UN-Habitat’s Acting Executive Director, Michal Mlynár, visits Ukraine to formalize UN-Habitat’s engagement with the Government of Ukraine. The visit – the first ever by a UN-Habitat Executive Director – will establish the UN-Habitat presence in Kyiv, in collaboration with the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine (Ministry for Restoration).
The visit will also mark the official launch of the collaboration between UN-Habitat and two local governments in the Kyivska region, as well as establish a partnership with the United Nations Country Team and other stakeholders.
Following the launch of activities in December 2023 in the conflict-ravaged country, UN-Habitat will continue to provide support to the government’s efforts towards the recovery of affected Ukrainian cities and towns. This includes support for key policies such as reforming the housing sector and revising Ukraine’s urban planning code.
UN-Habitat will further establish an urban recovery framework for Ukraine to help guide the development of policies and mechanisms enabling a sustainable recovery at the local level, as mandated by the UN-Habitat Executive Board.
Recovery through local action
As of December 2023, 10 per cent of the housing stock of Ukraine had been damaged or destroyed as a result of the ongoing conflict. Damage to municipal services is estimated at USD 4.9 billion, affecting primarily district heating, sidewalks, public spaces, and facilities. Losses of the municipal service sectors amount to a further USD 8.6 billion – 47 per cent of which come from revenue losses borne by local governments. In addition, municipalities, predominantly in central and western Ukraine, host over 3.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), increasing pressure on local authorities to deliver basic services.
In response to these challenges, UN-Habitat has been extending its support through spatial planning for recovery at the local level. This includes engagement with municipalities like Makariv and Borodianka through the establishment of an Urban Lab in Kyiv, in partnership with local and international NGOs; it also entails capacity-building initiatives conducted to allow local governments to steer recovery and reconstruction efforts.
The visit by the UN-Habitat Executive Director will also allow discussions on the development and implementation of digital solutions at the local level to support these processes, notably through the United Nations Innovation Technology Accelerator for Cities (UNITAC), a partnership between UN-Habitat, the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology, and HafenCity University Hamburg.
UNITAC is also expected to play a significant role in Ukraine’s digital transformation efforts, including data systems enhancement in support of land management, local statistics, procurement, and communication between different levels of government, among others.
Empowering for sustainable recovery
The local interventions in Ukraine aim to not only inform UN-Habitat’s support to the national government in policy development but also foster knowledge exchange on urban recovery among local stakeholders. The Urban Lab in Kyiv will serve as a hub for such exchanges, contributing to UN-Habitat’s efforts towards the sustainable strengthening of planning capacities across Ukraine.