Dialogue: «Relief for a War-Affected Population: Efficiency in Collaboration» — the Aspen Institute’s Kyiv hosting of the final event of the “Relief for Ukraine: Ecosystem of Support for Ukrainians” Program

On April 1st, Aspen Institute Kyiv hosted the final event of the “Relief for Ukraine: Support Ecosystem for Ukrainians” Program — Dialogue: «Relief for War-Affected Population: Efficiency in Collaboration.» The Institute implemented the Program initiated by CORE Response in Ukraine.

The event brought together participants from previous Dialogues, representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, the Verkhovna Rada, local government, civil society organizations, businesses, and others.

The Executive Director at the Aspen Institute Kyiv, Yuliya Tychkivska, and Ukraine Country Director CORE, Liana Khorovytska, delivered opening remarks.

Denis Poltavets, Program Development Director at the Aspen Institute Kyiv presented the results of the “Relief for Ukraine: Ecosystem of Support for Ukrainians” Program. During the Program’s implementation, the Institute organized a Dialogue and three seminars, bringing together over 150 participants from 7 regions of Ukraine.

Throughout the event, crucial stakeholders in the humanitarian aid sector, from the state government, local government, international organizations, and civil society, exchanged ideas on improving coordination mechanisms. Among them were:

• Decentralization of coordination in providing humanitarian aid.
• Standardization of methodologies for assessing the needs of war-affected individuals.
• Effective communication at all levels of humanitarian aid provision.
• Organization of registries of providers and recipients of humanitarian aid and their digitalization.
• Development of human capital and training of personnel.

Sarah Hilding der Weduwen, Head of Office, OCHA Ukraine, emphasized the importance of collaboration with international organizations to understand local specificities during the panel discussion “Coordination of Humanitarian Response in Ukraine.” It is necessary to ensure the most effective provision of humanitarian assistance to those affected.

During the first panel discussion, speakers discussed the principles of state policy in the field of humanitarian aid. Participants: Roman Hryshchuk, Member of Ukrainian Parliament; Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine; and Yulia Sokolovska, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine. Moderator: Ukraine Country Director CORE, Liana Khorovytska.

Participants discussed the specifics of providing humanitarian assistance locally in the second-panel discussion framework. Representatives of local authorities took part in the discussion: Vitaliy Kim, Head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration; Serhii Sukhomlyn, Mayor of Zhytomyr; Kateryna Yamshchykova, Secretary of Poltava City Council, Acting Mayor of Poltava. Executive Director at the Aspen Institute Kyiv, Yuliya Tychkivska, moderated the conversation.

Overall, the Dialogue brought together more than 80 participants. We are grateful to everyone for their contribution to sincere discussions — questions and comments to the speakers and among each other.

We also thank our partners from CORE Response in Ukraine for implementing the Program and their practical cooperation!