Challenges for local communities in the face of migration of Ukrainians during the war: partners meeting to plan strategy for future actions

ALDA’s presence in Ukraine dates back to 2015, when the Local Democracy Agency (LDA) in Dnipro was opened, followed by LDA Mariupol in 2017, thus representing, for almost 10 years, a strategic partner in the country.

Today more than ever, ALDA’s presence in Ukraine has increased and keeps doing so, committing to support local government, civil society organisations and the Ukrainian population as a whole.

On 7 June 2023, within the framework of ALDA Festival General Assembly, the event “Challenges for local communities in the face of migration of Ukrainians during the war“ took place. Partners and stakeholders met in Brussels (Belgium) to discuss recommendations for actions to support local communities in Ukraine that adopt Internally Displaced Persons. LDA Dnipropetrovsk, indeed, is a great example of this.

Since the very beginning of the war in Ukraine, ALDA has supported the country and its people by implementing different actions, among which the “Flagship initiative of ALDA in Ukraine”, aimed at establishing further LDAs in Ukraine as instruments of peace, cohesion and democracy. During the ALDA Festival, partners from Ukraine, EU and representatives of other LDAs met and discussed the creation of these LDAs, thus bringing together a big group of cities, regions and NGOs ready to commit.

One of the key priorities emerged during the roundtable concerned the support to the integration and activation of IDPs in local communities, through the new LDAs to be opened.

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The meeting represented a valuable moment of exchange and served to plan strategy for future actions on the opening of the new LDAs in Ukraine

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During the first part of the meeting, ALDA Secretary General, Mrs. Antonella Valmborbida, welcomed the participants and gave an overview of ALDA’s work in Ukraine, presenting the Flagship Initiative in Ukraine, together with Mr. Bartek Ostrowski, Consultant for LDAs development in the country. 

After that, Ms. Inna Volkova, ALDA Advisory Board member and Councilor of Odesa Rayon Council presented the LDAs partners from Ukraine. 

The session envisaged the presence of representatives: Ms. Anzhelika Pylypenko, ALDA Governing Board member and delegate of LDA Dnipro and Ms. Anastasiia Diakova from LDA Mariupol, who talked about actions undertaken to support IDPs, and further steps. 

The event unfolded with working groups for each LDA and potential LDA present, namely LDA Mariupol, LDA Dnipro, LDA Vinnytsia, LDA Odesa and LDA Rivne, for partners to discuss an action plan and next steps in the cooperation. 

The event was organised with the support of European Endowment for Democracy (EED), an independent, grant-making organisation and strategic partner that is sharing our values and mission, and working with us towards the same goal: rebuilding the country by operating to guarantee to the Ukrainian population a free, democratic and peaceful future.