Almost 40% of IDPs live off of Ukraine gov’t aid - Vice PM

Almost 40% of the recipients of governments assistance as internally displaced persons have no other sources of income.

Vice Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk spoke of this on the air of the national telethon, reports Ukrinform.

According to the official, about 40% of IDPs live off of government assistance as they have not been able to find a job or get poorly paid if they have.

Vereshchuk noted that mothers with children often find themselves in a difficult situation, especially if their child is small and there is no one to leave them with at home while they are at work.

As an example, she cited a situation of Kharkiv, which is hosting up to 500,000 IDPs, and at the same time schools and kindergartens do not work any other way rather than in remote mode.

Vereshchuk noted that the government is counting on the assistance from international partners in the development of small entrepreneurship and self-employment in the front-line territories so that citizens can retrain, start their own business, etc.

Some 16,000 citizens have already received from the government appropriate vouchers for such retraining, she added.

At the same time, the Vice PM reported that citizens who were forced to flee their homes for the second time as part of mandatory evacuation will still be entitled to government assistance as IDPs.

"A decision will be made that when people leave for the second time due to mandatory evacuation imposed by the government, they will again be entitled to payments. They will receive them again for six months," she said.

Monthly financial assistance to IDPs amounts to UAH 3,000 for persons with disabilities and minors, as well as to UAH 2,000 for all other IDPs. To receive the allowance, citizens shall be registered in the unified database of internally displaced persons.