“No one knows what “build back better” is. And we managed to implement it. School No 20 in Chernihiv is such an example, when it is possible to restore it and bring it back to life, class by class, piece by piece. And in my deep conviction, this is an example for others, for business, how you can slowly recover without having millions of dollars”, – Anna Novosad.
On June 6, 2023. Anna Novosad, an expert in education of the UST coalition and the founder of the SavED charitable foundation, presented the restored computer science class at Chernihiv School No. 20. This educational institution is one of 25 in Chernihiv that were destroyed during the blockade of the city in February-March 2022. Two more were completely destroyed. On March 6 of past year, 5 Russian shells hit the territory of school No. 20, one of them hit the sports hall, the computer science class was also destroyed.
Now the computer science class is functioning again. According to Anna Novosad, restoration began in December 2022. IT company SQUAD provided it with equipment, namely 20 modern computers, and furniture. For repairs, money was raised from other donors.
“It may seem like it’s just one class, but in fact it gives hope. This shows that joint efforts can be done and that it is not so expensive,” said Anna Novosad.
The communities of Mykolaiv region received 3 specialized vehicles for technical inspection of buildings and for the needs of social services. The vehicles s were provided by the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine and the Government of Canada, the head of the Mykolayiv UST office, Dmytro Tarasenko, were coordinating the assistance.
“The obtained equipment will allow more effective assistance to the population and will speed up the recovery of the affected communities of the region,” notes the head of Mykolaiv Region Military Administration Vitaly Kim.
Special vehicles were transferred:
- A car for a mobile group for technical inspection of buildings and structures, which enables an expert assessment of the scale of damaged or destroyed objects, was handed over to the Directorate for Capital Construction and Reconstruction of the Mykolaiv Regional Council;
- The Mykolayiv Regional Center of Social Services received the “Social Services to Communities” car, which will help the expert team provide social and psychological assistance in the territories affected by the war;
- The “Mobile Social Services” vehicle, which has special equipment for providing social services to the less mobile population and residents of remote areas, was handed over to the needs of the Ascension Center for the provision of social services.
On May 18 and 19, we visited communities of Mykolaiv Region- Mishkovo-Pogorilivska and Pervomayska communities. The needs of each community are individual and depend on many factors: the degree and nature of damage and destruction due to hostilities or occupation, the number of the population currently living and planning to return, the number of IDPs, etc.
The Pervomaysk settlement community was under occupation and suffered significant destruction. Airstrikes destroyed a school, private residential and apartment buildings, and businesses. The kindergarten and the outpatient clinic were significantly damaged, but repair work is already underway. However, the residents of the community, together with their children, still return to their homes.
For the residents of the Mishkovo-Pohorilivska community, there is an urgent need to ensure a stable water supply. The water tower needs to be replaced due to the leakage of the damaged tank-reservoir. There is a need for reconstruction of the paramedic-midwifery center in the village of Kapustine, because it is recognized as an emergency.
In addition to visits to communities, a meeting was held with Mykolaivovlteploenergo (municipal heat supply company) director Mykola Logvinov. We discussed the urgent needs of the company in the framework of preparation for the next autumn and winter, plans for modernization, reconstruction and transition of the Mykolaivovlteploenergo to alternative sources of heat supply in the city of Mykolaiv.
A big challenge for communities is to develop a plan for the restoration and reconstruction of destroyed objects, to determine the right priorities and, accordingly, solutions that will rationally and effectively cover the needs of the community, because in most cases the community has neither the appropriate specialists nor the resources. This is precisely the task of UST – with the help of the SMART Prioritization methodology developed by UST experts, we determine priority projects for reconstruction for each specific community, offer the most optimal solutions and help find financing.
The catalog contains the most priority projects of Mykolaiv region and Chernihiv region for recovery in three areas:
- education;
- health care;
- energy and housing services.
Projects are prioritized using the SMART Prioritization Methodology.
