Pilot project launched to hire assistants for Ukrainian veterans

The pilot project to create the concept of a veteran's assistant will be launched this May in Lviv, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions.

This was reported by the press service of the Ministry for Veterans Affairs, Ukrinform saw.

"The Institute of the Veteran's Assistant will operate by the ‘equal to equal’ principle. The assistant’s duties will include individual professional support of veterans in the transition from military service to civilian life. It is about counseling, organizational work, representing their interests, etc. In simple language, it is about guidance and help in obtaining various certificates, joining and completing training programs, confirming skills with a certificate, helping them get a job, and offering many other services," said Svitlana Berezina, Director General of the Ministry’s Directorate of Strategic Planning and European Integration.

She noted that veteran assistants would be trained at veteran development centers based on designated higher education institutions. Special training courses will be developed in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Culture.

According to Berezina, a veteran's assistant shall be a citizen of Ukraine who speaks Ukrainian and lives within the territorial community where the pilot project is implemented. They are also required to have a degree no lower than a junior bachelor's. Priority is given to veterans who will wish to be hired, members of their families, as well as families of fallen soldiers.

"Financing for the veteran's assistant institute is covered by the state budget, local budgets and development partners. At the experimental stage, a veteran's assistant will make an average of UAH 16,000 a month," Berezina added.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs presented the educational course "How to find a desired job after completing military service", which will allow discharged soldiers to learn where and how to get additional education, find a new job, and get psychological support in civilian life.