Kyiv, 3 December 2024 – Starting today, individuals can apply to specialists who assist veterans and demobilised persons on the e-Veteran platform. This service will streamline the process of obtaining essential assistance and support, while enhancing communication between veterans, demobilised persons, and the specialists supporting them.

The service was developed by the Ministry for Veterans' Affairs of Ukraine with the assistance of the DIA Support Project, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine with funding from Sweden.

Nataliia Kalmykova, Minister for Veterans' Affairs of Ukraine, said that currently, 559 specialists for the support of war veterans and demobilised persons are working in all regions of the country.

“Starting next year, the number of specialists will increase,” Kalmykova said. “To facilitate their effective work, we have developed an online application for obtaining support measures, which can be filled out by war veterans or other eligible individuals. An electronic account for specialists has been created to process these applications and provide necessary support. The Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs is gradually digitising services for veterans at the national, regional, district, and community levels.”

UNDP Ukraine Resident Representative in Ukraine Jaco Cilliers said, ““We aim to help create all the necessary conditions and digital tools for veterans and their family members that optimise their interaction with the state and ease the return of veterans to civilian life.”

“In less than two years, UNDP helped develop six electronic services on the Diia and e-Veteran portals. One of these services allows for the selection of candidates for specialists who support veterans and demobilised persons. The digital tools launched today will complement the previous work done in partnership with the government, supported by partners. It will help digitalise processes between veterans and specialists, and thus will facilitate and accelerate their interaction.”

The following individuals can apply for support measures:

• Veterans and demobilised persons;
• Family members of deceased veterans or Defenders of Ukraine;
• Injured participants in the Revolution of Dignity and their family members;
• Persons who have made special merits to the Motherland, and
• Family members of persons who have gone missing under special circumstances during military service (including family members of prisoners of war).

After submitting an application, a specialist in veteran support will contact the applicant, providing information and support, guidance on obtaining statuses, benefits, and services, as well as assistance with rehabilitation, employment, starting a business, and more. Previously, UNDP, with funding from Sweden, supported the development of an electronic service for submitting applications for the competitive selection of candidates for the positions of specialists in supporting veterans and demobilised persons on the e-Veteran portal. The selection process as part of a pilot project commenced on 1 July 2023 in Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, and Mykolaiv oblasts. In June 2024, another service for veterans, developed with the support of UNDP and Sweden, was introduced in the Diia application – an electronic veteran's ID. In 2024, it was generated more than 300,000 times.

Media inquiries Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Communications Team Leader, yuliia.samus@undp.org