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Community empowerment for access to humanitarian and community stabilization assistance in Eastern Ukraine: Rural IDP women’s participation in community life in government-controlled areas of Luhansk region [EN/UK]

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Ucrania
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INTRODUCTION

This study aims to examine the existing methods of civic participation of female internally displaced persons(IDPs)residing in rural communities along the line of contact(LoC) in Luhansk region, identify obstacles for their participation in local decision-making, and explore possible paths to overcome them. It was made possible thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and is embedded into People in Need Ukraine’s efforts to promote and facilitate a locally-driven Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus transition and contributes to informing its Vilnius Task Force initiative, in particular as a follow-up to the prioritisation framework Realising the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus through civic participation and civil society engagement in decision-making in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Methodologically, the paper draws on data from desk analysis, qualitative research (four focus group discussions/FGDs) and five expert interviews. FGDs included 23 female IDPs aged 29–71 residing in the 5 km zone along the LoC in the following rural settlements:

—Toshkivka – 4,406 residents, Hirske city hromada (territorial community), Civil-military Administration (CMA);

—Nyzhnie – 2,651 residents, Hirske hromada, CMA;

—Komyshuvakha – 2,310 residents, Popasna city hromada, CMA, and

—Novoivanivka – 807 residents, Popasna hromada, CMA.

Expert interviews were conducted with female heads of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in Sievierodonetsk whose expertise is informed by work with grassroots initiatives in Luhansk region including those based in rural areas, a female starosta working in Hirske hromada, as well as representatives of UN Women responsible for the fund’s projects in Luhansk region.

In all targeted settlements, local councils were dissolved as a result of the amalgamation of territorial communities during decentralisation. They became part of either Popasna or Hirske CMA. Although both CMAs have appointed heads, residents reported a disconnect in communication with local authorities, with certain public services no longer available to them or barely accessible due to lack of information about who is responsible for what under the new administrations.

Since current Ukrainian legislation does not oblige CMAs to appoint starostas—a position that has been introduced in other Ukrainian villages and settlements to communicate the needs of local residents to the leadership of a territorial community—CMAs do not usually have such citizens’ representatives (although the law does not prevent introducing such positions as starostas or humanitarian advisors)7 . Hirske CMA is a special exception to this rule: Oleksii Babchenko, its head, introduced the position of starosta responsible for communication with rural settlements of the territorial community. Fatima Kuznetsova was appointed in May 2021 as acting starosta for several settlements in Hirske CMA.

Research questions:

  1. How do IDP women in rural settlements of CMAs assess their role in local decision-making?

  2. What instruments of civic participation are available to them?

  3. Are there any specific obstacles IDP women face when they seek to solve their communities’ problems?

  4. How can these obstacles be removed?

Limitations. The focus group participants were represented mostly by women aged 40 and above, with only a few female respondents in their 30s; those younger than 25did not take part in the FGDs. While this composition of groups may generally reflect the demographic situation in communities along the LoC in Luhansk region8 , it can also be considered as a factor limiting true representation of the target group.

Research period: July–August 2021