© Ministry of National Unity

Kyiv, 7 March 2025 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), establishing a strategic partnership to support Ukrainians who have been forced to flee within Ukraine or abroad,  maintain connections with their home country and communities, and attain durable solutions.

As a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, around 3.7 million people are internally displaced within Ukraine, while some 6.8 million remain abroad as refugees, mainly in European countries. Since 2022, around 1.3 million refugees have returned and remained in Ukraine for at least three months – with the desire to be back in their home and cultural environment and reunited with family members cited as the primary factors that motivated their return. While UNHCR is currently not promoting return to Ukraine, as the international armed conflict and attacks continue unabated, and urges hosting States not to induce or directly or indirectly pressure refugees to return, UNHCR recognizes that voluntary return to one’s home country is a fundamental right that must be respected.

According to UNHCR’s most recent intentions survey, published in the Lives on Hold series in November 2024, 61% of the refugees and 73% of the internally displaced people (IDPs) still hope and intend to return home. Safety and security remain the main concerns and barriers to return, followed closely by access to employment and safe, dignified homes.  The surveys also underscore a frequently expressed need for objective information to help displaced people make well-informed decisions regarding return. In response, UNHCR launched in 2024 the Ukraine is Home digital information platform.

Through the Memorandum of Understanding, UNHCR commits to share its expertise and experience related to voluntary refugee returns and durable solutions, and to expand its support in these areas. 

Specifically, UNHCR will support the Ministry of National Unity in its efforts to develop legal and policy frameworks in line with international standards that will enable refugees, internally displaced people, returnees, and stateless people to enjoy their rights and access services without barriers. The MoU also recognizes the vital role of refugee and IDP-led organizations, IDP councils, and local civil society and community-based groups in fostering social and cultural connections, local participation, (re-)integration and cohesion.  UNHCR will also support the Ministry with developing institutional and technical capacities, including expanding digital information platforms such as the Ministry’s Unity App and UNHCR’s Ukraine is Home website, and cooperate to generate and analyze data on the socio-economic conditions, specific needs, vulnerabilities, and future intentions of forcibly displaced Ukrainians.

Building on its extensive cooperation with refugee-led organizations and refugee communities in host countries, UNHCR will work closely with the Ministry to develop and support its Unity App and Unity Hubs abroad to facilitate connections among displaced Ukrainians and their home country—with a commitment to provide people with counseling, information and access to legal aid regarding issues of return or continued stay, including directly at the hubs (once established) and/or via the Ukraine is Home platform.  

“We know from our regular surveys and daily conversations with internally displaced people and Ukrainians abroad that their longing for home and community remains strong, as is their attachment to their Ukrainian culture and identity. This is very understandable after they have been forced to flee from their homes and loved ones due to a brutal war. UNHCR’s mandate and work to support all forcibly displaced people to access their rights, take free and informed decisions about their future and attain longer-terms solutions to their displacement – be it through voluntary returns or through integration in their host communities – is closely linked to the Ministry of National Unity’s mission. I am therefore delighted to sign this MOU with Deputy Prime Minister Chernyshov and launch a practical cooperation in these areas that I believe will help remove barriers and ensure inclusive solutions for people to rebuild their lives,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR’s Representative in Ukraine.

“Millions of Ukrainians who have been forced to flee their homes because of the war not only need protection but also a strong connection to their homeland. The signing of the memorandum with UNHCR is more than a formality — it is a concrete step towards establishing a system of support for Ukrainians abroad. Regardless of where they are now, we are working to ensure that they feel the support of their state and have the opportunity to return home when they are ready,” said Oleksiy Chernyshov, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Unity of Ukraine.

This agreement is the ninth that UNHCR has signed with Ukrainian ministries and national entities since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 – in addition to 19 with regional state administrations – underscoring the close cooperation with and support for the Government’s leadership of the humanitarian response and national recovery.

UNHCR supported 4.3 million people in Ukraine in 2022 with different humanitarian and recovery programmes and 2.63 million people in 2023. In 2024, UNHCR delivered some 1.7 million multi-sectoral services, such as cash assistance, house repairs, psychosocial support and legal counselling to war-affected people across Ukraine to help them recover and rebuild.