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To promote sustainable livelihoods and support revival of local economies JERU has been implementing Livelihoods and Economic Recovery activities including micro, small and medium enterprise grant provision, business counselling, vocational education, job fairs and job placements under various funds. This document reflects on the lessons learnt from the first round of MSME grant provisions with the aim of informing future livelihoods and economic recovery programs in Ukraine.
INTRODUCTION
The war in Ukraine continues to severely impact people's lives and damage civilian infrastructure, and livelihoods, triggering evacuations from front-line areas and driving humanitarian needs. Each winter we witness further deterioration of the humanitarian situation due to the natural limitations on livelihoods activities but also the increased hardship households are facing as result of cold weather, increased costs, and limited mobility. As per the Ukraine Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster gap analysis of December 2023, 3.6 million people received food assistance reaching 98% of the monthly food assistance response target, while 711 thousand people received livelihoods support leaving a monthly gap of 2.3 million as per the targeted people in livelihood assistance . In addition, in October, substantial changes to the state budget for 2023 came into effect, increasing expenditures by UAH 322.6 billion. This hike is primarily directed towards funding defense efforts, which will in turn decrease the funds directed at supporting businesses and limit the contribution to the recovery and restoration of livelihoods of affected populations and markets that are critical for the survival of the vulnerable war-affected populations.
To date, humanitarian actors in Ukraine have largely focused on emergency aid to the affected populations, primarily through Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance, in-kind food and non-food assistance to cover basic needs of the population. Businesses that remain open operate in a highly disrupted environment, working through broken value chains, disrupted logistics, severed export/import connections and weakened end markets. The impact on the jobs market has been stark, with the National Bank of Ukraine estimating the unemployment rate at 25–26% in January 2023 (3.2 million people). As a result, the proportion of Ukrainians living in poverty increased from 5.5 percent to 24.1 percent in 2022, pushing an additional 7.1 million people into poverty (World Bank ). All this suggests that more needs to be done alongside the basic needs assistance if sustainable outcomes are intended.