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The ninth meeting of the Working Group on Public Safety and Recovery (WGPSR) was held in the Vysokopillia community, attended by representatives of local authorities, the police, the State Emergency Service, medical institutions, public organizations, and other stakeholders. The meeting became a platform for discussing achievements, challenges, and setting priorities for 2026.
Over the two years of the working group's work, several initiatives and projects in the field of public safety have been implemented in the community:
- installation of new fire hydrants;
- installation of new road signs and traffic limiters in Vysokopillia;
- creation of a safe consultation point;
- installation of 2 notification systems;
- provision of additional needs of the local fire brigade;
- firefighting stands and fire extinguishers were transferred to local institutions;
- strengthening the activities of the WGPSR through the purchase of additional equipment..
Another project supported by UNDP is currently being implemented in the community.
The meeting participants voiced some urgent problems that require immediate solutions:
- Destroyed social infrastructure, lack of modern public spaces, limited access to social, psychological and legal consultations.
- Insufficient awareness of mine safety rules and emergency response algorithms.
- Critical condition of roads both between and within settlements, which poses a security threat and complicates access to services.
- A large number of stray dogs, which poses a threat to the population and requires a systemic solution.
- Insufficient number of sports and playgrounds, safe spaces for children, which leads to their isolation and a lack of development opportunities.
- The need to arrange shelters in cultural centers and other public places.
- The need to restore inpatient departments for the elderly, as existing institutions are overcrowded.
- Lack of action on the complete demining of cemeteries, which makes it impossible to carry out work on their cleaning and tidying.
- Lack of qualified builders and other specialists for restoration work.
In addition to discussing existing problems, the community's priorities for 2026 were also determined:
- Restoration and development of infrastructure: repair of roads, arrangement of shelters, creation of safe spaces for children and youth.
- Improving public safety: continuing work on restoring video surveillance, ensuring mine safety, solving the problem of stray animals.
- Supporting the social sphere: restoring inpatient departments for the elderly, ensuring access to social, psychological, and legal consultations.
- Working with human capital: involving people who have been left abroad in the restoration of communities, supporting initiatives in this direction.
- Attracting donors: actively involving donors and partners to finance projects on the restoration and development of communities.
The meeting emphasized the importance of joint work and coordination of efforts to overcome challenges and ensure sustainable development of communities in the Kherson region.
As a reminder, the WGPSR in the communities was created in the summer 2023 by orders of the heads of the military administrations within the framework of the initiative "Kherson region: public safety and recovery in conditions of change", implemented by the "Union" Foundation with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine with the financial support of the Government of Denmark.
