700+ IDPs benefit from the assistance of the EdUP Project 

The EdUP Project provided financial assistance in the purchase of plumbing equipment and consumables for VET schools that accommodated internally displaced persons in their dormitories and provided temporary shelter to those in need. The Project team drew up the list of needs based on the results of individual interviews with representatives of vocational education institutions – recipients of the Project.

In one of the VET schools, Project assistance provided the opportunity to create additional plumbing facilities for 120 internally displaced persons. In another institution, the urgent need for laundry for 60 people living in the dormitory was solved.

The needs covered in this way included the installation of boilers to provide dormitory rooms with hot water, the installation of additional toilets and bathrooms in vocational schools. One of the recipients received consumables, which helped to finish the training of a group of graduates and conduct practical classes for students in the first year of study.

“Immediate response, coordinated action, and an unprecedented desire to help the Project members really saved the institution from the crisis, including the hygienic one,” said a representative of one of the VET schools in Western Ukraine, which received about 160 IDPs.

Some institutions took the opportunity to include the installation of plumbing fixtures in practical training and to involve internally displaced persons in their work, demonstrating the specifics of the plumbing profession.

“Our help does not end there. We will monitor the needs of the VET schools participating in the Project and will try to provide further assistance, of course not only by purchasing the necessary devices and materials but also by facilitating effective cooperation with businesses”, - says Project Manager Sonja Loosli.

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The Public-Private Partnership to Improved Plumbing Education (EdUP) is a project of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, in partnership with Geberit Trading LLC, implemented by Swisscontact Foundation for Technical Cooperation and supported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.