The Community of practice on migration and human rights at local level, established under a Congress project in Poland, the Republic of Moldova and Romania, is working on better access to education for displaced Ukrainian children and young people in those countries. Its online meeting on 6 September 2024 brought together Polish, Moldovan, Romanian and Ukrainian local elected representatives, as well as representatives from public administration institutions responsible for education and migration.

It was stressed that local governments must engage in structural multilevel dialogue and co-operate to a greater extent with central education authorities to develop further measures for the effective and more inclusive access to quality education. The participants also noted the many remaining challenges despite significant progress made by both Ukrainian authorities and host countries in ensuring displaced children's right to education. Some of the key areas that required action at the beginning of this school year included Ukrainian language competences, lack of pedagogical staff, recognition of qualifications, mobility, safety and security, and overall strengthening of partnerships, co-ordination and resource mobilisation. The event provided an opportunity for sharing best practices and success stories, to foster mutual learning.

The Community of Practice meeting was organised by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in the framework of the project “Strengthening Resilience in Local and Regional Authorities Facing Migration Challenges” under the Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum (2021-2025), and in co-operation with the project “Strengthening Multi-Level Governance, Democracy, and Human Rights at the Local Level in Ukraine” implemented as part of  the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026.