On January 23, a roundtable discussion titled "Expanding Access to Medical Care for Servicemembers, Veterans, and Their Families" was moderated by Martha Pyvovarenko, Advocacy Officer of the Community Self-Help NGO, Ukraine.

The event was opened by Yulia Galustyan, Gender and Social Inclusion Advisor for the "Support to Civil Society Organizations in Ukraine" Program/CSSF Ukraine.

In the first part of the roundtable, the organizing team presented the experience of providing medical services to servicemembers, veterans, and their families by non-state medical institutions. The participants included:

• • Vitaliy Kharechko, Project Manager of "Provision of High-Tech Innovative Medical Services to Socially Vulnerable Groups in Lviv Region," Chairman of the Board of the Community Self-Help NGO;

  • Taras Lysak, Director of the Charity Foundation "Center for Medical Innovations" (Medical Center NOVO);

  • Olga Guzhva, Sociologist, Media Expert, Co-founder of the Consortium of Veteran Organizations of the East and the Media Center East;

  • Oleksandr Maksymchuk, President of the Association of Donors of Ukraine, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Charity Foundation "Center for Medical Innovations" (Medical Center NOVO).

In the next part of the roundtable, mechanisms for improving the efficiency of receiving medical and social services were discussed with government representatives. The participants included:

• Anatoliy Ostapenko, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Social Protection of Veterans' Rights of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Policy and Veterans' Rights Protection;

• Volodymyr Khadzhynov, State Expert of the Expert Group on Support for Vulnerable Population Groups of the Directorate for Social Services Development of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine;

• Vitalina Korkushko, Head of the Expert Group on Rehabilitation and Assistive Devices of the Directorate for Overcoming Life Challenges;

• Denis Romanenko, Deputy Head of the Psychological Support Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine;

• Yaroslav Kalinichenko, Colonel, Head of the Social Support Department of the Main Department of Moral and Psychological Support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;

• Viktoriya Milyutina, Director of the Northern Interregional Department of the National Health Service of Ukraine;

• Anatoliy Kazmirchuk, Major General of the Medical Service, Commander of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine;

• Yuriy Podolyan, Deputy Commander of the Medical Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel of the Medical Service;

• Nataliya Nos, Deputy Head of the Department of Psychological and Medical Support of the Ministry for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine.

The roundtable was organized as part of the project "Provision of High-Tech Innovative Medical Services to Socially Vulnerable Groups in Lviv Region," implemented by the Charity Foundation "Center for Medical Innovations" within the framework of the "Support to Civil Society Organizations in Ukraine" Program, financially supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom and implemented by Crown Agents in partnership with International Alert and in cooperation with Crown Agents in Ukraine.