Internally Displaced Persons Councils: How to Make Them Effective Rather Than Formal?

Starting from August, local governments are to create a special body — the Council for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Let’s find out whether such entities existed before, and how their composition and powers will change.

In spring 2023, the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories reported that 4.8 mln internally displaced persons were registered in Ukraine, while their real number was almost 7 mln. A survey conducted in June by the Rating sociological group shows that about 20% of IDPs do not plan to return home, even if the war ends; this percentage has grown significantly compared to last year. Therefore, one of the main tasks of the country now is the integration of internally displaced persons.

As part of this process, on August 4, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a Resolution “On Approval of the Model Regulation on the Council for Internally Displaced Persons.” The draft document was developed by the Ministry for Reintegration to implement the State Policy Strategy on Internal Displacement for the period up to 2025.

The Resolution recommends:

• regional, city, district military administrations to establish IDP Councils by September 1, 2023, and approve the regulations on these councils, considering the Model Regulation;
• local self-government bodies to establish IDP Councils and approve the regulations on such councils.

According to the Model Regulation, these Councils will take part “in the implementation of regional policy in the field of ensuring and protecting the rights and interests of IDPs, promoting the activities of territorial communities in the development of effective mechanisms for their adaptation and integration.”

What were the IDP Councils like before?

The first pilot IDP Councils under city councils appeared in Ukraine in 2020. Back then, this process was initiated by the Charity Foundation Stabilization Support Services with the support of the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program of the U.S. Embassy.

At the city level, three Coordination Councils were formed: under the Zaporizhzhia City Mayor, under the Executive Committee of the Kramatorsk City Council, in Kharkiv. The decisions of the relevant city councils approved the regulations on the Councils and their personnel (20 people in Kramatorsk, 19 — in Zaporizhzhia, 35 — in Kharkiv).

The following year, the process of creating IDP Councils continued; among the participants of the Transparency Ranking of the 100 largest cities of Ukraine, which had been annually compiled by the Transparency International Ukraine Transparent Cities Program, the initiative was supported by local governments of Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, and Kamianske. However, in December 2021, the Kyiv City Council adopted a decision to establish the Coordination Council and approved the relevant provision, which stated that the Chair of the Council was the Kyiv City Mayor, but returned to the issue of selecting representatives of internally displaced persons and public associations only 15 months later.

Which powers were vested in the Council until August 2023? In the provisions approved by local self-government bodies, the powers differed, but some were included in the vast majority of documents:

1. Consideration of issues related to the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons.
2. Development of an annual activity plan and reporting on its implementation.
3. Conducting analysis and monitoring in the field of protection of the rights of internally displaced persons.
4. Submission of recommendations, proposals, conclusions, drafts developed based on the results of work.
5. Participation in the development of local programs on ensuring and protecting the rights of IDPs.
6. Cooperation with charitable and civil society organizations.
7. Attracting funding to implement programs and activities.
8. Organization of events (workshops, conferences, meetings, roundtables, etc.).
9. Informing the public about the activities, decisions taken, and the status of their implementation.

What is happening to the Councils now?

Due to the full-scale invasion of Russia, the number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine increased from 1.5 to 7 mln people. As a result, Uzhhorod, Chernivtsi, and Zhmerynka formed councils in 2022, and by mid-2023, 26 Transparency Ranking participants had already established these advisory bodies. The largest number of them is now functioning in Khmelnytskyi Oblast (Khmelnytskyi, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Dunaivtsi, Slavuta, Shepetivka), where the number of IDPs has increased 21 times over the past two years.

Compared to the previous list of powers of IDP Councils, in the Model Regulation, the government added only a separate authority to promote legal awareness of IDPs and conduct information campaigns aimed at clarifying key issues related to IDP support.

The Cabinet also clarified the powers related to local programs and cooperation, greatly expanding the traditional list of the entities:

• The IDP Council develops and proposes draft local support programs for business entities, which have relocated their production facilities and assets in accordance with the procedure established by law, for the relevant authorities to consider;
• provides organizational, methodological, and advisory support in the development of local and regional programs in the budgetary sphere and on the provision of housing for internally displaced persons;
• cooperates with local executive authorities, local governments, public associations, enterprises, institutions, and organizations regardless of the form of ownership, international and national associations, representative offices in Ukraine of international humanitarian organizations, charitable organizations, organizations and institutions that engage volunteers in their activities, volunteers, individuals and legal entities, etc.

The number of IDPs to establish an IDP Council

Valeriia Vershynina, Director of Legal Affairs at Stabilization Support Services, says that her foundation recommends creating Councils when there is at least 3% of internally displaced persons in the community. But it’s not just about math. The IDP Council works effectively when the hromada really has a living community, when people communicate with each other and understand why they do it. Therefore, it is better to focus not on 3% of IDPs, but on their engagement, so that they understand the needs of the community, the principles of interaction with the authorities.

The composition of the IDP Council

The new recommendations of the government differ significantly from the state of affairs as of July 2023, before the adoption of the Resolution.

It states: “The Council will consist of 18 people, 9 of whom are internally displaced persons, 6 are representatives of the body under which the Council was formed, and 3 are representatives of public associations that protect the rights of IDPs. The Council is headed by a chair, who is elected by its members from among internally displaced persons who are members of the Council.”

During the establishment of councils in 2020-2023 in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Uzhhorod, Khmelnytskyi, and Zhmerynka, mayors became the heads of IDP Coordination Councils. In 10 cities, deputy mayors perform this role. Some local self-government bodies elected the chair from among executive committee employees or advisors to mayors. Although the Resolution does not define what to do with the composition of the previously established Councils, this state of affairs contradicts the recommendations of the government.

As for the number of internally displaced persons in the composition of the existing Councils, at the beginning of the process, in 2020, the Zaporizhzhia City Council voted for one such member out of 19, and the Kharkiv City Council voted for four out of 35. Since then, the proportions have hardly changed. The recent example is the composition of the Coordination Council on IDPs in the Mukachevo city territorial community. More than 17,000 IDPs lived there, but only two of the 16 council members can be attributed to IDPs — representatives of the NGO Mariupol Youth Union and the NGO Council of Women of the Donetsk Region.

Pavlohrad has already decided on the composition of the Council: it includes 24 people (12 IDPs, 8 representatives of structural units of the executive committee, and 4 representatives of civil society organizations of the city). Here, the proportions were observed: internally displaced persons — 50%, representatives of the body under which the Council on IDPs was established — 33%, representatives of civil society associations — 17%.

There is hope that the Councils that were established before the adoption of the Model Regulation will be brought in line, the current composition will be re-elected (Kharkiv has already done it), and the number of IDP representatives will increase. Because the only way to learn about the problems of internally displaced persons, to develop mechanisms for adaptation and effective use of their potential in favor of the community is to provide them with an opportunity to participate in local self-government, which IDPs are now deprived of.

It is important that the city councils of Brovary, Zhovti Vody, Kalush, Netishyn, Kherson, and Yuzhnoukrainsk (these cities announced the establishment of councils after August 4) heed the government’s recommendations regarding the proportion of IDPs and candidates for the post of the chair. It will also be interesting to observe the reboot of the Council in Kyiv, where documents of potential members were to be submitted by September 1, 2023.

The high level of engagement of IDPs in the work of the Councils, the chairmanship of IDPs in them will also provide an opportunity to consider these bodies as transparent tools for obtaining support from international organizations, grant funds for integration, especially if advisory bodies follow the recommendations of the Model Regulation and publish work plans, minutes of meetings, and annual reports.

Action plan for a transparent creation process

Cities where IDP Councils are still not functioning or are being significantly updated should adhere to fairly clear points that will help increase transparency in the process of establishment and compliance with the Model Regulation.

Composition of the Council

• Representatives of the body that established the IDP Council — 6 people (33%).
• Internally displaced persons — 9 persons (50%).
• Representatives of public associations that carry out activities in the field of ensuring and protecting the rights of IDPs — 3 persons (17%)

• The Chair of the Council is elected from among IDPs who are members of the Council.
• The composition of the Council is approved for a period of two years.
• A person may be appointed as a member of the Council for no more than two consecutive terms of office.

Informing about the operation of the Council

The official website of the body that formed the Council shall publish the following information:

• on the management team,
• on the composition of working groups and commissions,
• rules of work,
• work plan,
• minutes of meetings on approved proposals and recommendations,
• on the implementation of proposals and recommendations,
• annual activity reports,
• contacts (telephone, correspondence address, e-mail, etc.) for communication on issues within the powers of the Council.

Useful materials about what IDP Councils are and how to establish a Council in your community can also be found on the website of the United Voices in Action program.