The mobile employment center operated in the Halytsynivka community

The mobile employment center helps residents of the Mykolaiv region access the employment center’s services where they live, even when the war makes it difficult to reach the regional center. Ukraine’s first mobile employment center began operating in the Mykolaiv region in November 2023. The initiative was implemented with the support of the German Government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine. A specially equipped bus enables the team from the Mykolaiv Regional Employment Center to work directly in communities, including those affected by hostilities.

“We focus the mobile center’s work first and foremost on communities that have suffered extensive damage and are located near the combat zone. It is important that people can access employment services promptly and close to home, without having to travel to the city,” says Dmytro Oboronko, director of the Mykolaiv Regional Employment Center.

One such visit was to the frontline Halytsynove community. The mobile center visits the community as needed, at the request of the local council. During the meeting, residents could learn about the services and programs offered by the Mykolaiv Regional Employment Center, including job placement, vocational training, grants to start or develop a business, assistance for employers, and other opportunities.

“During the mobile employment center’s recent visit to the Halytsynove community, about 50 residents came to our specialists for consultations and assistance with finding employment in public works and accessing vocational training. They included internally displaced people,” says Dmytro Oboronko.

In the Halytsynove community, 75 people have already been engaged in public works, most of them internally displaced. Their work helps restore settlements, while their earnings provide vital support for families facing difficult circumstances because of the war.

Halytsynove community head Ivan Nazar emphasizes that cooperation with the employment service is important for local residents and the restoration of the area.

“The community is focused on restoring and rebuilding settlements, homes, and farms. Our community is sustained by people who have gone to work through the employment center to restore our settlements. We have up to 700 IDPs in total, forcibly displaced from the Kherson region (the Stanislav and Oleksandrivka communities), as well as people who came from the Donetsk region. We involve them in public works, and people are happy to take part because life is hard and they need money—it’s about supporting a family and children, and simply providing for the household,” the community head says.

According to Natali Panashii, head of the Lymany local district, three projects are being implemented in the villages of Lymany and Lupareve with the support of charitable organizations, and local residents are taking part. The employment service helps recruit people for public works, enabling the community to carry out its initiatives and improve public spaces.

In Lupareve, residents are creating the “Clean Beach,” or “Beach of My Dreams,” public space: laying paths, preparing areas for planting greenery, and improving the grounds for recreation. In Lymany, work on the “Generations Workshop” is nearing completion. The community is also awaiting the outcome of its “You Can’t Change the Meeting Place” project proposal, which aims to create a space for young people and children. A cinema is planned for the site in the future.

“We have quite a lot of young people here today—around 500,” says Nataliia Panashii.

Maria Maksymovych, an internally displaced woman from the village of Oleksandrivka in the Kherson region, has also had the opportunity to work and contribute to the community. At the start of the full-scale invasion, she was in Stanislav and spent eight months under occupation. After the area was liberated, she returned to her home village, where she stayed until May 2026. Later, health problems and difficult living conditions led her to move in with her daughter Viktoriia, who had settled in the Halytsynove community earlier.

In her new community, Maria has housing and support. She registered as an internally displaced person and joined the public works program.

“I’m currently doing public works: we plant flowers, clean up, weed, and when the weather is bad, we make camouflage nets. I’m glad to have this job because my IDP payments have stopped now that I’m working,” the woman says.

Maria is glad she was able to move in with her daughter, find work, and settle into a safer environment. She also urges people from her home area not to delay leaving dangerous territories:

“Everyone, move here. It’s good here—you’ll be able to work and live in decent conditions.”

The Dudnyk family has also joined the public works program in Lymany: Mrs. Olena, her sons Artem and Vladyslav, and Olena’s mother, who is working until she qualifies for retirement. The family gathers firewood and helps restore buildings damaged by shelling.

For the family, this work is a way to support themselves while contributing to the community. They stress the importance of such work and encourage others to take part, noting that payments for completed work arrive on time.

In addition to helping people find jobs, the mobile employment center helps residents learn about opportunities to start and grow their own businesses. Since 2024, nine applications have been approved in the Halytsynove community under the “Own Business” grant program, for a total of UAH 3.8 million. The support is expected to create 18 jobs in the community.

Thanks to the mobile employment center, residents of the Halytsynove community learn about available opportunities, find jobs, help restore their villages, and receive support to develop their own businesses.