Problems of providing social assistance to refugees and forced migrants and their solution mechanisms

Abstract

It is shown that the global refugee crisis has reached unprecedented proportions in recent years and has grown critically precisely in 2022 to 108.4 million, which is 19.1 million more than a year earlier and has become the largest increase in the entire history of observations. The work examines the main problems faced by refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) (lack of access to basic services, legal and documentary problems, economic integration, limited employment opportunities). The developed regulatory and legal framework, which regulates the legal position of IDPs and their social protection in Ukraine, is shown. State expenditures on social protection and social security in Ukraine over the past twelve years have been analyzed. It was determined that in 2023, Ukraine covered budget expenditures, including salaries of civil servants, state employees and social benefits, thanks to financial assistance from international partners. In 2023, the total amount of external financing for these needs was 42.5 billion dollars. The current situation in Ukraine with internally displaced persons, from which regions and for what reasons, how many times people were displaced, which regions are attractive and which had to be left was analyzed. Some changes proposed by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine in 2024 regarding the expansion of social assistance and the conditions for its provision to IDPs are shown. It is shown that the solutions to the problems faced by refugees and IDPs are multifaceted and require cooperation at the local, national and international levels. It has been proven that in the conditions of the worsening of the global refugee crisis, the approaches to its solution must also change. In the digital age, digital identity solutions can empower refugees and IDPs by providing them with a secure and verified identity. Traditional in-kind assistance, along with cash assistance programs that provide refugees and IDPs with cash or vouchers, have been shown to enable them to make choices about their basic needs, including food, shelter and clothing. This empowers recipients, but also stimulates the local economy. It was also emphasized that the Ukrainian state should actively work at various levels - from the development of social programs to international cooperation, taking into account world experience - to ensure an effective solution to this problem and build a stable and just society.