Project manager of Swiss organization Helvetas Anastasiia Kostiuchenko expresses her thought on several unique initiatives, implemented in Kyiv and Kharkiv oblasts, as well as on Swiss support for development of civil society in Ukraine.
Author: Dmytro Synyak
Since the last year, Swiss organization Helvetas was cooperating with Ukrainian public organization DESPRO as part of “Repair Facilitation Ukraine” project. The project is funded by a renowned organization Swiss Solidarity as well as Swiss agency for development and cooperation SDC/SECO, and implemented jointly with Skat Consulting Ltd (Switzerland) and public organization DESPRO (Ukraine). In April this year the Swiss organization Helvetas launched a set of interesting initiatives in Kyiv and Kharkiv oblasts. Helvetas project manager Anastasiia Kostiuchenko told the Decentralization portal about them.
What was the starting point of Helvetas operations in Ukraine?
- We started working in the middle of last summer, when we founded 8 shelters for internally displaced persons and repaired 19 private households, one multi-apartment house, and two water supply systems. Thanks to rich past experience, this year we got additional funding and, therefore, expanded the scope of our work and the project’s geography. Now, most of our support is targeted at Kharkiv oblast, some parts of which suffered severe ruination throughout combat and occupation periods. As of now, 103 heating points have been established in Kharkiv oblast. These have been used by people, who had no access to gas, electricity or other heating means.
What was the exact nature of support provision process back then and how does it look now?
- One of the components implemented by Helvetas is the support of public organizations, working in the area of reconstruction, repairs, and addressing humanitarian needs. Civil society role in the modern history of Ukraine is very important, so we feel that volunteer organizations should be granted the broadest support possible. Volunteers were the first ones to rebuild houses and civilian infrastructure right after liberation of the occupied territories; they were the first ones to react to people’s call for help. Therefore, they are sufficiently experienced and motivated. However, they often require construction materials and tools, or funds to purchase them. That is why since April 2023 we provided grants of 200 to 500 thousand UAH to 33 public organizations. These funds were allocated for rebuilding of private households, municipal objects, equipment and repairs of shelters, as well as implementation of social components, such as support of organizational capacities of these volunteer organizations themselves. By capacities I mean conducting first aid and mine security trainings, support of fellow Ukrainians remaining on de-occupied territories et cetera.
Tell us about, arguably, the most interesting form of assistance provided to damaged communities – the repair hub. Where did the idea of such an original project come from?
- In my opinion, the repair hub is not only the most interesting, but also the most important component of our program. Communities in severe ruination zones often lack tools, construction equipment, and technical consultations for repairing their houses and infrastructure, while spontaneous community initiatives in this field, usually, do not have wide access to international support. So, we used the needs as the starting point, and in early April of 2023 we established a public repair hub in Kharkiv oblast. In essence, it is a structure that supports housing reconstruction under community supervision, and serves as a catalyst for repair initiatives. I mean, our hub is, basically, a storage for stationary and mobile tools, required for repair works. The spectrum of tools is rather extensive – from electric screwdrivers to concrete mixers and welding machinery. Additionally, our hub is a place, where you can get or order any technical consultations on performing basic repair works. That is, anyone can use the tools and equipment free of charge for reconstruction works and get all necessary consultations as to their usage, or even ask for assistance in these reconstruction works.
Who turns to you for equipment and consultations most frequently?
- Public organizations, that repair damaged households. By the way, they are free to use the premises of our repair hubs to store their own materials. We work for them and are ready to assist them in everything. Another category is the residents of severe ruination zones. Rather than the tools, they often need technical consultations on preliminary estimation of property damage degree and required basic and medium-complexity repair works. Only since this April, when Kharkiv hub has opened, about 200 people got different types of support from it. However, it is not the numbers that matter. We are proud to have created not just a storage of free tools, but a real hub. Besides contributing to organization and coordination of repair works, it also facilitates access of public organizations to international support. The hub is a dynamic platform that, first and foremost, facilitates partnership.
How safe is it to work in Kharkiv oblast, part of which is still under occupation?
- Of course, we do not work on the front line. To be more geographically specific, we can say that most support from our project went to the communities of Kharkiv oblast, situated near the city of Kharkiv. Helvetas selects target areas, to which people are returning; these areas are, usually, located relatively far from the active combat zones. We are actively collaborating with local authorities, choosing the settlements, where the residents most desperately need reconstruction efforts. Generally, local authorities are a very important link of our operations, because they guarantee the integrity of public organizations that obtain funds from us. One of the criteria for support provision is a considerable number of residents belonging to vulnerable population categories: people with disabilities, the elderly, low-income and large families with multiple kids, internally displaced persons, one-resident households, et cetera. Surely, this work is never completely safe, not even in Kharkiv oblast, but in other regions of Ukraine, in view of constant air strikes, delivered by russia. At the same time, even now most communities can live the life, which is quite close to normal.
Does the repair hub operate in Kharkiv only?
- No, we also established a hub in Kyiv, which focuses on shipment and installation of used windows. That is, used windows, originating from some house in Zurich or Bern, can be successfully installed in houses, that lost their windows as a result of attacks. Swiss citizens that install new windows, have an opportunity to send their used ones to Kyiv on a cargo truck. There is a special Telegram bot, where you can submit the dimensions of your window frames, and the specialists will help you choose the replacement, provide consultation, or help with installation works.
What are Helvetas’ plans for future? Will the foundation keep working in Ukraine?
- The consequences of the full-scale war, initiated by russia, are devastating for a large number of Ukrainians. Many of them had to leave their houses. Later, many of these people ended up in shelters. Some still live in damaged houses without access to communal services or even elementary means of existence. It is these people that we support in the first place. At the same time, the changes that the war brought to Ukrainian business environment are not for the best. Many enterprises were relocated to other parts of Ukraine or even abroad. Therefore, we think that in future we need to focus on rebuilding of Ukrainian small and middle-sized business, on facilitating smooth access of people to labor market, on improvement of their knowledge level and ensuring professional orientation in different branches of economy. Someone could start an enterprise, attracting investments into the region and contributing to economical rebuilding of Ukraine. Such a person might just need a little help. And this is our future plan: supporting projects of economic development.
And what is the prospect of existing recovery and reconstruction projects?
- They will continue. Our focus is not just to rebuild specific households in specific territorial communities, but to contribute to development of the civil society, which, in its turn, will play a significant role in rebuilding of the whole Ukraine. That is why we will keep funding public organizations that perform repairs of basic and medium complexity. We closely cooperate both with Kharkiv municipal authorities and with community-level local self-government bodies. There is plenty of work to do in the oblast, and in view of ongoing attacks we will have many tasks to accomplish at least during this year. We think that the results achieved so far are spectacular, but we do not plan to stop.
“Repair Facilitation Ukraine ” project is implemented as part of Swiss support for Ukraine. It is funded by Swiss Solidarity and SDC. The work is performed by a consortium, including Helvetas, DESPRO, Skat Consulting Ltd.
The project is implemented in close cooperation with local self-government bodies in partner communities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ternopil, and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts. It includes such streams as reconstruction of households, damaged as a result of the war, improvement of living conditions of internally displaced persons, ensuring stable access to high-quality water supply, and creating spaces for reconstruction of damaged objects based on circular economy principles.
