The Sense of Security and Tools for Improvement: Results of Trialing in Three Communities

Publication date: December 23, 2024

Author: Yuliia Bilyk, Communications Manager, Legal Development Network

During the second phase of the project “Sense of Security, Social Cohesion, and Dialogue Practices: Searching for Optimal Tools at the Community Level” tools aimed at enhancing the sense of security were applied in the Kolomyia Community of Ivano-Frankivsk Region, Turbiv Community of Vinnytsia Region, and Shevchenkove Community of Mykolaiv Region. This article outlines the tools used and their effectiveness.

Kolomyia Community of Ivano-Frankivsk Region 

Justification for Selecting Intervention Tools

A sociological survey of Kolomyia Community residents revealed significant concerns regarding job loss and, consequently, loss of income. Over 60% of respondents stated they could not sustain themselves for more than one month without employment or social benefits. Furthermore, 80% of respondents reported having savings sufficient for only one month. The survey also highlighted other major concerns, including threats to life and health due to military actions, deteriorating health, and insufficient funds for medical treatment.

Based on the sociological findings, project experts identified three key areas contributing to the residents’ sense of insecurity and selected targeted tools to improve their sense of safety. These areas included:

• Economic security: Addressing the challenging and unpredictable socio-economic situation in the country. 
• Health and life security: Mitigating concerns about the high costs and inaccessibility of medications and medical services.
• Physical and financial security: Responding to concerns about rising crime rates.

Measures Implemented

The local team initiated a partnership with the Kolomyia District Employment Center to explore current employment programs.

“We decided to promote these programs, which are underused or completely unknown to many people. Our goal was to broaden the audience of employers by presenting, in an easily accessible format such as a video, information about compensation opportunities for hiring people with disabilities, as well as for hiring young people under 25 for their first job or under 35 for their second job. This way, job seekers will find employment opportunities, and employers will be less concerned about their businesses or about being unable to hire different categories of individuals, such as internally displaced persons”, says Solomiia Zynets-Matsyshyn, Head of the NGO Trykutnyk and Coordinator of the Local Team.

According to the Coordinator, the Employment Center offers various compensation conditions for the public-benefit community and other temporary work.

“In fact, many people can now receive compensation, for example, for weaving nets for the military, which is often done by retirees and those who have not yet found other employment”, clarifies Solomiya Zinec-Matsyshyn.

The project team outlined the detailed compensation conditions in a thematic informational brochure. Another brochure addresses retraining opportunities, receiving training vouchers, and grant programs for starting a business for veterans and their families.

“We prepared this brochure so people were aware of the fact that if they cannot find a job in their field in our region, in a short time, on average four to six months, they can gain a new profession at various technical schools and colleges across Ukraine. Accommodation in dormitories is provided during training, and the list of professions for retraining is quite extensive“, notes Solomiya Zinec-Matsyshyn.

In order to improve the sense of security in terms of health and life care, the project team conducted an informational campaign on the Medical Guarantee Program by the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU).

“The program essentially provides a wide range of medical services free of charge. In other words, the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHISU) pays the institutions for these services. However, often the residents of our community are not informed, which leads to a widespread fear of falling ill and not being able to afford treatment”, says Mykhailo Danyshchuk, Project Expert from the Trykutnyk NGO.

As part of the information campaign, a series of posts were distributed about the Medical Guarantee Program, free services at local healthcare institutions for all citizens, as well as for internally displaced persons and military personnel.

Under the third area, the local team secured support from local law enforcement agencies. As it turned out, despite respondents expressing concerns about the spread of crime during the survey, the actual crime rate in recent years has not increased but rather decreased. However, a type of crime known as online fraud — cybercrime — has proliferated, and older people are often the victims. Therefore, the project team, together with the police, conducted for this group of citizens the training on How To Prevent Online And Phone Fraud.

Another educational event focused on crime in the Kolomyia Community in general and included an important practical component — first aid training.

Turbiv Community of Vinnytsia Region 

Justification for Selecting Intervention Tools

The concerns of the residents of the Turbiv Community are similar to those observed in Kolomyia. According to the results of the sociological survey, among the factors that cause the greatest sense of insecurity in the community are as follows: lack of funds for seeking medical care amid the cost of medical services, the prevalence of financial fraud with bank cards, and the threat to life and health posed by enemy drones, such as the Shahed type, and others. Accordingly, the local project team decided to apply intervention tools to improve the sense of security in the following three areas:

• Economic security and access to health maintenance and recovery.
• Informational and financial security.
• Safety of life and health.

Measures Implemented

In light of the concerns expressed by the respondents, the local project team conducted informational meetings in the community on the accessibility of medical services under the State Guarantees Program. The target groups included local government employees, hospital staff, and teachers.

“We provided a laptop to equip the registry workplace at the Turbiv Village Hospital and conducted training on how to search for relevant specialists at the regional center and book an appointment through the electronic queue system”, explains Mikhailo Bardyn, Coordinator of the Local Team, Lawyer, and Head of the Podilskyi Center for Human Rights NGO.

The search for a specialist and booking an appointment via the electronic queue is a new service at the Turbiv Hospital, which was introduced as part of the project.

“We also distributed informational brochures about medical services at healthcare facilities in the Turbiv Community, including contact information for remote communication. Additionally, we provided the hospital with promotional video materials, which are displayed on a digital screen. People waiting in the doctor’s office queue simultaneously receive information about the availability of medical services under the State Guarantees Program”, adds Oksana Yatsyuk, Expert of the Local Team.

To address the growing anxiety caused by a lack of accurate information and the threat of losing savings, the local team developed informational materials and held meetings on the topic “Information Security: How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Card Fraud.” According to Oksana Yatsyuk, the topic turned out to be highly relevant, as some attendees had recently fallen victim to fraudsters.

“When we held an informational event for senior students of Lyceum No. 2 in the village of Turbiv, the teachers, who were observing the order, approached Oksana Yatsyuk and asked her to conduct the same informational event for the teachers of the Lyceum. The level of interest in the topic is still very high”, notes Mikhailo Bardyn.

In the village of Stara Prylukа, after a collision with a “Shahed” drone, a plane crashed and damaged one of the households. This incident significantly alarmed the residents of the Turbiv Community. In their responses to the sociological survey, they indicated a high level of anxiety due to the risks to life, health, and property posed by the arrival of cruise missiles and drones. At the same time, local teenagers and young people enjoy riding mopeds and motorcycles on the streets of the community, and the sounds they make resemble the noise of “Shahed” drones, adding to the anxiety. Moreover, in most cases, the vehicle drivers do not have the proper licenses, often violating traffic rules and exceeding the speed limit.

“We assumed that the teenagers express themselves by riding motorcycles and mopeds because they lack quality leisure activities. We decided to engage the young people with board games that would allow them to develop and acquire additional communication skills. This is how the idea of a youth space with board games came about”, shares Mikhailo Bardyn.

As a result of this idea, two youth spaces were established: one in the village of Vakhnivka at the local cultural center and the other in Turbiv at a pizzeria. Each space has already hosted three to four events.

“It seems to me that the functioning of such youth centers is promising from a security perspective, especially because they allow parents to worry less about their children: whether they are safe, what they are doing, and whether they have opportunities for intellectual development. On the other hand, the children also liked it: at first, we invited them, and later, they became interested and started coming on their own”, notes Oksana Yatsyuk.

At the final meeting, the local project team handed over a set of four board games to the Head of the Vakhnivka Cultural Center for use in the Village Youth Space.

Shevchenkove Community of Mykolaiv Region 

Justification for Selecting Intervention Tools

Unlike the two previous communities, which we refer to as rear areas during the war, the Shevchenkove Community is located in a front-line region, with some of villages occupied during the first nine months of 2022 and suffering significant damage to both administrative and residential buildings. The residents’ sense of safety and insecurity is influenced not only by the traumatic experiences of the past few years but also by the current tension and uncertainty.

During the survey, community members identified several factors that have the greatest impact on their sense of security, including the lack of timely access to information, the inability of children to access quality and safe, educational services, and ensuring the safety of life and health from military threats. In response, the local project team chose the following intervention tools:

• Training for leading community specialists on “Resources for Professionals: Psychological Assistance”. 
• Mine safety and first aid training.
• Increasing media literacy level.
• Training on the use of shelters during air raid alerts in educational institutions.

Measures Implemented

Within the project framework, the local team in the Shevchenkove Community conducted a series of training sessions for social protection and cultural sector workers. After gaining firsthand experience with various art therapy techniques and psychological relaxation practices, the specialists now independently spread psychological awareness among the residents of their settlements. According to Project Expert Iryna Shaptala, this area of work is crucial, as caring for mental health is a basic need in our time, and addressing such areas helps to reduce anxiety levels and improve overall life safety.

“The most positive feedback from the community members came from the media literacy training. In this area, cultural workers continue to collaborate with community police officers, conveying information to people on how to avoid falling victim to online fraudsters’ manipulations. According to the survey results, we can say that we have increased residents’ awareness and, we hope, somewhat reduced their anxiety levels caused by online safety threats”, says Iryna Shaptala.

The community also continues training on mine safety and first aid, as the risk of emergencies in the community remains high.

“Unfortunately, due to power outages, only a portion of local government employees and interested community residents have been able to undergo certified first aid training. However, people in the settlements know who these individuals are and that they can turn to them if necessary. This provides a sense of reassurance”, notes Iryna Shaptala.

According to the Expert, the pilot phase of the tools proved the residents’ demand for “clean”, verified information, as well as for informal communication with local government representatives to feel prepared for challenges, united, and to receive mutual support.

Project Expert Sociologist Marina Shpyker believes that the interventions conducted during the project in the communities were targeted, as they did not immediately allow for reaching a broad audience.

“However, the positive aspect is that the local teams achieved their set goals by doing not what might have been ideal, but what was possible here and now, and which is already bringing about certain changes”, emphasizes Marina Shpyker.

“We managed to trial various solutions to improve the sense of security in the communities. Feedback from the participants shows that these solutions turned out to be correct. The result of applying each specific intervention tool was positive. We took several important steps toward strengthening the capacity of key local players to develop effective security policies based on current data, with realistic implementation plans”, sums up Vitaliy Okhrimenko, Strategic Development Director at the Legal Development Network.

The selected intervention tools have proven effective. Some of them brought new awareness, changes, and transformations to the communities, making life in these areas different from before. Planned steps for 2025 will focus on implementing the acquired experience into specific decisions and scaling up the intervention tools, turning them into systemic actions of local government, the police, employment centers, hospitals, and other institutional players in the security sector.

The material has been prepared with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework of the joint initiative “European Renaissance of Ukraine”. The material represents the position of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union or the International Renaissance Foundation.

Related material:

• Enhancing the sense of security in communities, or New meanings of “Empowered Community”
• How LDN and its partner organizations are searching for tools to increase the sense of security in communities
• Consequences of war and economic problems: what danger factors are mentioned by residents of Kolomyia, Turbiv, and Shevchenkove Communities?
• Human security in the context of communities: LDN survey reveals the biggest concerns of residents

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