Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Among the priorities: assistance to people who have lost limbs, and to those who have professional health problems.
Resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which are being considered this week in Strasbourg, provide specific directions for helping Ukrainian defenders and funding for them. According to Serhiy Sobolev, first deputy head of the Ukrainian delegation to the PACE, these documents will allow the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the president’s office to negotiate the implementation of the work, as reported by News.LIVE.
“In fact, a whole set of programs has been laid down directly, with funding under them. I think this project will enable the government and the president’s office to conduct very clear negotiations so that these key developments are put into practice,” Sobolev said.
Among the priorities, he named support for veterans with professional health problems and people who have lost limbs.
On Tuesday, 29 September, the Assembly adopted two resolutions on supporting Ukrainian veterans and military personnel, reported the head of the Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada to PACE, Mariia Mezentseva-Fedorenko.
The first resolution concerns coordinated veteran policy in Europe. It proposes common standards of support at all stages of a veteran’s life: rehabilitation, prosthetics, mental health, social protection, employment, education, housing, legal and financial assistance. Veterans’ rights should be preserved during moves between Council of Europe member states. The report for it was prepared by Ukrainian delegation member Larysa Zaburanna.
The document was supported by 78 delegates, with one voting against. PACE called on states to guarantee veterans at least three years of enhanced support after leaving service. Each country is also proposed to create a single body for coordinating veteran policy and a digital service where people can access the needed services.
The second resolution is devoted to systemic support for service members who have become disabled as a result of hostilities. The Assembly urged directing at least 10% of the funds that states allocate for rebuilding Ukraine, including from frozen Russian assets, to rehabilitation and reintegration of veterans and civilians with disabilities. The document also foresees a “one-stop shop” and individualized support, accessible infrastructure and transport, and participation of people with disabilities in community life.
The state fully covers medical treatment for military personnel, including prosthetics, rehabilitation equipment, and recovery after injuries. This summer, the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute opened a free master’s program in Prosthetics and Biomedical Engineering for veterans.
More about why the presence of programs does not yet guarantee veterans access to services is in the ZN.UA article “Services exist, but there is no access: why communities need the Veteran Experience Index,” written by Volodymyr Serhetnyk, head of the public organization “Zvitiazhtsi,” and lecturer at the Kyiv School of Modern Rules named after Andrii Meleshyevych.
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