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Fellows of Salzburg Global's Ukraine Civil Society Forum analyze the needs of internally and externally displaced persons
On 4-8 June 2023, Fellows of Salzburg Global Seminar gathered in Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, Austria, for a meeting of Salzburg Global’s Ukraine Civil Society Forum.
At the meeting, several working groups set out priorities for the country, including concrete recommendations for stakeholders to support the rights, return, and reintegration of displaced persons and refugees, addressing both immediate humanitarian needs and long-term perspectives including the ultimate physical reconstruction and social integration of liberated territories as part of a Ukraine-wide project of national identity.
The working group on displaced persons analyzed the needs of two target groups: internally displaced persons (IDPs) and externally displaced persons (EDPs). According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are 5.4m IDPs in Ukraine and about 8.1m refugees or EDPs outside of Ukraine (IOM, April 2023), which represents about 35% of the pre-war population of Ukraine. It explored both the immediate challenges of adaptation and integration into the host communities, as well as long-term strategic goals aimed at creating conditions for the safe return of displaced persons to their places of residence.
It stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation between civil society groups working directly with Ukrainian diaspora and refugees, as well as internally-displaced persons and their host communities, to address both immediate needs as well as coordinating planning for their eventual return home when appropriate.
The Ukraine Civil Society Forum provides vital connectivity for Ukrainian civil society leaders both inside and outside the country not only with each other but also with strategic actors and in the private sector, international donor, development, and political communities, and counterparts in other countries in the region. It enables continued prioritization, planning and collaboration among Ukrainian civil society leaders for both near term support during the ongoing war, as well as for future reconciliation, reconstruction, and rebuilding processes.
Read the working group’s recommendations here.
Read the Ukrainian version here.
Read the French version here.