On November 23-24, the Council of Europe Project "Facilitating housing solutions for the war-affected people in Ukraine" (the Project) in cooperation with the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine held a field meeting of the Working Group on improving the basic principles of housing policy aimed at finalisation proposals on the new foundations of housing policies in Ukraine.
The meeting of the Working Group was attended by people's deputies of Ukraine, representatives of the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the State Fund for Support of Youth Housing Construction, the Council of Europe and other international and public organizations.
During the opening of the meeting of the Working Group, the participants outlined the key challenges of implementing the new housing policy, in particular for internally displaced persons and other war-affected people in Ukraine.
Opening the meeting, Mr. Machei YANCHAK, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, noted that within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine ,,Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026, the Council of Europe expanded its cooperation with national partners and strengthening democratic governance and the rule of law and protecting citizens’ human rights, responding to numerous challenges that appeared before Ukraine after February 24, 2022, as a result of the large-scale military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
The continued lack of security, combined with the destruction of homes and infrastructure, is likely to result in people remaining displaced for a long time. Implementation of the right to affordable housing is also closely related to the enjoyment of other human rights, such as the right to freedom of movement and choice of residence, the right to protection from interference in private life and housing, the right to education, etc.
The current Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026 contributes to the process of rebuilding and restoring Ukraine.
Mrs. Lilit DANEGHIAN-BOSSLER, Head of Co-operation Programmes Division a.i., Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law, Council of Europe (Strasbourg), congratulated and emphasized that the Council of Europe has been providing support to Ukraine in matters of internal displacement and protection of conflict affected people, including housing solutions, through cooperation projects, since 2015.
Based on the European and International standards, including the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights the Council of Europe will continue to provide support for the national and local authorities in Ukraine in order to analyse and improve the relevant legislative framework and regulatory acts regarding housing solutions.
Ms. Nataliya KOZLOVSKA, Deputy Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, thanked the Council of Europe for the support, expert and technical assistance provided on the way to the development of new basic principles of the housing policy, and confirmed the need to introduce changes to the housing legislation of Ukraine, taking into account the best European practices aimed at protecting human rights, in particular, war-affected people in Ukraine.
Ms. Daria MARCHAK, First Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine,
Mr. Serhii KOZIR, People's Deputy of Ukraine, Co-Chairman of the Inter-Factional Parliamentary Association "VPO of Ukraine" and Mr. Andrii STRIKHARSKY, People's Deputy of Ukraine, member of the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning also spoke with welcome words and confirmed a common vision regarding the need to introduce appropriate changes to the housing legislation.
During the first day of the meeting of the Working Group, the participants united in subgroups in order to work out the questions expressed by the Working Group participants in the following areas:
- temporary housing;
- social lease with the right of redemption;
- social rent and the private sector;
- sources of filling the formation of the social housing fund.
- categories and veterans.
During the second day, the participants worked in the following subgroups:
- the role of municipalities and state institutions;
- lease relationship;
- queues and accounting of housing stock.
According to the results of the second day of the meeting of the Working Group, the proposals to the housing legislation developed in the subgroups were presented to all members of the Working Group.
The proposals, based on the results of the field meeting of the Working Group, will be finalized by experts of the Project (Analytical Center CEDOS), who moderated the work of small subgroups, and handed over to the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine for further develop the project of the Law of Ukraine "On the Fundamental Principles of the State Housing Policy of Ukraine".
