing initial funding of USD 30 million. IOM, which has been working in Ukraine since 1996, will hire and train mobile technical teams to refurbish buildings where vulnerable families fleeing in regions affected by the war have sought shelter.
According to the IOM country-wide representative survey on displacement released, over 7.7 million people were forced to flee their homes and relocate to other areas of the country since the war began. Ukraine’s western regions remain the primary destination for those newly displaced.
The ongoing work is focusing on replacing and fixing windows, doors, and roofs, rewiring electrical systems, improving sanitation facilities, and installing temporary partitions to ensure privacy.
Initially, the program will cover the five western regions of Ukraine (Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Vinnytsia, and Chernivtsi), with a possibility of expansion to other regions depending on the needs and the security situation. The program will be implemented in coordination with local authorities, other humanitarian partners, and local civil society organizations.
IOM is present in Zakarpattia, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk, working with dozens of NGOs across the country to provide lifesaving and life-preserving humanitarian assistance to IDPs, host communities and other war-affected groups, including migrants who are stranded in Ukraine and need support to ensure their safety during and after crossing into neighboring countries.
See also: 🔴 LIVE UPDATES | Humanitarian response to Ukraine crisis
