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Moldova + 1 more

Republic of Moldova: Needs assessment of Ukrainian refugees with disabilities (January 2023)

Attachments

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On January 1, 2023, 102,000 Ukrainian refugees were in the territory of the Republic of Moldova, approximatively 10% of them being people with a certain form of physical, sensory or mental disability.

Documentation and registration

• The approval of the Government Decision on granting temporary protection to displaced persons from Ukraine (no 21 of 18.01.2023) will improve the protection and support policies for refugees from Ukraine. The clarity of the normative framework related to refugees from Ukraine has been improved by the fact that the document has concentrated regulations on various fields, which were previously dispersed by various decisions of the Commission for Emergency Situations (CSE), orders of ministries and other authorities.

• Refugees from Ukraine did not face major difficulties crossing the border with the Republic of Moldova. The support provided by the authorities, organizations and volunteers at the arrival points in the country was very helpful for them. Refugees rely largely on the information provided by the government hotline 0 800 800 11, the website https://dopomoga.gov.md, as well as the information shared in profile groups on social networks.

• Currently, a mechanism for identifying and registering refugees, including people with disabilities, is lacking. Such a mechanism, set out under the Government Decision no 21 of 18.01.2023, needs to enable registration of the beneficiaries of temporary protection, namely the elderly persons and the persons with disabilities, in order to improve the services provided to them at the community level.

Accommodation

• Most refugees (66%) are staying with their relatives or in rented housing units. However, Temporary Placement Centres for Refugees (RAC) house the most vulnerable people who cannot afford to pay rent, bills, food on their own.

• Currently, the centres for refugees, although they offer 'basic' conditions of living, persons with disabilities, the elderly persons and children still face physical accessibility difficulties, limited access to the shower, difficulties in using public transport in the region where the RAC is located.

• RAC are no longer a temporary placement solution, as most people are here for a long time, some of them being here since arriving in Moldova. For this reason, the network of placement centres should be reconsidered, so that these centres offer better services (accommodation, food, water and sanitation). Also, RAC buildings should be easier to access by people with disabilities, should be located in such a way as to provide free access to public transport, community services, education, employment, healthcare services, etc.

• The state budget financing procedure for RAC expenses, administered by non-commercial organizations, is too cumbersome, for which reason several non-commercial organizations have given up cooperation with MLSP and rely on support from international organizations and their own donors.

• According to the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, this reconsideration of placement programs for persons with disabilities must be done in active consultation with organizations of persons with disabilities. The Committee also urges all parties involved to ensure that international funds are not invested in rebuilding, expanding or renovating residential care facilities for people with disabilities, but are instead directed towards the development of independent living solutions and the creation of an accessible community (support services and facilities, home services, customised support, including affordable housing in the community, on equal terms with others).

Income and access to work

• The monthly financial support provided through the UNHCR Cash Assistance program is the main source of income for most refugees with disabilities. Its amount (2200 lei and 700 lei monthly for the cold period of the year) generally covers the minimum necessities of existence for an ordinary person. However, it is important to keep in mind that people with disabilities often have significant expenses related to their disability: assistive devices (walking sticks hearing aids, etc.), medicines and medical supplies, transport services. These expenses are not covered by any national assistance program.

• Ukrainian citizens have the right to work in the Republic of Moldova; however we note that only 1% of them are officially employed. In order to integrate them into work, refugees with disabilities need employment support services: assisted employment to identify the job that meets their skills, intermediation with the employer.

Access to medical and educational services

• Access to medicines and medical services is the most important issue facing Ukrainian refugees with disabilities and elderly refugees. The current mechanism for compensating the costs borne by healthcare providers does not cover all refugee needs.

• Refugees from Ukraine are in no hurry to integrate their children with disabilities into the educational system of our country. But this seems to be a general trend, characteristic of all refugees who prefer their children to study from home, including to attend 'online' classes of schools in Ukraine.

Assistance

• The assistance system for Ukrainian refugees was organized for the 2022 spring-summer period with a high flow of refugees, who were mostly just transiting the country's territory. Now it must be adapted to current realities and conditions for refugees who stay for a longer period need to be organized. It is important that support services for refugees with disabilities cover such needs as: accessible transportation, assistive and mobility equipment, orthopaedic footwear, support services (such as personal assistance services, services for children with ASD) and other types of social assistance and support services in the community