II All-Ukrainian Forum of IDPs Councils was held at Parkovy

The II All-Ukrainian Forum of IDPs Councils was held at Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center on August 27-28. It brought together more than 300 participants, including government officials, parliamentarians, representatives of the public sector, international organizations and immigrants themselves. Among those present were also 150 members of the IDP Councils from all regions of Ukraine and Kyiv.

The forum was a continuation of last year's event, when the role and mission of the IDPs Councils was first discussed at the national level. This year, it again became a platform for exchanging opinions, developing joint solutions, solving urgent problems of IDPs and IDPs, as well as taking into account their opinions.

The two-day event was held on the ground floor of the complex – in the Big Exhibition Hall and the Small Exhibition Hall, where 9 panel discussions, 4 presentations and a workshop took place within the Forum. Given the scale of the Forum, it was important to organize such a large number of events simultaneously. The Big Exhibition Hall and the Small Exhibition Hall are located opposite each other, so guests could move as quickly as possible between the speakers' performances without wasting time.

IDPs Councils are a powerful network and tool for influencing local politics, its formation and implementation. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk, who opened the forum.

"IDPs are 20 thousand active people we know and cooperate with. What is the mission of the IDPs Councils? This is systemic and professional advocacy. We are talking about almost 5 million people who need it. The ultimate goal is full integration into the communities where people have moved or will return. For me, the IDP Council is the first line of contact with people in communities. You know about the problems and will be able to formulate a request to the authorities. Such complex problems as housing and employment will not yield results without systematic daily work. I see our interaction in this", – said Iryna Vereshchuk.

And one of the results of the II All-Ukrainian Forum of IDPs Councils was the signing of constituent documents on the creation of a new public organization – "Congress of Councils on Internally Displaced Persons." It will be an association without the status of a legal entity, namely an organization that unites the public around itself.

Among the main goals of the Congress of Councils of IDPs:

• assistance to IDP Councils;
• ensuring the rights and interests of IDPs in social protection, housing and employment, psychosocial, medical and legal assistance, etc.;
• representing the interests of displaced persons at the national and international levels;
• development of normative proposals in the field of protection of the rights and interests of IDPs.

In the near future, the organizers plan to launch the work of the Congress of IDP Councils and hold 3 interregional forums of IDP Councils with the participation of the government.

The event was held by the Stabilization Support Services Charitable Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine with the support of the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine (UNHCR) and the Council for International Research and Exchanges (IREX in Ukraine).

Parkovy team thanks the organizers for choosing a complex for an extremely important national-level event. We will wait for new initiatives!