In May, the Novooleksandrivka municipality received a 9-seater Renault Master as part of the Support to the Decentralisation Reform in Ukraine / Ukraine Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme (UDU/U-LEAD with Europe: Phase II), an international technical assistance project.
According to Liudmyla Shapoval, Acting Director of the Social Services Centre of the Novooleksandrivka Settlement Council, not all settlements in the municipality are covered by public transport. Considering that almost a third of the population of 3,200 are elderly people, the received minibus greatly facilitates communication and the provision of social services.
As was stated by Ms Shapoval, this is, firstly, an opportunity for social service workers to go to starosta districts and host public reception there, provide social services or hold some events. They can also hold meetings of the veteran council, whose active members raise donations for the needs of their veterans, and take into account their feedback.
Secondly, the minibus is used to transport low-income residents to the institutions and organisations of Novooleksandrivka.
“On June 1, we held a children’s festival. Since we now have this vehicle, we were able to bring children from the entire municipality,” said Liudmyla Shapoval.
She added that they had recently arranged to transport displaced women from remote villages to receive humanitarian aid:
“We review the requests of our residents, work out the logistics of the minibus and schedule events and other activities. For example, transporting people with limited mobility or bringing in humanitarian aid delivered to Novooleksandrivka by various foundations, as other settlements cannot be reached due to the danger of the territory.”
The Novooleksandrivka municipality is 25 km from the front lines. While many people have left, the municipality has taken in 370 IDPs and has been helping them survive hard times.
“We are very grateful to U-LEAD for their support. This is a great help for us. This greatly facilitates communicating with people and arranging social services for them,” said Liudmyla Shapoval.
Tetiana Bordiuh, Head of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, reported that 12 municipalities of the oblast had received minibuses as part of the international technical assistance project from May to July. They will also receive repair kits in the near future. This assistance is financed from the special funds of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
