Kyiv/Vinnytsia, 17 April 2025 – With support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, 15 Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals are sharing with their peers across Ukraine, via a series of webinars and hands-on practical sessions, the knowledge they gained from a training programme they completed in Denmark in September 2024.

As the war continues, the number of explosive ordnance (EO) related injuries is increasing, creating an extra burden on already strained healthcare systems. All persons with EO related injuries need emergency care, follow-up treatment and rehabilitation. 

The new training programme is part of UNDP’s ongoing effort to strengthen Ukraine’s healthcare capacity by enhancing rehabilitation specialists’ expertise, ensuring that the best evidence-based care is made available to patients with amputations.

Jaco Cilliers, UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, highlighted the current importance of the programme: “This training programme is crucial in the current context, providing essential resources for professional growth, and enabling the Ministry of Health to enhance rehabilitation services across Ukraine,” Cilliers said. “By supporting the development of centres of excellence and facilitating knowledge exchange, we’re helping to ensure that Ukrainians have access to the specialized care they need.”

Central to this support is the capacity development of healthcare and rehabilitation systems, as well as human capital development in rehabilitation. The approach, founded on two components – a webinar series and hands-on practical training – was funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 

The webinar series was hosted by the National Health Service of Ukraine’s Academy in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine’s Centres of Excellence. The webinars are designed according to a newly developed structure based on the training provided in Denmark. 

Yevgeniya Melnyk, a representative from the National Health Service of Ukraine’s Academy, said the Academy was proud to partner with UNDP and the Ministry of Health to deliver this vital training programme. “By providing rehabilitation professionals with the latest knowledge and skills, we’re helping to build a stronger, more resilient healthcare system for all Ukrainians,” Melnyk said.

It was anticipated that approximately 100 rehabilitation professionals would enrol, but by the time the webinar training had begun, over 350 had done so, and 228 successfully completed the final assessment. This clearly demonstrates the huge need for such training, and Ukrainians’ willingness to seek further knowledge and skills.

Oleksandr Porkhun, the Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine, said the training programme demonstrates the Ministry of Health's commitment to providing the best possible care for Ukrainians affected by the war. “We ‘re sincerely grateful to UNDP and the Government of the Netherlands for their long-standing and fruitful cooperation in developing Ukraine’s rehabilitation centres of excellence, as well as for their continued support in helping us build a stronger and more capable rehabilitation workforce,” Porkhun said.

Hands-on practical training is being conducted at three of the ministry’s Centres of Excellence – in Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia – on six different occasions. The practical sessions last for two days, and it is expected that a total of 60 rehabilitation professionals will take part in the comprehensive training programme, which includes pre-prosthetic and prosthetic rehabilitation, and high-intensity gait training.

Olena Dolynna, Head of the Rehabilitation Centre at Vinnytsia Regional Clinical Psychoneurological Hospital, who participated in the training in Denmark, said sharing her new knowledge with colleagues from other hospitals in Ukraine was invaluable: “This training allows us to improve the quality of care we provide to our patients and contributes to the development of rehabilitation services across the country,” Dolynna said.

Darya Malchyniuk, a Physical Rehabilitation doctor from a hospital in Mariupol who relocated to an Odesa hospital, also stressed the importance of this kind of training: “In my daily work I meet patients in need of rehabilitation after amputations,” she said. “This is the first hands-on training I’ve had the opportunity to attend – before this I’d only taken online courses, and of course I appreciate more practical experience. It’s a chance to learn more practical skills, since I haven’t had enough previous experience. This training also provides me with an opportunity to share my experiences with other colleagues who work in multidisciplinary teams from different institutions across Ukraine.”

The project, carried out under UNDP's broader mandate to support Ukraine’s recovery, is an example of the ongoing collaboration between the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and its Centres of Excellence and the National Health Service of Ukraine Academy. The Centres of Excellence not only provide high-quality care to patients, but also serve as training hubs for other rehabilitation teams, thus rapidly enhancing the quality of rehabilitation services across the country. By facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity building, UNDP is ensuring healthcare professionals in Ukraine have the tools to provide specialized care and rehabilitation services, addressing growing demand as the war continues.

Media enquiries: 

Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Communications Team Leader, yuliia.samus@undp.org