The Ministry of Regional Development is currently drafting an updated policy regarding fellow citizens who were forced to leave their homes due to the full-scale Russian invasion. And it is a matter of principle for me that this policy be based solely on the voices of the people and communities.
They are the ones who best understand the challenges: where to find housing, how to find a job, access necessary services, and become part of a new community. They also see where solutions that exist on paper fail to work in practice.
That is why I want the IDP Councils to be not just a formal advisory body, but a real bridge between people, communities, and the state.
We are establishing a permanent framework for our work: regular meetings, the opportunity to directly convey systemic issues and proposals, and the participation of IDP Council representatives in working groups and expert panels, as well as in the drafting of amendments to regulations.
Policy regarding IDPs must be rooted in real-life experience. And it is precisely this experience that we are translating into government decisions.