During the meeting, Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine, and Anne-Claire Dufay, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine, discussed such strategic issues as restoration of vital services in front-line regions and energy resilience in communities.

The meeting resulted in signing the Memorandum of Understanding focusing on close cooperation for strengthening the water supply, sewerage, heating, and energy systems, as well as reforms in the regional development.

One of key areas of collaboration between the parties is ensuring comprehensive infrastructure resilience through the transition from emergency response to systemic modernization. In this context, a portfolio of priority water projects has been prepared which will provide more energy independence in communities. The issue of energy security remains in priority as the UNICEF continues being a partner in providing the communities with backup power and developing solar power plants to support healthcare and education facilities.

The parties paid special attention to proper winterization with a particular accent on fulfilling the regional Energy Resilience Plans, protecting the critical infrastructure facilities, and uninterrupted heat and water supply. In parallel, the investment management reform is ongoing where UNICEF will provide technical assistance to update the legislation and digitalize the systems. This will help communities attract financing more efficiently and restore the human resources.

The MoU is aimed at ensure the priority of investment in children and youth. The parties also spoke about the protection of families during evacuation, namely deploying temporary shelters at railway stations.

The Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories and UNICEF are going to join efforts to make the Ukraine’s restoration community-oriented and build a safe future for the new generation.

ICEG maintains partnerships with international institutions and communities in order to develop the agreements and expedite the responsible decision-making, which will make Ukraine’s recovery transparent, effective, and integrated in the