Promote adaptation and participation in the city life of newcomers (IDPs)
Process:
As a part of its Intercultural Strategy, the city authorities pay particular attention to facilitating internally displaced persons’ (IDPs) adaptation in Lutsk through a specially directed policy that involves social adaptation, employment, social activity support, cultural and artistic development. To this end, a coordination point has been established in the city to coordinate support for families arriving from the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
To facilitate the employment of IDPs, Lutsk City Employment Centre launched a series of seminars and consultations – such as "Starting Your Own Business", "Starting Entrepreneur" and "From a Business Idea to Your Own Business" – in collaboration with eight career centres in the city. Financial support is also provided for IDPs for starting their own business.
These efforts have already brought some good results. Server Zeyinidinov from Crimea, founded his own greenhouse business. Server grows vegetables using Crimean know-how and provides jobs for his fellows from Crimea, who also moved to Lutsk. In addition, the city authorities support IDP activities by allocating premises for this purpose. A number of IDP organisations received premises for their activities. One of them is the anti-cafe "Innerspace", an initiative implemented in Lutsk by a family of settlers from eastern Ukraine. “Innerspace” became an important place for carrying out intercultural meetings, trainings on increasing the level of tolerance, evenings of cultures, etc.
The impact of the policy undergoes annual evaluations. Some results of the action are already visible and positively contribute to the city’s life (SMEs development, Innerspace café).
The action is being implemented as a result of cooperation between different city departments, career centres, and public and private sector organizations.
Key reference documents:
For more information, see: https://www.facebook.com/lutsk.interculture
