IMPROVEMENT OF SOCIAL INCLUSION OF ATO PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN UKRAINE: APPROACHES , PROBLEMS
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Journal of Geography, Politics and Society
2018, 8(1), 9–23
DOI 10.4467/24512249JG.18.002.8154
Improvement of social inclusion of ATO participants
and their families in Ukraine: approaches, problems
Larysa Bogush
Department of Social Infrastructure, Ptoukha Institute for Demography and Social Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko
Boulevard 60, 01032 Kyiv, Ukraine,
e-mail: bogush_lg@ukr.net
Citation
Bogush L., 2018, Improvement of social inclusion of ATO participants and their families in Ukraine: approaches, problems, Jour-
nal of Geography, Politics and Society, 8(1), 9–23.
Abstract
Organizational and economic approaches and problems of improvement of social inclusion of ATO participants and their fami-
lies in Ukraine under socio-economic instability are studied. Methodology of productive involvement of this population group
based on its socio-economic status and psychological peculiarities is developed. Level of implementation of the developed
legal and regulatory framework for rehabilitation and social protection of ATO participants and their families as the basis for
achieving a decent level of their life and civic activation is evaluated. Current priorities of improving the activities of govern-
ment and public structures, associated sectors of economy on optimizing the principles and forms of social inclusion of this
category of population are determined.
Key words
socio-economic consequences of the anti-terrorist operation; social inclusion; target population category; Ukraine.
Received: 13 September 2017 Accepted: 31 October 2017 Published: 30 March 2018
1. Introduction implementing the priorities of Ukraine’s sovereignty
and competitiveness on the world stage.
The renewal of geopolitical guidelines and princi- Hence, powerful public support and significant
ples of foreign policy of modern Ukraine requires human resources of the systemic state and, in gen-
the intensification of the civil resource of state for- eral, social modernization constitute participants of
mation, aimed at realizing the ideas of national ATO – primarily the military personnel of the Armed
consciousness and independence, the affirmation Forces and voluntary units, public volunteers, as well
of a transparent socially oriented market economy, as members of their families as a part of the popula-
the fulfillment of obligations in multi-vector Euro- tion of Ukraine, which has already declared its civil
pean integration aspirations. The motivation of hu- favour, consciousness and maturity in the implemen-
man potential and staffing of these socio-economic tation of the ideas of national self-determination and
processes and relationships is the key to success in European integration. Expansion of social inclusion of
this population category (or target group in terms of10 Larysa Bogush
social inclusion strategy) can positively influence the participation in natural reproduction, social and
pace and socio-economic performance of the new- economic life of the country. The basis of the con-
est stage of state formation in Ukraine, among other cepts and strategies of social inclusion in industrial,
things – in directions of increasing solidarity, mitigat- neo- and postindustrial economies that declare the
ing and preventing manifestations of marginaliza- formation of a welfare state and a socially oriented
tion and antisocial behaviour, improvement of crime market economy is the theory of needs, in particu-
indicators. lar their gradation according to the level of vital and
The theory and practice of social inclusion is cov- social urgency and significance, as well as individual
ered in numerous studies, among which, in view of priority.
the realities of Ukraine, it is necessary to mention the The patterns of origin and evolution of the needs
works devoted to: of the individual and society as a whole, as well as
• problems in defining and assessing social exclu- approaches to their classification can be generalized
sion and inclusion, particularly in the context of in a hierarchical model including the following types
poverty and social inequality in developing coun- of needs arranged in the order of increase of their
tries (Абрахамсон, 2001; Бабенко, 2007; Рєвнів- significance in the process of historical development
цева, 2008; Савельєв, 2012; Ярская, 2008); of human and society:
• peculiarities of the deployment of social inclusion • physiological and material needs (in food, drink-
processes in Ukraine in conditions of transitional ing water, housing, environment of acceptable
economy, among the priorities of which are the quality, satisfaction of other physiological and
achievement of goals of human development everyday needs, including regarding the contin-
and overcoming social tensions in the regions uation of a family and organization of the desired
(Лібанова et al., 2011; Яценко, Коломієць, 2015); lifestyle);
• development of areas and mechanisms of corpo- • the need for safety (in sense of protection of the
rate social responsibility as a factor in social in- individual and communities by his affiliation, in
clusion and implementation of the goals of the prediction of significant for the individual spheres
strategy of establishing economic development and aims of life, in health);
on the basis of European integration (Супрун, • the need for obtaining and confirming the status
2013). in community (in personal involvement in society
The methodological and information base of the re- and its certain communities, in adequate percep-
cent processes for improvement of social inclusion tion by others, including in family relationships,
of ATO participants and their families in Ukraine is career, leadership, etc.);
made up of relevant legal and regulatory acts, pub- • the need for recognition (in achieving success
lications in the periodicals, as well as special scien- and competence, approval and respect);
tific literature (Гриб, 2016; Кравченко, 2015; Тополь, • cognitive needs (in knowledge and skills, in re-
2015; Чайковський et al. (eds.), 2016). search, awareness and understanding, in accu-
mulation and analysis of experience);
• moral-religious and aesthetic needs (in harmo-
2. Research results analysis nization of personality, community and environ-
ment, particularly in the aspects of organization
2.1. Methodology for developing a strategy of life conditions and lifestyle);
of social inclusion of ATO participants • the need for self-realization and self-actualization
and their families in Ukraine (in the most complete realization and awareness
of incentives for self-development of inner cre-
The social inclusion is aimed at creating conditions
ative, professional and spiritual potential of the
for building up and improving the level of realization
individual, in awareness of social responsibility).
of productive – labour, creative (including intellectu-
In turn, according to the parameters of social urgen-
al, generating knowledge and rents), spiritual, civic –
cy and significance, which determine the developed
potential of a certain target group of the population,
mechanisms of satisfaction at the national, collective
ultimately aimed at a decent representation of this
and individual levels, it is worthwhile to distinguish
potential in the socio-economic relations in general.
the following needs:
Consequently, the methodology of social inclusion
a) public, including:
implies observance of universal human rights and
• common public needs, the realization of which
the fulfillment of a number of current legislative ob-
ensures the integrity and legality of the func-
ligations of human development as a guarantee of
tioning of the state and its institutions within
proportional expansion of the target social group
certain boundaries;Improvement of social inclusion of ATO participants and their families in Ukraine: approaches, problems 11
• socially necessary needs, justified by political and the potential of socium sustainable development in
economic expediency in view of reproduction of the format of current socio-political system.
the technological structure, maintenance of the Therefore, the ultimate goal of social inclusion is
efficiency of the state economic complex and to achieve decent living standards and social inte-
strengthening of its competitiveness factors, in- gration of a particular target group based on build-
cluding those caused by social stability and soli- ing up and improving the quality of realization of its
darity; productive potential. Hence, the concept of social
b) private needs (according to the theory of the wel- inclusion covers the main directions: the formation
fare state, they diversify the spheres and kinds of of decent material and living conditions (in the ar-
living of ordinary individual/community, increase eas of implementation of legislative guarantees and
its quality and satisfy above the valid legislative promotion of appropriate personal initiative); medi-
guarantees of social protection, as determined cal and social rehabilitation (in a number of ways:
by social status, priorities scale, life and profes- medical care; psychophysiological rehabilitation
sional experience, etc.). and adaptation; actualization of skills of non-conflict
The list of socially necessary goods and services can stay in territorial community and family, that is, in
be determined by existing social guarantees, legisla- the social environment); professional re-adaptation
tive standards and norms for their implementation, and activation (vocational guidance, further train-
as well as by the ways of state intervention in the ing, retraining, promotion of self-employment and
market economy to ensure the sustainability of busi- career development); civic realization.
ness and non-profit activities, to compensate for the The above regularities of realization of the needs of
shortcomings and negatives of free market. individuals and functional groups (communities, unit-
Noting the regularity of actualization of the high- ed in particular by professional characteristics, specific
est level needs in the process of the most complete life experiences) are clearly seen in the processes of for-
satisfaction of their lower types, it should also be mation and implementation of the productive poten-
emphasized that: tial of the social group, which include ATO participants
• full satisfaction of the lower level needs associated and members of their families, exercising a powerful
with various aspects of organization of everyday influence on implementation of their life strategies
life and its safety is not an exclusive condition and social inclusion parameters.
for formation and satisfaction of the higher level
needs – in intellectual and spiritual development, 2.2. Social and psychological characteristics of
self-realization; ATO participants and their families as a key
• influence of the lower level needs on value system, factor in adjusting the methodology of
life activity and development of the individual in- social inclusion
creases under objective or subjective social obsta- The social composition of ATO participants (by: re-
cles to meet those of higher level. gion and place of residence in rural areas, small or
Objective obstacles primarily include those gener- large cities; level of education; place of work before
ated by: a social system characterized by the deep- mobilization) has a powerful influence on personal
ening of property stratification and the formation of and collective strategies for their return to peaceful
a caste socium with typical low wages and a number life and social inclusion. A significant part of ATO par-
of restrictions in ensuring the vertical social mobility ticipants (especially those from the western, north-
of population and the territorial mobility of legally western, southern and a number of central regions)
employed, consequently the workers and members are residents of rural areas and small cities with nu-
of their families, in particular, can not fully meet the merous problems of resource provision and avail-
needs of competitive education, vocational guid- ability of social infrastructure providing common
ance and retraining, career growth; technical and public and socially necessary services that arise dur-
technological peculiarities of the country’s develop- ing the process of its organizational and economic
ment during the periods of socio-economic instabil- modernization. At the same time, without competi-
ity, resource crises, natural disasters, etc. Subjective tive vocational education which allows for claiming
obstacles are related to psychological peculiarities, a sufficiently high salary, many ATO participants have
as well as to moral, ethical inherited and perceived worked in the sectors of services (security business,
guidelines of individuals and social groups, regard- motor vehicles maintenance, repair of residential
less of the material welfare level, that cause their premises, household appliances, etc.), trade (main-
consumer sentiment, reduction of needs, anti-social ly in markets, retail, in particular, network facilities,
marginalization, and, consequently, degradation of auto parts, fuel and lubricants sale), construction
(at work positions), as well as unskilled agricultural12 Larysa Bogush
work before a conscription into the Armed Forces, немає державної програми …, 2016; Потіха, /no
mobilization in voluntary formations or engage- data/). For comparison, this indicator for Israeli mili-
ment in volunteer activity on the territory of combat tary servicemen is now 5–8% due to the consistent
operations. improvement of the rehabilitation system, while in
The experience of participating in an armed con- the United States post-traumatic stress disorder was
flict leads to a massive reappraisal of the values and diagnosed in 30% of veterans of the Vietnam War and
quality of peaceful life, interpersonal relationships, 25% of combatants in Afghanistan and Iraq wars in-
professional orientations, ideas about personal career cluding 42% of wounded and disabled persons, which
development and success in society. This reappraisal led to a significant spread of suicidal tendencies, al-
serves as a powerful psychological factor that medi- coholism, drug addiction, social and criminogenic
ates the developed organizational and economic ap- behavior among veterans (В Украине насчитали …,
proaches of government and public structures to in- 2017; Війна за ветерана …, 2016; Потіха, /no data/).
crease social welfare, rehabilitation, and involvement An additional threat factor is frequent misun-
of ATO participants in active economic, state and civic derstandings in the families of ex-ATO participants
activities. In the case of employment, in particular, accompanied by violence (Миськевич, /no data/).
even the presence of a family with underage children Families are mostly weakly prepared for increased ir-
often does not stimulate a person with a military ex- ritation and conflict of the demobilized due to their
perience to return to the previous place of work. hypertrophied personal expectations or confusion
Right after a demobilization an ATO participant in peaceful life against its low level, spreading social
faces numerous economic, domestic and legal prob- inequality and disorder, and total mistrust of corrupt
lems primarily related to the collection of a large authorities.
package of documents for obtaining social status At the same time, according to a research project
and privileges, as well as employment for sufficient on psychological rehabilitation and social adapta-
and sustainable earnings usually during bureau- tion to the peaceful life of military servicemen after
cratic procedures requiring qualified assistance from the ATO, initiated by a public organization funded
lawyers and employment centers. by the United States Agency for International Devel-
The satisfaction of needs of ATO participants and opment, only 14% of the respondents turned to the
their family members for security, obtaining and as- psychologist and 65% of them were compelled to
serting social status, recognition, self-fulfillment and do so; 41% of the target contingent do not want to
self-actualization is substantially mediated by a num- receive psychological help at all, in particular, within
ber of post-traumatic stress disorders experienced specialized psychotherapeutic courses (Миськевич,
by individuals of this population category under the /no data/).
influence of military action, social and individual mis- Therefore, taking into account the level of public
understandings in the matter of an armed conflict, the support and the quality of the social environment at
motives for participating in it, the realities of peaceful the place of residence, personal priorities and mo-
life in the context of social justice. According to the sta- tives for participation in the anti-terrorism opera-
tistics of the Ukrainian State Medical and Social Center tion, individual strategies for satisfying the needs for
of War Veterans, 54% of the demobilized servicemen security, obtaining and asserting social status, rec-
required medical care, up to 30% sought physical re- ognition, self-fulfillment and self-actualization can
habilitation and more than 80% needed psychologi- have clear asocial expression.
cal rehabilitation (Шклярська, 2016). According to the A powerful psychological factor that mediates
experts of the Military Institute of the Taras Shevchen- the entire spectrum of processes of social inclusion
ko Kyiv National University, the level of post-traumatic of ATO participants and their families substantially
mental stress disorders among former military service- actualizes the role of social rehabilitation as a part of
men of the Armed Forces and voluntary formations, its psychological, legal and vocational components.
as well as employees of other law enforcement agen- In the practice of state bodies dealing with issues re-
cies that participated in the ATO now reaches 20–25% lated to the social rehabilitation of servicemen, the
which amount to 60–70 thousand people (В Украине psychological component is treated as the mastery
насчитали …, 2017). Also, according to the Chairman of the system of values (norms, settings, patterns of
of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Health Care, behavior), culture that exist in a social environment
psychological rehabilitation is required for more than in order to fulfill the requirements to personality; le-
70% of ATO participants; according to specialists of gal component is defined as the acquisition of legis-
the psychological support unit of the National Guard lative norms regulating the status, the legal position
of Ukraine, almost 98% of military servicemen may re- of a person (rights, duties, opportunities), as well as
quire the same highly qualified assistance (В Україні the knowledge of those structures that can help toImprovement of social inclusion of ATO participants and their families in Ukraine: approaches, problems 13
master these norms and realize personal opportuni- Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military forma-
ties; vocational component is treated as specialized tions, as well as employees of the Ministry of Internal
refinement of available professional knowledge, skills Affairs and Security Service involved in the ATO. All
or mastering new ones with further successful em- regional state administrations have approved the
ployment (Соціальна, професійна …, 2017). Given Procedure for using the funds of respective budgets
the content of the components and according to the to provide one-time targeted monetary aid to the
official definition, the state system of social adapta- ATO participants and the families of the dead ser-
tion of ATO participants and their families is aimed vicemen to compensate the costs associated with
at: assistance in analyzing the life situation, identifi- the development of documentation for land allo-
cation of the main problems and ways of their solu- cation for individual housing construction, private
tion; provision of information on guaranteed social farming, gardening.
protection; training, formation and development of The Decree of the President of Ukraine dated
social skills and abilities; assistance in strengthening 18.03.2015 “Про додаткові заходи щодо соціаль-
/ renewal of family and socially useful connections, ного захисту учасників антитерористичної опе-
organization of day-time employment and leisure рації” (eng. “On additional measures for the social
(Порядок організації…, 2017; Уряд затвердив…, protection of the anti-terrorist operation partici-
2017). pants”) obliged the regional state administrations as
a part of general government measures and regional
2.3. Regulatory principles, guidelines, practice programs:
of social protection and security of ATO • to ensure enforcement of the rights of ATO par-
participants and their families ticipants in the priority sanatorium and resort
Since the beginning of anti-terrorist operation in 2014 treatment and the priority receipt of rehabilita-
in the eastern and southeastern regions of Ukraine, tion technical means;
the government has been consistently forming • to establish unemployment payments to demo-
rather extensive regulatory support for social secu- bilized military servicemen as soon as possible, to
rity, protection and increase of social weight of ATO provide them with employment services, voca-
participants and their families. The basic principles tional training, retraining and advanced training;
of the state policy on social and legal protection of to strengthen control over the social guarantees
this population category with the provision of a set provided by employers to the persons mobilized
of appropriate guarantees, aimed to create favorable for military service in a special period;
conditions for implementation of the constitutional • to improve information support of mobilization
duty to protect the Fatherland, are defined by the and demobilization, including telephone counsel-
Law of Ukraine “Про соціальний і правовий захист ing assistance to ATO participants and their family
військовослужбовців та членів їх сімей” (eng. “On members, organization of proper service of social
social and legal protection of military servicemen and protection and internal affairs bodies on the basis
their family members”). According to available statis- of the ‘one-stop-shop’ service, as well as provision
tics, more than 280 thousand people were involved in of on-site social and medical services to demobi-
the anti-terrorist operation and 266 thousand of them lized servicemen;
have received the status of war veteran (Миськевич, • to stimulate the involvement of volunteer organi-
/no data/). ATO participants and their families have zations in measures for social rehabilitation and
a quite wide range of social benefits for improving adaptation of this population category.
living conditions, municipal, transport, medical and Support centers for the ATO participants were estab-
sanitary services (in particular, a 50–75% discount on lished in regions to fulfill the priorities highlighted in
housing and municipal services, free travel with all the Decree.
types of city transport, free or privileged travel with Among thematic regulatory documents, “План
public transport in rural areas, as well as round trip by заходів щодо медичної, психологічної, професій-
rail, water, air and intercity transport every two years). ної реабілітації та соціальної адаптації учасників
At the same time the fixed amounts of one-time and антитерористичної операції” (eng. the “Action plan
periodic monetary aid are paid, including welfare for medical, psychological, vocational rehabilitation
payments to the wounded, disabled persons and the and social adaptation of the anti-terrorist operation
ones who accompany them for treatment and reha- participants”), approved by the Cabinet of Minis-
bilitation, as well as to the families of ATO participants ters of Ukraine on 31.03.2015, should also be noted.
who have died. The main sections of the Plan, regarding each of
In mid-2014, the government made a decision on which are established Procedures for using the state
the free provision of land plots to servicemen of the14 Larysa Bogush
budget funds, include the implementation of a set • provision of privileged retirement benefits;
of measures for: • provision of different types of material and
• recovery of health of ATO participants; creation physical assistance by social protection bodies;
of system of their psychological rehabilitation b) organization of sanatorium and resort treatment
with adopting foreign experience, carrying out (in 2017, in particular, according to the relevant
appropriate courses for demobilized servicemen; budget program, it is planned to spend 50.5 mil-
• provision of social support and adaptation of lion UAH or more than 1.9 million USD; vouchers
ATO participants, as well as members of the fami- should be provided to 12.5 thousand ATO par-
lies of dead (deceased) persons from this contin- ticipants with disabilities, another 28.4 thousand
gent; vocational rehabilitation and employment persons will be compensated for self-organized
of demobilized servicemen; sanatorium treatment). Currently, the practice of
• organization of the system of management and personal choice of a sanatorium institution is be-
informing of citizens on social protection, adap- ing implemented and ensured by the conclusion
tation and psychological rehabilitation of ATO of a trilateral agreement between a social secu-
participants; involvement of international assis- rity body, a privileged person and an administra-
tance in establishing this system in Ukraine. tion of the sanatorium within the limit of 5250
At the beginning of 2015, a Coordinating Council for UAH per voucher (about 200 USD);
the rehabilitation of ATO participants was created c) financing of treatment, medical and social reha-
consisting of members of the Verkhovna Rada of bilitation of injured ATO participants with disabil-
Ukraine Committee on Health Care, representatives ity. The state guarantees free and extraordinary
of interested ministries and departments, and the support by technical and other means of reha-
public. Its work is aimed at systematic improvement bilitation including prosthetic and orthopedic
of the relevant legislation. products, means of transportation, special and
The main activities of the Ministries of Social Pol- auxiliary means for self-service, care, personal
icy and Defense of Ukraine in the implementation of hygiene and mobility, furniture and equipment
the government plan in recent years are concentrat- of the premises of disabled persons (in 2017,
ed around (Соціальний захист …, 2017; Житло для technical rehabilitation means will be provided
військових …, 2017; Полторак одобрил …, 2017; to 556.6 thousand disabled people; 6.6 thousand
Санаторно-курортне лікування учасників АТО, of this category will receive assistance in primary
2017; Рада у справах осіб з інвалідністю …, 2017; and complex prosthetics hospitals; 23 ATO par-
Технічні засоби …, 2017; Потіха, /no data/): ticipants will be provided with prosthetics of
a) implementation of social guarantees in order to increased functionality and high technologies
ensure an adequate standard of living for ATO which are unavailable in Ukraine);
participants and their families on the princi- d) provision of social and psychological support
ples of: and rehabilitation services in the relevant spe-
• provision of cash compensation for housing cialized centers (during 2017, 58.9 thousand ATO
for the families of deceased military service- participants will be assisted in 5 centers, about
men and persons with disabilities (in 2017, the 8.2–8.5 thousand people will complete a psycho-
total cost for 600 households should be 328.9 logical rehabilitation course; total expenditures
million UAH or about 12.7 million USD at the according to budget program of the latter should
current rate); amount to almost 50.0 million UAH or 1.9 million
• tender purchase of apartments for military USD);
servicemen who are in the queue for improve- e) carrying out social and vocational adaptation of
ment of living conditions; ATO participants (in 2017, this measure should
• extension of the list of categories of persons cover 4.8 thousand people).
with the right to receive free housing, stimula- It should be noted that the tendency to decrease the
tion of territorial authorities to finance the rel- level of coverage of ATO participants and their family
evant obligations in full; members by a range of social protection measures –
• construction of a network of shared house- from medical rehabilitation services and prosthetics
holds for contract servicemen at the expense available in Ukraine, as well as psychological assis-
of state budget (at the beginning of the fourth tance to payment of cash compensation for housing
quarter of 2017, the Ministry of Defense ap- and the most high-tech prosthetics – is twofold due
proved a plan to finance the construction of both to the prevalence and severity of the prob-
100 such objects with a total cost of 1 billion lems highlighted, and the lack of public resources to
UAH or about 38.5 million USD);Improvement of social inclusion of ATO participants and their families in Ukraine: approaches, problems 15
finance the most costly types of benefits in the field The vocational training can be made upon full-
of improvement of material and living conditions. time, evening, intra-extramural, online, and external
In accordance with clarification of the State Ser- forms of study, off-the-job and on-the-job training
vice of Ukraine for War Veterans and Anti-terrorist and upon the individual curricula for the term not
Operation Participants, and the employment spe- longer than one year in separate groups for the ATO
cialists, the measures of social and vocational ad- participants, as well as in the groups of trainees
aptation shall be performed upon the separate pro- formed by educational establishments chosen by
grams of budget financing for reservists, bound to the person independently. In its turn, the advanced
military service, employees of the Armed Forces and training on the target-oriented courses shall last for
other law enforcement agencies, which directly par- from 20 to 500 hours.
ticipated in ATO and its providing in the area of con- Based on the experience of territorial bodies of
ducting, as well as for the servicemen transferred to social protection, training for working professions
the reserve or retired (Роз’яснення Служби …, 2015; is in the greatest demand among the ATO partici-
Дорожня карта …, 2017; Уряд затвердив …, 2017). pants (in particular, for drivers of vehicles of various
The social adaptation of these population categories categories in the vocational education institutions)
in the aspect of improvement and implementation (Інформація …, 2017). In some regions, there are of-
of their productive potential stipulates employment fers of free retraining courses on the basis of higher
of persons who require no retraining in new speci- educational establishments (in particular, in the spe-
alities or their retraining in civil specialities and em- ciality of ‘Organization and Management of Entrepre-
ployment in cooperation with the involved public neurship’) (Проводиться набір слухачів…, 2017).
organizations and funds. In its turn, proper vocation- The experience of efficient implementation of
al adaptation shall assume specialized improvement ATO participants’ labour potential is processed in
of available professional knowledge, skills, abilities the interests of state formation. Therefore, in Kyiv
or mastering of new ones with further successful the state employee school for the combat opera-
employment by virtue of rendering of information, tions veterans was organized, participants of which
advisory and vocational guidance services in the study principles of such professional activity during
issues of enhancement of person competitiveness 4 months, and then they are trained in the depart-
on the labour market. Both directions of adaptation ments of Kyiv City State Administration. In case of
measures shall be implemented in the forms of: successful completion of the curriculum, they may
• target-oriented courses presuming improve- occupy vacant positions (Миськевич, /no data/). Af-
ment of qualification for the purpose of study ter passing the selection procedure, in some regions
of new equipment, items, goods, materials, ser- the ATO participants are actively involved in the job
vices, modern technological processes, means for the local government bodies, law enforcement
of mechanization and automatization applied at and other state security agencies (Гоц, 2017). The em-
the production, rules and requirements for their ployment centers and military commissariats of the
safe operation, technical documentation, efficient particular regions cooperate in selection and send-
methods of labour organization, issues of econo- ing of such citizens to military service under contract,
my and finance, legislative and other regulatory including to the State Border Guard Service (Довідка
legal acts, etc.; про підтримку…, 2017).
• professional education, which represents pri- By organizing the financing and implementation
mary vocational training, retraining, services in of the above measures, the Government and the state
providing the other speciality based on previous- agencies declare observance of the principles of: in-
ly obtained educational level, improvement of dividual approach to each ATO participant; encour-
qualification and specialization, aiming at exten- agement him to self-support, economic and social
sion or improvement of professional knowledge, independence; social protection of ATO participant
skills and abilities. during rehabilitation and readaptation (Соціальний
The ground for receiving free-of-charge services of захист …, 2017).
social and vocational adaption is the identification Beginning from autumn of 2014, the system of
card of a combat operations participant, a disabled medical assistance and rehabilitation of ATO partici-
person or a war participant and the document, pants is actively developed, namely (Санаторно-ку-
which confirms direct involvement in the execution рортне лікування учасників АТО, 2017; Санатор-
of ATO tasks in the areas of its conducting; financing но-курортне лікування для учасників АТО, 2017;
of such services from the budgetary funds is carried Барміна, 2015; Шклярська, 2016; Потіха, /no data/):
out within the framework of state procurements. • the process of formation of the network of profile
treatment, rehabilitation and sanatorium-resort16 Larysa Bogush
facilities is continued. Nowadays the clinical ba- content, finance their development and execution,
sis of medical rehabilitation system, in particular, and control its progress. Today the participation of
consists of 11 hospitals of recovery treatment, volunteers in provision of medicines and rehabili-
which contain approximately 1.9 thousand beds, tation of wounded and disabled, including abroad,
30 hospitals for war veterans (according to vari- purchasing of prostheses for the last mentioned ATO
ous estimates, for 6.6–8.5 thousand beds), 7 phys- category is the most important (Потіха, /no data/).
iotherapeutic hospitals, over 12 thousand beds of
the Private Joint Stock Company of Medical and 2.4. Urgent problems of improvement
Health Institutions of the Professional Unions of of the level of life and social inclusion of ATO
Ukraine, the founder of which is the Federation participants and their families in Ukraine
of Professional Unions and Social Insurance Fund Urgency and acuteness of issues of the optimiza-
for Temporary Disability, and a range of depart- tion of conditions and quality of social inclusion
mental sanatorium-resort institutions. Upon the of ATO participants shall be evaluated at the: level
volunteers initiative, the centers for posttraumat- and trends in satisfaction of their socially necessary
ic rehabilitation of ATO warriors, which render needs upon the place of residence; dynamics of fac-
comprehensive services in improving the physi- tor generators and consequences of social inequal-
cal and mental health, are created in the capital ity; comparison of national and territorial processes
and certain regions; of regulation of starting possibilities and improve-
• State Service of Ukraine for War Veterans and ment of welfare of the said population category. Let
Anti-terrorist Operation Participants carries out us outline the most noticeable among the negative
bids in procurement of the services of sanatori- phenomena.
um-resort treatment and distributes trips to the Upon the estimates of the specialists dealing with
selected institutions. The territorial bodies of the ATO participants, approximately 80% of them
population social protection, in accordance with lose their jobs after returning to the civil life. Among
medical recommendations, should annually pro- the main reasons of this trend – misunderstanding
vide the combat operations participants (in the with the employers or reluctance of the person him-
order of priority) and disabled veterans (out of self to continue the preceding professional activity as
turn), who are registered by such bodies upon a result of own priorities and guidelines reevaluation
their place of residence, with free-of-charge trips (Війна за ветерана …, 2016). The substantial part
for 18–21 days (in case of traumas and spine dis- of the demobilized lacks the motivation in the job
eases – for 35 days); search as the unemployment benefits from the em-
• the methodical support, programs and protocols ployment centers exceed the minimal salary, which
upon separate directions of tactical medicine offer up to 90% of vacancies. Among other things,
(assistance directly at battle positions), as well the acuity of situation in professional orientation
as upon clinical and social medicine involved in of ATO participants is confirmed by the content of
treatment and rehabilitation of ATO participants, the program “Сприяння соціалізації, реабілітації та
are worked out and implemented. Numerous працевлаштуванню учасників антитерористичної
scientific research institutions and profile depart- операції у м. Вінниці на 2017–2020 роки” (eng.
ments of higher and postgraduate educational “Promoting the socialization, rehabilitation and em-
establishments are involved in this task; ployment of the anti-terrorist operation participants
• generally, the following practice is extended in in Vinnytsia city for 2017–2020”), according to which
the regions: advising of the servicemen sent to the war veterans with the combat experience are of-
ATO zone in regional and newly created district fered the job as a security personnel of state institu-
Centers for Psychological Service and Crisis States; tions and schools with the quantity of working days
psychological work with hospitalized ATO partici- not more than 10 per month, but with the salary
pants, including with involvement of the mobile higher than the minimal in Ukraine and provision of
teams of psychologists and psychotherapists. full social protection (Гоц, 2017).
The substantial assistance to Ukraine in implemen- The comprehensive implementation of the right of
tation of the outlined legislative guarantees, im- ATO participants and families of deceased servicemen
provement of quality of the processes of social re- for free of charge transfer of land plots into their own-
habilitation and inclusion of ATO participants and ership is prevented by both objective and numerous
their families members are provided by the interna- subjective factors. The first of them are as follows:
tional, foreign and native public organizations and • the lack of free lands in big cities and their sub-
charitable funds, which recruit the specialists for urbs, as well as western regions of Ukraine, where
the said programs, take part in formation of their natural conditions and settlement history formedImprovement of social inclusion of ATO participants and their families in Ukraine: approaches, problems 17
the substantial deficit of the areas suitable for pri- local veteran unions, native and international public
vate farming activities; organizations; meanwhile the psychological rehabil-
• numerous drawbacks in registration of lands due itation is not usually provided directly in the military
to that the true information about the available units.
resources is often absent; Shortage of budgetary resources for implemen-
• rather high price of execution of ownership doc- tation of the measures standardized by the state in
uments. social provision, rehabilitation and adaptation of
The array of subjective factors, in its turn, includes: ATO participants and their families substantially re-
• corrupt and opaque work of regional administra- stricts the opportunities and desire of government
tions of the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, agencies in implementing the initiatives of coopera-
Cartography and Cadastre as a result of which tion with public organizations, financing the joint
the process of allocation of land plots and execu- projects and promoting the charitable activity in this
tion of accompanying documents is substantially field.
delayed without the significant bribes; The existing forms of cooperation of state authori-
• necessity of manifestation foremost the individ- ties and a range of international, foreign and native
ual initiative while searching the available land public organizations in activities of social protection,
plot upon the place of residence and execution rehabilitation, adaptation and implementation of oth-
of ownership documents; demonstrative role of er directions of ATO participants social inclusion have
personal relations with the representatives of lo- mostly the unsatisfactory efficiency reflected in delay
cal government as a success factor in such situ- and self-withdrawal of the officials from required doc-
ation; uments’ preparation, their reluctance to bear respon-
• practice of shadow sales of lands allocated for sibility for its content and coordination of work. On
ATO participants implemented by the regional the opinion of public organizations’ representatives,
officials of the said State Service and local gov- one of the main reasons for it lies in: imperfectness of
ernments. the Ukrainian legislation on charitable and volunteer
Therefore, in some regions of Ukraine (Kirovohrad, activity; complexity of bureaucratic mechanisms of
Volyn, Lviv and Zakarpattia ones), numerous protest development of the appropriate measures, programs
actions due to the delay of implementation of guar- and accompanying documents, their approval and
antees of free land obtaining and beneficial housing promotion in institutions; low efficiency of the state
construction have already taken place (Миськевич, electronic document circulation system and gover-
/no data/). nance in social provision and capitalization of the pro-
The substantial part of system of wounded ATO ductive potential of ATO participants.
participants medical rehabilitation lies in the pros- Separate blocks of problems in inclusion of the
thetic procedures – preparation to the prosthesis, target population category to productive activity in
manufacturing of prostheses and restoring, as much socium are formed by:
as possible, of organism’ physiological abilities. The • social provision and protection, enhancement of
main problems in prosthesis of ATO participants, as competitiveness of families’ members of ATO par-
well as other disabled people in Ukraine, consist in ticipants, who died or became severely disabled
unsatisfactory quality of the range of domestic pros- (for example, lost their limbs, ability to move,
theses, high price of foreign ones (in average EUR 20 sight);
thousand) and become deepened by the long wait- • quality of living environment in rural and urban-
ing in the queue on prosthesis (at least for 2 years), type settlements, as well as small towns, where
which can be joined only after collection of the whole the substantial part of ATO ex-participants and
package of documents confirming the status of ATO their families has a residence.
participant and the disability itself (Потіха, /no data/). Both in the case of search and allocation of the land
There are still few experienced military psycholo- plot in a particular settlement, personal attitude of
gists. At the same time, according to the opinion of the representatives of local government of rural set-
experts of the Department of Special Purpose of the tlements and small towns significantly influence the
National Police of Ukraine, civil psychologists with- social protection quality and level of inclusion to
out any experience in combat operations are not public life of the families of those ATO participants,
trusted by the servicemen, who were in the armed who was killed in action, early died or became se-
conflict zone or captivity (Миськевич, /no data/). verely disabled. The heavy psychological trauma and
Most of all, the real psychological assistance of vari- economic consequences from the loss of breadwin-
ous quality to ATO participants and their families’ ners complicate the perspectives of their children to
members is nowadays provided on the basis of the18 Larysa Bogush
obtain successful comprehensive and competitive and stay of middle and senior schoolchildren in
professional education. the settlements where those objects are located.
Regarding the quality of living environment Recently, in an increasingly growing circle of re-
upon the place of residence of target population gions, there is a tendency towards more number
category, the indicators of utility equipment of of secondary schools that conduct classes in two
Ukrainian urban and rural housing stock remain un- shifts;
satisfactory. There is a clear tendency of critical wear • imperfection of the currently implemented
(destruction) causing the collapse of water supply mechanism for formation of educational districts
and sewage networks in urban settlements; recent- in the context of unsatisfactory consideration of
ly, decrease in the level of maintenance of environ- spatial characteristics of settlement systems, fi-
mentally safe sewage systems in rural settlements nancial capacity of local budgets and economic
has been traced. The pace of decommissioning of entities (primarily as a factor guaranteeing the
the systems of central heating and gas supply in the targeted use of educational subventions, cre-
rural area as a result of need to enhance the Ukrai- ation of budgetary and extra-budgetary funds
nian energy independence is still not compensated for cultural and educational development of ter-
by the distribution of energy-efficient and eco- ritorial communities – from local to regional);
friendly individual heating systems (as compare with • sharp reduction of the local budget expenditures
the stove heating). In a wide range of regions, the for financing extracurricular educational institu-
slowdown of growth rates of equipping the housing tions under uncertainty of legal guarantees of
stock with utility services is observed. There is a dis- their network’ formation and maintenance.
cernible trend to increase the share of dilapidated The significant reasons for deterioration of material
and emergency housing in the total area of rural and technical conditions of institutions giving basic
housing stock. education are:
The practice of satisfying the socially necessary • ineffectiveness of control mechanisms over the
needs of local settlement systems population in targeted use of state budget educational sub-
the basic education under socio-economic instabil- vention;
ity proves imbalance and ineffectiveness of mecha- • unstable legislative guarantees for the provision
nisms of measures’ implementation to ensure the of a certain amount of educational subvention,
territorial availability of the infrastructure of pre- including in relation to the volumes of budgets
school education, complete general secondary and of different levels and gross domestic product;
extracurricular education due to: insufficiency of this transfer’ aggregate volume,
• the lack of local budget funds to implement initia- other profile expenditures of state and local bud-
tives of usage of the municipal premises reserve gets, at least, for reproduction of the material and
to increase a level of satisfaction of the territorial technical provision of the complete secondary
communities’ needs in preschool institutions (in- education in a number of regions.
cluding in view of the potential of re-profiling and The last mentioned negative factor of current orga
privatization of such premises as a source of re- nizational and economic mechanism of social basic
plenishment of local self-government revenues). education first of all results in:
The low pace of expansion of pre-school educa- • the limitation of capital expenditures for the re-
tional institutions’ network in most regions does pair of institutions (in recent years there have
not ensure the necessary increase in their admis- been flashy cases of destruction of premises of
sion capacity, and thus does not allow to meet secondary schools due to the lack of funds for
the existing needs in public preschool education planned repairs before an academic year) as
causing overcrowding of kindergartens (at least in well as the development of their communal in-
one third of the regions – with a tendency to de- frastructure (the high level of wear of centralized
crease the specified indicator); and autonomous systems of heating and water
• initiation of the process of closing down the gen- supply is a weighty factor in the morbidity of
eral secondary education infrastructure in the students in respiratory and infectious diseases,
framework of measures of the Ministry of Educa- deterioration of the sanitary and epidemiological
tion and Science on reforming and increasing the situation in territorial community in general). In
economic efficiency of this system’ functioning particular slightly over half of urban and rural day
towards the establishment of a network of flag- schools have a hot water system at present;
ship schools of I-III accreditation level without • delayed completion of transportation fleet in-
taking into account the territorial communities’ volved in the ‘School Bus’ program, a part of which
and families’ readiness to bear costs of arrival has been transferred to the needs of Armed Forc-Improvement of social inclusion of ATO participants and their families in Ukraine: approaches, problems 19
es in 2014, as well as in other activities for trans- to a place of event has become much more frequent,
portation of schoolchildren to the places of study especially in rural areas. In settlements outside cit-
and back home. As a result, the dissatisfied need ies this standard, in particular, is 20 minutes from the
for this socially necessary service continues to be moment of appeal to dispatcher of an emergency
recorded, and the situation tends to deteriorate medical aid and disaster medicine center with 10
in a number of regions; minutes of possible overtime delay (Про норматив
• unresolved problems of ensuring local budgets …, 2012).
expenditures (in particular, on a subsidized ba- Consequently, despite rather wide legal and
sis) for organization of: nutrition of elementary regulatory guarantees of social protection of ATO
schoolchildren, as well as low-income pupils of participants and their families, poor quality and ef-
middle classes in general secondary schools; privi- ficiency of the local settlement systems’ social infra-
leged travel (including railways) for schoolchil- structure substantially limit possibilities and results
dren of all secondary and vocational educational of their implementation, even if sufficient budget
institutions; funding is provided. In addition, the specific of com-
• the lack of expenditures for inclusive education munity life in a small settlement provokes exacerba-
development (organization of barrier-free access tion of social tension in case of demonstrative atten-
to the educational institutions’ premises, their tion of government structures to the needs of any
completeness with special textbooks, manuals, particular population category regardless of its mer-
teaching and laboratory equipment); its to the society.
• the gap of native basic educational institutions
with the standards of developed countries in the
level of computerization and dissemination of in- 3. Summary
formation and communication technologies, elec-
tronic means for learning and knowledge quality Along with medical and psychological rehabilitation
control. Connection of native secondary schools and improvement of living standards and conditions
to the Internet has not yet been completed; a sig- within the framework of social protection programs,
nificant part of urban and rural schools’ computer the key to success in increasing the level of social
equipment is outdated, this indicator is steadily in- inclusion of ATO participants and their families is to
creasing. stimulate their labour market competitiveness and
Nowadays the strategy of increasing efficiency of to promote productive employment.
functioning and availability of the Ukrainian health At the same time, the financing gap and the acute
care services as per the models of the primary health problems of Ukrainian practice of implementing le-
care improvement on the basis of family medicine gal and regulatory guarantees of social provision of
(general medical practice), as well as hospital dis- ATO participants and their families show a declara-
tricts’ formation in practice leads to rapid collapse of tive nature of a wide range of relevant obligations,
the infrastructure (in particular, district and regional often result in poor quality of benefits and services
hospitals, a number of outpatient facilities, para- provided for budget and program funds. This situa-
medical and obstetric stations), as it is performed tion contributes to marginalization and criminaliza-
ignoring: tion of the population category under study, and
• a low solvency level of the population (especially in increases the social tension in society and local
rural areas, small towns of regions of monospecial- communities.
ization, agro-processing and agro-industrial spe- The directions of the state activity which will have
cialization), as well as its physical capacity to spend priority in the nearest future and are aimed at raising
time for travel to outpatient clinics, central district the level of social inclusion of ATO participants and
and regional hospitals; their families should comprise:
• notable shortage of funds for financing programs a) adequate consideration of needs and implemen-
to equip outpatient clinics with diagnostic facili- tation of guarantees of this social group, in par-
ties and consumables; ticular on the principles of:
• threatening state of the material and technical • representative assessment of real situation and
(first of all, transport) and personnel support of problems regarding certain categories of this
the emergency (first and urgent) medical aid. population within the whole country by profile
Under conditions of reduction of the network of sta- government structures;
tions and departments of emergency (first and ur- • improvement of the documentation system
gent) medical care the tragic cases as a result of ex- to obtain a social status and appropriate privi-
ceeding even current standards of arrival of brigades leges;20 Larysa Bogush
• launching and implementing sectoral mecha- tation of a range of benefits in the process of
nisms for producing innovations in areas of personal housing construction;
medical care and rehabilitation, retraining, • implementation of effective mechanisms for
stimulation of business activity; housing initiatives of ATO participants through
b) implementation of effective organizational and crediting housing construction or purchasing
economic mechanism for improving the living of affordable housing under state guarantees
environment, increasing quality and accessibil- which are financially advantageous for this
ity of social infrastructure (primarily communal, population category;
educational, medical ones) in the territorial set- • full financing of free housing programs for
tlement systems. dead servicemen’ families and certain catego-
Detailing these priorities for certain spheres of for- ries of disabled people (for example, for those
mation of conditions and realization of productive who have lost their limbs, eyesight, etc.), regis-
potential of targeted population category in socium, tered in the apartment queue;
it is advisable to emphasize the urgency of: • dissemination of effective mechanisms of share
a) in the field of improving organizational principles participation of the state and local authorities,
for the formation and implementation of social non-governmental organizations, employers in
provision and protection programs of ATO par- housing construction for ATO veterans, first of
ticipants and their families: all for the families of those who have perished or
• completion of development (particularly, inter- died after demobilization;
departmental coordination) and implementa- • development of legitimate local initiatives
tion of the State Program on Physical, Medical, for transfer of apartments in the newly build
Psychological Rehabilitation and Social and houses or cash compensation in the amount of
Professional Readaptation of Anti-terrorist Op- a market value of affordable housing in a spe-
eration Participants for the period up to 2022; cific locality to ATO participants instead of land
• dissemination and generalization of the experi- plots;
ence gained by a number of public organiza- • financing hostels construction in regions for
tions regarding creation of unified information contract servicemen as well as ATO partici-
base of the initiatives offered in Ukraine to pro- pants and their families who will not be able
vide legal, psychological, social and medical to receive or build their own housing (private
assistance to ATO combatants at national level; house, apartment) in the near future from the
• further regulation of distribution of powers in state and regional budgets;
budget financing of the areas of medical and • payment of monetary compensation for unused
social rehabilitation of ATO participants by privileges, for example, from sanatorium-resort
transferring appropriate funds from the state treatment or free travel in intercity transport in
budget to the local level which will contribute case of their inexpediency for person;
to improving content and quality of rehabilita- • implementation of mechanism for choosing
tion programs for specific individuals; a provider of guaranteed benefits and services
• setting up and working out effective interac- by ATO participant or a family of deceased ser-
tion in systemic activities on social provision viceman, volunteer, hired employee, including
and raising the level of social inclusion of ATO on the basis of monetization of such privileges,
participants and their families among special- with allocation of the respective target compen-
ized government structures and public organi- sation fund which, at the same time, will contrib-
zations (in particular, according to the criterion ute to the development of the market environ-
of reasonable estimation of the expected re- ment in the implementation of social protection
sults of joint measures and forms of assistance); programs, competition for such a right among
b) in the field of providing decent material and producers as well as improvement of quality of
living conditions for ATO participants and their benefits and services provided within the bud-
families: get segment of specified programs;
• improvement of quality and availability of pro- c) in the field of improving quality of medical care
fessional legal assistance, in particular, special- and rehabilitation of ATO participants:
ized government agencies, in solving problems • conduction of representative research on post-
related to free transfer of land plots or apart- traumatic mental stress disorders among ATO
ments to ATO participants and deceased ser- ex-members, including on the basis of gener-
vicemen’s families as well as to the implemen- alization of various involved agencies informa-
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