The EU and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine have launched the second phase of EU4Recovery, a partnership to support communities affected by the war and linked to Ukraine’s path towards EU integration.
Phase II follows an initial stage that supported more than 100 communities between 2022 and 2025, according to the EU and UNDP, cited by the European External Action Service (EEAS) on Wednesday.
The new phase is budgeted at EUR 50 million for 2026 to 2028 and includes plans to provide equipment, upgrade infrastructure, and deliver training, technical assistance and other capacity-building to local authorities.
It will focus on strengthening decentralised social and health services, supporting economic recovery and improving social cohesion, with particular attention to veterans, young people and those returning home.
Visits to regions and focus on area-based recovery
The launch coincides with a joint EU — UNDP visit to partner regions, where representatives will meet local authorities and residents to discuss outcomes from UNDP’s Area-Based Recovery approach, which it said helps communities plan, co-ordinate and deliver services during wartime.
“The EU remains firmly committed to supporting Ukraine’s recovery and its path towards EU membership,” Stefan Schleuning, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, said.
Auke Lootsma, UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, said the programme centres on strengthening institutions and services “that people trust and systems that respond to real needs”.
The partnership is being implemented in Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia oblasts — administrative regions of Ukraine — and will also provide targeted support in Poltava, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi, Odesa, Donetsk and Luhansk.
