Work for IDPs: five Ukrainian initiatives that help displaced people find job opportunities

What is the problem?

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, millions of Ukrainians were forced to leave their homes and move to safer cities and villages. In one of the interviews, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says: "Employment is one of the cornerstones of integration, let it be temporary, but the integration of those who were forced to move and those who suffer. Today, 66% remain unemployed, of which 70% are women."

Before the war, many of them had permanent jobs, but finding a job in a new city is challenging. Lack of job openings by specialty and level of education, low wages, insufficient professional skills, and work experience for employment in available vacancies are typical problems faced by those looking for employment opportunities after changing place of residence.

What is the solution?

Acquiring new knowledge and learning new professions are very important today, especially for those Ukrainians who lost their homes and jobs because of the war. IDPs are helped by projects implemented in various cities of Ukraine to acquire a new profession and valuable skills to feel more confident, get a job or open their own business. Rubryka collected five examples of such initiatives.

How does it work?

The "Help in the rehabilitation and establishment of a full-fledged life for IDPs in Ukraine" project was implemented in the Poltava region from October 2022 to April 2023. It was implemented by the non-governmental organization Adult Education Center of Poltava Region and the volunteer organization Shanti Volunteer Association with funding from the Japanese government. The aim was to comprehensively support the displaced persons and, in addition to the must-haves of support, which include humanitarian and psychological aid, 16 educational programs of professional and psychological guidance were developed.

Among the programs, for example, were courses for accountants, tour guides, hairdressers, and pizzaiolo. The courses were also offered for cutting and sewing, manicure, and graphic design. The project was supposed to provide educational services for 230 displaced persons. However, in the first month, more than 2,000 people registered for the courses, which were organized on the basis of the Poltava University of Economics and Trade. Among them, 374 IDPs took the course and successfully completed it.

Svitlana Nestrulya, executive director of the NGO Center for Adult Education of Poltava Region, told Rubryka that many participants studied without any particular aim. However, many success stories exist where participants found a job in the acquired specialty after completing the course. "We are very pleased that we can improve the lives of our participants and inspire them for a positive and successful future," says Nestrulya, sharing the project results.

The NGO Center for Adult Education of Poltava region is not going to stop there. Now there is another project, the Adult Education Center — an environment for personal and professional development with the support of DVV International Ukraine. Within the framework of this project, in 2023, training courses will also be held under new programs: Basics of confectionery skills, Computer Operator, and Creating your own business (online store from scratch).

In the city of Znamyanka, the Kirovohrad region, the Synergia educational and production site has been operating for several months, where forcibly displaced people are taught sewing. People who ended up in Znamyanka due to a full-scale war are trained here from scratch so they can later open their shop and earn a living or sew clothes for personal needs. The training is free of charge, and each participant receives a certificate of completion of sewing courses. Synergia is a social project of the city council, NGO Return to Life, and international grant funds. In particular, sewing machines were also purchased with grant funds.

"Our goal is to help IDPs with work, and there are four thousand of them in Znamyanka," says Oleksandr Ostapov, head of the NGO Return to Life. According to him, about 200 IDPs filled out the questionnaire for training. Already in the spring, 80 completed the training course. Among them, fifteen people have already opened their sewing businesses. Some found employment at local sewing enterprises. "Some of our students didn't even know how to hold a needle two months ago. Today they are sewing clothes for the military at the front line," says the head of the NGO. For example, a couple of IDPs — a husband and wife — signed up for the next course. They want to learn how to sew so they can open their own shop for sewing sweatshirts with patriotic images.

In Kropyvnytskyi, an initiative was implemented that helped IDP women to become massage therapists. Ten resettlers could undergo training and requalification with the support of the German Society for International Cooperation and the German government.

The head of the project, Lev Abramov, says: among those who had to change their profession, there were women of various occupations, including a psychologist and a ballet dancer. To get into the free courses, the participants wrote motivational letters — for many of them, the motivation was to expand their opportunities and start their own businesses.

The courses lasted from November to December 2022. In addition to several work sessions on various topics: from client ethics to specialized types of massage, the participants also received training on promoting their services. After graduation, they received starter kits for launching their micro-business from the Path of Adaptation project — massage tables, oils, and more.

The training organizers still maintain contact with the course participants in the Viber messenger groups created during the training. There, women share their news and successes; some are already working in a new profession.

From September 2022 in Cherkasy, the Rodyna LH Charitable Foundation, with the support of the Ukrainian Women's Foundation, is implementing the Women for Women project at the request of resettled women. Trainings and education courses are held here for resettled women. Among them are trainings on promoting one's business on social networks, teaching sewing, digital printing on fabric, cleaning courses, and others.

Olena Havrysh, director of the charitable foundation Rodyna LH says: "These are relevant professions and skills, and there are spots for all female graduates at the city's enterprises."

Havrysh says that 125 IDP women have completed the training project over nine months; 23 have already been employed permanently, another 18 have registered as individual entrepreneurs, and 26 are working on other terms. The participants note that the courses and training taught them new useful skills and helped them feel better in a new place and find friends and people who moved from their hometowns.

The cleaning course started at the beginning of May and is very popular, and it is being held for the second time. "At first glance, it may seem, why study cleaning? Many people think: we do cleaning at home almost every day, so we can do it at others, but they are wrong," explains the fund director. "Training in professional cleaning opens up opportunities to get a job in a cleaning company. After all, companies recruit only professional employees with training certificates," explains the fund director.

Women's Club works on the basis of the Rodyna LH charity fund for communication and mutual assistance to help displaced women get to know each other better and get used to the new place and make new friends. "We, women, need to support each other," says Havrysh.

IDPs who moved to the Vinnytsia region are trained in car mechanics free of charge. Short-term courses started this year in January on the basis of the Vocational and Technical Education Center No. 1. They were opened with the support of the International Project from EU4skills.

The term of training at the courses is two months, and after that, the students receive certificates for further employment at enterprises. Currently, three groups of 30 people each attend courses at the educational institution. 50% of them are IDPs and employees of relocated enterprises.

"It's never too late to learn; it may be necessary because you don't know if you'll be able to return to your previous job and practice your old profession after the war," says Maksym Pokolodny, a 41-year-old resettler from Kharkiv.

And the institution's director, Valery Dyakiv, is confident: "The professions of a car mechanic and operative are useful for the military economy and its recovery after the war. Having such professions, a person becomes more mobile in the labor market and can open their own business."

Even more useful solutions!

Internally displaced persons and people released from Russian captivity will be able to receive education vouchers from the state. As reported by the Ministry of Reintegration, this is a document with the help of which the cost of education in educational institutions is fully or partially paid.

The specified categories of citizens can apply to the employment center to receive a study voucher. So far, 70 professions and specialties have been identified for which it can be obtained. The full list of professions and specialties, educational institutions, necessary documents, and the procedure for issuing vouchers can be found at the link.

In turn, the Ministry of Digitization launched the Diia.Education project. In the application, you can acquire useful digital skills and learn a new profession from scratch for free.

More than 50 professions are represented on the resource. These are a hundred educational series and simulators with real tasks, podcasts, webinars, and guides — from passing a career orientation test to obtaining a certificate and working in your region.