USAID/Ukraine Country Development Cooperation Strategy Now Available Online

USAID/Ukraine’s new five-year Country Development Cooperation Strategy, which was approved by Washington in early 2019, is now available online in both English and Ukrainian. This dynamic, new strategy is centered on helping develop an independent, democratic, prosperous, and healthy Ukraine united around core European values. The Government of Ukraine, other international donors, and leading civil society organizations provided input into its development. 

USAID Decentralization Activity Leverages Host Country Resources

The Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast State Administration and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Council agreed to allocate UAH 25 million ($900,000) in matching funds to support local development initiatives in consolidated communities (CCs) that are receiving support from USAID’s Decentralization Offering Better Results And Efficiency (DOBRE) activity. The budget allocation comes after a Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the oblast and USAID in February, called for co-funding of proposals supporting local governance in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, including co-funding of projects of the 10 USAID DOBRE partner CCs. The community-based projects will focus on enhancing service delivery, stimulating local economic development, and promoting cross-municipal cooperation. USAID’s DOBRE activity is implemented by Global Communities.

Ukrainian Tech Entrepreneur Successfully Raises Funds through Participation in USAID-Supported Training

USAID's Regional Economic Growth (REG) activity, which is implemented by Segura, kicked off the first in a series of 2019 TRACTION Camp events on March 22-24 in Kharkiv. The TRACTION Camps provide three days of intensive training and mentoring for promising Ukrainian start-ups. The Kharkiv camp featured six successful IT mentors from the United States and Europe who provided practical knowledge, hands-on training, and networking insights. One Kharkiv TRACTION participant, a start-up called DeepTrait, which has developed advanced genome analysis technology, received the most direct of benefits from its participation when one of the mentors agreed to a $300,000 investment buy-in. Additional TRACTION Camp events are planned throughout Ukraine over the next several months, including potential collaboration with ongoing USAID programs, the Competitive Economy Program (CEP) and the Economic Resilience Activity (ERA).   

USAID Support Helps Develop an Interactive Open Data Tool to Improve Intercity Bus Travel

On April 10, the USAID/UKaid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services (TAPAS) activity, which is implemented by the Eurasia Foundation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine (MIU) and the State Agency for eGovernance (SAEG), initiated an interactive open data tool designed to simplify monitoring of intercity bus carrier markets. The tool plots the complex network of intercity bus routes and provides key information about carriers that operate those routes, including their names, route information, license terms, bus class rating, and schedules. It is an effective means for informing passengers about the travel options at their disposal, while also increasing transparency in the transportation market and stimulating public monitoring of the carriers.

USAID-Supported Business Incubators Will Stimulate Tech Start-Ups and Help Grow Ukraine’s Economy

 On April 2, USAID launched an initiative to develop two innovative business incubators under USAID’s Competitive Economy Program (CEP), which is implemented by Chemonics International. The initiative, entitled eō Incubators (eō is Latin for “to go, to prepare, to advance”), will provide Ukrainian innovators and entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to fully develop their ideas and start their businesses. The eō Incubators, one in Kyiv and another one in Kharkiv, will stimulate tech start-up development and investment in Ukraine by bringing together the entire range of ingredients required to reach commercial success: an interesting idea, adequate financing, the requisite business skills, and a supportive mentorship program.

USAID Establishes Partnership with City of Mariupol to Provide Economic Assistance

On April 15, the $62 million USAID Economic Resilience activity, implemented by DAI, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Mariupol to begin providing economic development assistance to the city. The Memorandum lays out a broad framework for supporting the city's economic development, placing special emphasis on supporting the growth of small and medium businesses, cultivating the city's nascent IT sector, and fostering new partnerships with universities. Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko, who signed the document, commented that, "I truly believe that with this partnership, Mariupol will move from an industrial to post-industrial city. What is needed today is not a steelmaker, but an IT specialist who understands steel-making production." The agreement represents the beginning of a five-year effort that builds on past USAID support for Mariupol through USAID's Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative activity and complements USAID's new $58 million Democratic-Governance East activity, which is also supporting the city’s development. 

USAID and Partners See Impact of Primary Health Care Reform in Zhytomyr Oblast

 On March 26, representatives from the Embassy of the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (MOH), the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU), and USAID’s Health Reform Support activity, which is implemented by Deloitte, conducted a series of joint site visits to Zhytomyr Oblast to assess the impact of primary health care (PHC) reform. The MOH completed PHC financing reform at the very end of last year with support from USAID’s Health Reform Support activity, which helped the PHC facilities implement new financial and legal systems and service delivery requirements. During the visit to four primary health care facilities in the region, health care workers told the visitors that as a result of the reforms they are receiving higher salaries, new computer systems are increasing efficiency, and new quality standards are in place for seeing and treating patients. A more efficient and self-sustaining health care system that provides quality services to Ukrainians is essential as Ukraine works to become self-reliant.

USAID Helps Improve Patient Services in Primary Health Care Centers in Severodonetsk

 USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives provided support in Severodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, to renovate reception areas and doctors’ offices, train staff, and improve intake systems, demonstrating the benefits of health reform in highly visible and practical ways. Now more than 115,000 city residents and others from the nearby occupied areas receive efficient patient-focused health care services through improved facilities and automated processes. An operations manual developed for primary health care centers is now used by nine other municipalities in the region to improve their services. Health care sector reform is one of the most often cited demands by Ukrainians, who complain of inefficiencies and corruption. One concrete result is that the waiting time to register at the reception desk of some facilities has shrunk from 20 minutes to five minutes. 

USAID Marks World TB Day by Highlighting Successes in the Treating Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (TB) in Ukraine

Since 2017, when USAID’s Challenge TB activity launched a pilot project to introduce a novel treatment using the highly effective drug, bedaquilin,192 multi-drug resistant patients have successfully completed treatment. The successful pilot project has been expanded to 10 oblasts of Ukraine, with a treatment target of 870 additional patients. On March 25, USAID shared its treatment success at the National Conference on Multi-Drug Resistant TB in Ukraine. Ukraine’s National TB Program plans call for expanding multi-drug resistant TB treatment using Bedaquilin and applying a patient-oriented approach. Ukraine is ranked as one of the 10 priority countries under the U.S. National Action Plan for Combating Multi-Drug Resistant TB. USAID’s Challenge TB activity is implemented by PATH.

USAID Supports First-Ever Hepatitis C Testing and Treatment for the Incarcerated

After USAID’s Serving Life activity successfully advocated for access to Hepatitis C testing and treatment for incarcerated persons in 2018, Ukraine’s Center of Health Care of the State Criminal Executive Service procured 60,000 hepatitis C rapid tests and treatment drugs through the state budget. As a result, beginning in March free testing became available to 53,000 prisoners in Ukraine, and 495 prisoners began state-procured treatment. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) adopted international standard operating procedures on Hepatitis C testing and treatment in 2016, but prior to March 2019 hepatitis testing and access to treatment in Ukrainian prisons occurred on a very limited basis. USAID’s Serving Life activity, which is implemented by PATH, helped bring about change when it participated in Hepatitis C Elimination Plan Working Groups in 2018, co-organized by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice, and advocated for the need to test and treat the incarcerated. Assessments indicate that hepatitis C prevalence among prisoners in Ukraine is about 60 percent. Prior to the launch of the testing/treatment initiative, USAID conducted an intensive series of one-day trainings for penal health care staff.

­­­USAID Assists New Ministry of Veterans Affairs to Provide Much Needed Services

Since the beginning of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, almost 350,000 men and women have been granted official veterans’ status by the Government of Ukraine. That status and the benefits it provides are often bogged down by a complex and confusing bureaucratic and legal structure, creating a significant amount of dissatisfaction among veterans, which – along with social, political, and economic exclusion and untreated PTSD – often lead veterans to join radical groups. To help veterans reintegrate successfully into mainstream society, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives has helped develop legislation on the status of veterans, propped up an informed and functioning Ministry of Veterans Affairs to provide critical services, and initiated an expanded social campaign, Zavdyaky tobi (Thanks to you) to thank veterans for their service. USAID will continue to provide evidence-based recommendations to address key gaps in services for Ukrainian veterans.

USAID-Supported Mariupol Business Association Fosters Entrepreneurship and Strengthens Cooperation with Municipality

 Established in April 2018 to assist local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to become more competitive and better able to advocate for their interests, the Mariupol Association of Entrepreneurs has expanded the network of SMEs in Mariupol and enabled entrepreneurs to obtain funding for business ventures. Through an in-kind grant from USAID, the Mariupol Association of Entrepreneurs, in cooperation with the City of Mariupol Economic Department, established and equipped an SME Support Center that provides regular training and guidance from experts on accounting, finance, legal, and other SME-related services. After a recent training program, 30 entrepreneurs applied for grant support for their business plans. Of those, 18 received financing through the regional government’s Ukrainian Donetsk Kurkul program. In addition, as a result of an effort made possible with USAID funding, the Mariupol Association of Entrepreneur’s (MAE) membership has increased more than six-fold from 40 to 271. MAE’s advocacy on behalf of SMEs has also strengthened cooperation between local entrepreneurs and the city's economic department.