Debris accounting in Ukraine is currently complicated due to the lack of a mechanism for determining their volumes. This is evidenced by the results of the extensive community survey conducted by the ReThink NGO (a member of the Ukraine Support Team coalition), as part of the development of methodological recommendations for the debris management.
Estimates of the Central executive authorities regarding the amount of debris sometimes differ tens of thousands of times: from 600 thousand to 15 billion tons. To have a deeper understanding of the real situation in communities, as well as to assess their ability to correctly account the data, a survey was conducted on the debris generation, their amount, and the types of materials used in construction. Our experts analyzed the communities’ responses and used them to develop methodological recommendations for determining the estimated amount of debris.
According to the responses of 159 communities, 40.25% have information about the building area of damaged objects; 61.01% know the number of floors; 49.06% have information on the total area of damaged objects. The rest do not have such information or have it partially, did not fill in the columns, or expressed assumptions.
Thus, in the Chernihiv and Kherson regions, documentation was lost in some communities as a result of active hostilities.
Stipulated by Cabinet Resolution No. 1073, the official sites for the temporary storage of debris (STS) were created in less than a third of the communities that participated in the survey.
At the same time, 33.33% of communities noted that they have untransported to the STS debris. The vast majority of communities – 78.62% (125 out of 159) – did not sort debris by type of materials. Only 8.18% (13 out of 159 communities) noted that they recorded information on the volumes of debris generation by object (address).
During the survey, we received responses from 257 communities from 19 regions of Ukraine (17.87% of the total). Communities from Sumy, Donetsk, and Lviv regions took the most active part in the survey.
No answers were received from the communities of the Volyn, Zakarpattia, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, and Mykolaiv regions.
In conducting the research, our specialists used and analyzed the data provided by 61.87% (159) communities since the rest indicated that they did not have destruction caused by the war or their questionnaires did not have enough information for analysis.
The survey results confirmed the ReThink NGO hypothesis that the debris accounting in Ukraine is based on general assumptions and not on actual or forecast information; it is not always possible to obtain high-quality statistical information on the volume and morphology of the generated waste. It is due to the fact that the state obliged communities to report monthly on the amount and component composition of debris (by Cabinet Resolution No. 1073) but did not provide them with a tool for calculating the volume of such waste.
This survey was conducted from February 28 to March 11, 2024, with the assistance of the Ministry for Community, Territories, and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine by the method of self-filling the questionnaire by respondents.
Project “Rethink: Recommendations for Debris Management on the Frontlines” is a part of the Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative, implemented with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The report summarizes the work result of the UST (Ukraine Support Team) – a coalition of local and national organizations committed to facilitating recovery and resilience in war-affected regions of Ukraine. Our mission is to create and sustain recovery ecosystems through social engagement, economic revival, and strategic collaborations.
Eight non-governmental organizations, analytical centres, and experts have united to work comprehensively to restore life in the front-line and de-occupied regions in 5 key directions of social sphere: energy and utilities, education, health care, legal advice on compensation for damaged housing and debris management.
Read or download the final report below.
On November 14th UST in Mykolaiv held the coordinational meeting of international organizations, and national NGOs working in the field of education in the Mykolaiv Region, the regional military administration representatives on problems and challenges in restoring access to education in the region and child protection, prospects for strengthening cooperation and establishing permanent ties, coordination, and presentations of presence strategies in the Mykolaiv region and concrete activity plans for 2024.
There are 35-40 organizations that participate directly in the education cluster in the Mykolaiv region. It seems impossible to resume in-person education in most communities of the region due to the proximity of the war zone and the high probability of shelling. Digital Learning Centers and the conversion of existing premises into temporary schools have proven to be effective solutions in communities that have been under occupation for a long time or on the front line of hostilities and have suffered significant destruction.
The main needs of the region in restoring access to education:
- arrangement of shelters;
- restoration of access to drinking water in Mykolaiv;
- increase in educational centers, extracurricular activities, and safety classes;
- reconstruction of professional education institutions;
- provision of psychological support and cyber security, etc.
Among the participants of the meeting were representatives of Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Mykolaiv City Council, UNICEF, Plan International, SavED, NGO “10th of April”, Charitable Fund “Children of Heroes”, Association of innovative and digital education, MontessoriUA, MontessoriMykolaiv, IREX, SURGe, NRC, Peace Winds Japan, IsraAID, NGO Oleksandr Pedan’s movement JuniorS, NGO ISTOK, Charitable organization “Club of benefactors”, Save the Children, Charitable fund «Schedryk».
The report “Rebuilding Life: A Comprehensive Need Assessment of War-Torn Regions” summarizes the work result of the UST (Ukraine Support Team) – a coalition of public organizations, analytical centers, and national and regional teams that united to develop an effective recovery approach through strengthening communities, establishing interaction with donors, attracting aid to the population to ensure all the necessary conditions for Ukrainian citizens to return home.
The project team consists of national experts and regional teams in two chosen pilot regions – Chernihiv and Mykolaiv.
We focused on three areas of public life: education, health, and energy security. Based on the experience of piloting the project, we decided to use a comprehensive approach to analyze regions and include communities’ strategic development in the overview.
Read or download the report “Restoring Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of the Needs of War-Torn Regions”.
Below you can also find the Catalog of Projects in Chernihiv, Kherson and Mykolaiv Regions.
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.
