EU and IOM to support veterans’ employment and community resilience in Ukraine

Veterans, their family members, families of the fallen and communities across Ukraine will benefit from a new EU-funded project, implemented by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry for Veterans’ Affairs. The project, with a total funding of €6 million, will run until February 2026 and cover Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Vinnytsia, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

“The EU is proud to provide relevant assistance for employment, launching of businesses, but also psychosocial support and awareness raising,” said Peter M. Wagner, Director of the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments. “True recovery and reconstruction is only possible together with those whose lives have been impacted so deeply by the war and we want to contribute to making this happen.”

The Ukrainian government estimates the number of veterans and their family members could reach five to eight million. According to an IOM survey conducted in 2023, 15 per cent of veterans (of which 32% are women) had personally experienced or recently witnessed discrimination.

The EU and IOM project will provide vocational training opportunities for about 170 veterans, their family members, and the families of the fallen. Up to 50 veteran-run businesses will receive grants and technical assistance. The project will further support veterans’ employment through dedicated job fairs and an awareness-raising campaign on socio-economic reintegration opportunities.

Community-based mental health and psychosocial support services will complement the project activities to benefit veterans and wider society groups. Additionally, IOM will train local mental health specialists.

The EU and IOM will also support local civil society organisations and assist community initiative groups that are working for veterans’ reintegration across Ukraine.

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Press release

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