Photo from UNIAN
The Polish government will provide Ukraine with $230,000 for business development in the war-affected regions of the country, Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Konrad Pawlik said before the signing ceremony in Kyiv on Friday.
"Until now, we were mainly focused on providing humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons. There is a need to link humanitarian aid and development assistance," Pawlik said.
According to the Polish official, the project will not only help improve the financial situation of IDPs, but will also have a positive impact on the economy of the eastern regions and Ukraine as a whole. He also said that Poland had reduced the number of priority countries from 20 to 10 in its new cooperation program, but Ukraine still ranked high on the list.
Read alsoRed Cross: New cash assistance for displaced persons without regular incomeCountry Director at UNDP Ukraine Jan Thomas Hiemstra said that UNDP together with the Ukrainian government would be responsible for the distribution of allocated funds. The aim of the project is to conduct training for the development of entrepreneurial skills, the provision of legal advice on business registration, and grant support to start own businesses.
"The only thing that is better than getting water, food and shelter from anyone is to produce your own," Hiemstra said.