The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has presented the main approaches to improving the activities of support services in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This was discussed during a meeting with representatives of strategic- and operational-level AFU units, held under the chairmanship of Lieutenant General Yevhen Moisiuk, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine.
“Every defender of Ukraine and their family members deserve dignified treatment and respect. Specialists of the Ministry of Defense have developed changes aimed at strengthening social support for servicemembers. Such meetings help harmonize views and understand which issues must be prioritized to establish an effective social support system in the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, — Lieutenant General Yevhen Moisiuk said.
Representatives of the Ministry of Defense presented three main areas for improving work in this field:
- Formation of new and refinement of existing regulatory and legal frameworks governing the functioning and development of support services within the Ministry of Defense system;
- Redistribution of workload among social support specialists of military units, military medical facilities, and Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers (TCRSC) to reduce the burden on combat units;
- Increasing the effectiveness of social support for wounded servicemembers and support for families of prisoners of war, missing persons, and fallen servicemembers through the introduction of the information and communication system “Support”.
Within the structure of the Ministry of Defense, units have already been established to develop policy on the treatment of prisoners of war and missing persons, as well as to form regulatory and legal frameworks for planning and developing support services.
To redistribute workload among social support specialists of military units, military medical institutions, and TCRSCs, three projects are being implemented:
- Transformation of reintegration centers of the Medical Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In particular, reserve companies have been formed within the centers, to which servicemembers released from captivity will be assigned. This will simplify a number of procedures for exercising their rights and guarantees;
- Improvement of accounting and support for prisoners of war and missing servicemembers, as well as support for their families, through the creation of regional social support centers within the operational commands of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- Support for servicemembers undergoing treatment in civilian healthcare facilities. Personnel from TCRSC support services are involved in this project and are territorially assigned to medical institutions, acting as communicators between hospitals, servicemembers, and military units.
In addition, improving the effectiveness of social support for wounded servicemembers and support for families of prisoners of war, fallen, and missing servicemembers is to be achieved through digitalization of support service activities.
For this purpose, the Ministry of Defense is developing the “Support” information and communication system. Its key goal is to ensure that all support service specialists in military units have full information on the movement, treatment, and documentation of servicemembers.
Representatives of medical institutions and TCRSCs will also be connected to this program, enabling them to promptly inform military units about their servicemembers.
