School building was extensively repaired and equipped under European Investment Bank’s Ukraine Early Recovery Programme, with support from UNDP

Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, 16 November 2021 - More than 1,000 students in Kramatorsk in conflict-affected Donetsk Oblast will now be able to study in a fully renovated and modernized school building thanks to a project carried out under the Ukraine Early Recovery Programme.

The project, which has a total budget of UAH 86.2 million (EUR 2.9 million, U.S. $3.3 million), has created a fully functional and comfortable modern educational space at Secondary School №4. The project was carried out under the Ukraine Early Recovery Programme funded by the European Investment Bank, the long-term investment institution of the European Union. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine provided Technical Assistance support to the project.

Project work included capital repairs to the 5,500 square metre building (which had gone unrepaired since it was built in 1978), landscaping, procurement of equipment and furniture, connection of high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi coverage, creating conditions for inclusive education, equipping specialized classes, and creating an inclusive space.

The implementation of the project will permit Secondary School №4 to carry out an effective educational process at much higher academic and methodological levels, and host events for students of the city (1,150 students study in Secondary School №4, including 104 IDPs, and 73 teachers are employed there).

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the opening of the newly renovated school, Roy Draycott, Senior Sector Specialist of the Regional Development Division at the Resident Representation of the European Investment Bank in Ukraine, said that one of the EIB's strategic focuses is on creating an enabling environment for quality child education and development.

“Therefore, within the Ukraine Early Recovery Programme, we are modernizing the buildings and facilities of educational institutions, because we have a clear goal – to provide Ukrainian students with comfortable and modern conditions for growth, learning and socialization,” Draycott said.

Dafina Gercheva, UNDP Resident Representative to Ukraine, said the project would ensure access to education to all, including vulnerable and marginalized groups.

“The students studying here, including those who have been displaced from other areas, will have access to quality education on an inclusive and equitable basis,” Gercheva said. “This is in keeping with UNDP’s primary goals, shared with our partners, of building forward better, greener and fairer, to a more sustainable future.”

Lesia Didenko, Deputy Head of Department of Regional Development Priority Projects Implementation at the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, noted that the newly reconstructed school provided everything necessary for a modern educational process.

“Children studying here will have free access to the Internet, where nearly the whole sum of human knowledge can be found,” said Didenko. “Along with the comfortable, inclusive conditions for learning created here, this will provide them with a great educational start in life.”

Oleksandr Honcharenko, Kramatorsk City Mayor, stressed the importance of local authorities' partnership with the European Investment Bank and UNDP in Ukraine in rebuilding social infrastructure.

"We are proud of how together with our European partners, we’ve provided Kramatorsk pupils with a comfortable and modern educational environment. After all, the educational conditions play no less important role than the availability of highly qualified teachers and the latest educational equipment. Thanks to the overhaul of the building and the material and technical base of the school №4, the learning conditions for 1,150 students, 104 of whom are internally displaced persons, were improved,” he added.

Media enquiries:

Olga Sushytska, Communications Officer, EIB, o.sushytska@ext.eib.org, +38 067 243 63 55

Yuliia Samus, Communications, UNDP Ukraine, yuliia.samus@undp.org, +380971391475

Background

About the EIB: The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, and is owned by EU member states. The bank provides access to long-term financing for prudent investment to implement European Union policies.

About the EIB in Ukraine: The EIB has been operating in Ukraine since 2007. Ukraine is the main recipient country for EIB investment among the Eastern Partnership countries, accounting for more than 60 percent of EIB lending in the region. The bank focuses on the areas of social and economic infrastructure, transport and communications, local private-sector development, energy efficiency, innovation and climate change. Today, the EIB is one of the largest investors in Ukraine, with a portfolio of loans and guarantees totaling more than EUR 7 billion.

About the Ukraine Early Recovery Programme: The Ukraine Early Recovery Programme is implemented in accordance with the Financing Agreement between Ukraine and the European Investment Bank. Through the programme, the EIB has provided EUR 200 million in multi-sectoral framework loans to local authorities to rehabilitate important utilities and transport infrastructure, and improve living conditions for internally displaced persons and their host communities. The programme operates in nine regions of Ukraine: the Ukrainian government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, Poltava, Odesa, Kherson, and Kyiv oblasts.

About UNDP in Ukraine: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) establishes partnerships with government, business, and communities, promoting the development of countries, increasing their ability to withstand crises, and supporting economic growth to improve the quality of life of all. In Ukraine, UNDP's work focuses on three program areas: inclusive development, reconstruction and peacebuilding; democratic governance; energy and environmental protection. Today, Ukraine has one of the largest UNDP programmes in Europe.