Unity, Demographic Renewal, and Reintegration: Ukraine Develops Strategy to Maintain Ties with Ukrainians Abroad
The Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity is developing a draft Strategy for Maintaining Connections with Ukrainians Abroad and Facilitating Their Voluntary Return for 2026–2036. The Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) provides the Ministry with expert and analytical support in preparing strategic documents, ensures the production of analytical papers, facilitates strategic sessions and thematic working groups, conducts stakeholder consultations, supports the coordination and preparation of documents for approval, and organises and conducts training workshops. The first working meeting in the form of a strategic session took place on 21 January.
The full-scale invasion has caused unprecedented migration. According to the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine, as of November 2025, 4.6 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are registered in Ukraine, while over 5.8 million Ukrainians were forced to move abroad after February 2022.
This situation requires comprehensive solutions to create favourable conditions for the voluntary return of citizens and the restoration of human capital.
“Ukraine is one of the few countries in the world where the number of its people abroad is almost comparable to the population of the state itself. This is the result of several waves of migration and, since 2022, the full-scale war. For Ukraine, this is a serious challenge but also a great opportunity. It is important to emphasise that millions of Ukrainians abroad are an integral part of the Ukrainian nation. Our task as a state is not to lose connection with them, to see the specific human stories behind the figures, and to have a long-term, humane strategy that preserves a sense of belonging and opens the way home when a person is ready,” noted Ilona Havronska, Deputy Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine.
What will the development of the Strategy focus on?
- Facilitating return and reintegration: developing incentive programmes for return, as well as social, psychological, medical, legal, and information support.
- Access to basic services and housing solutions: restoration or repair of housing, expanding access to medical and social services, and developing community infrastructure.
- Economic (re)integration and human capital development: employment, retraining, recognition of qualifications, support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and social entrepreneurship.
In parallel with the Strategy, a draft action plan will be developed to respond to challenges related to the potential end of temporary protection for Ukrainians residing in EU countries. Additionally, work is beginning on the creation of a digital platform that will provide access to information and services for Ukrainians on their way home, as well as support integration into economic and social life at the local level.
What happens next:
- Conducting stakeholder consultations.
- Preparing and presenting a draft concept of the state policy for the return of citizens for public discussion, incorporating the feedback received.
- Drafting the Action Plan for responding to challenges related to the potential end of temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens in the EU and the Strategy for Maintaining Connections with Ukrainians Abroad and Facilitating Their Voluntary Return for 2026-2036, followed by targeted consultations.
- Finalising documents, consultations with the government, civil society, business, and the diaspora, and the public presentation of the Strategy.
The strategic session was held as part of the “YOUA — Shaping New Paths, Building Ukraine’s Future” project, implemented by GIZ Ukraine on behalf of the German Government.