Investing in Human Capital: Key Takeaways from the Alliance to Action Conference

On February 19, experts, policymakers, and organizations came together for the "Alliance to Action: International Skills Alliance for Ukraine in Practice" conference, co-organized by OPORA Foundation and the Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken. The discussions underscored that Ukraine’s recovery depends not only on rebuilding infrastructure, but also on 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞—their skills, integration, and long-term opportunities."𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸," noted Erica Schouten, Special Envoy for Ukraine.

The conference featured two key panels:
📌 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲
📌 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬

With valuable contributions from Jana E. (BMZ, Skills Alliance), Yuliia Kabanets (Cedos), Maria Shaidrova (Opora Foundation), Patrick Daru (ILO), Inna Moshkova & Anke Verheij (VEI, Dutch Water Companies), Anna-Mariia Sukhar 🇺🇦 (Empatia Program), Oleksandra Tkachenko (UNUN) and Erik de Boer (Stichting Ondernemend Oekraïne).

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬:
🔹Ukraine urgently needs 𝟖.𝟔 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 to meet its long-term economic goals, as highlighted by Jana E.
🔹However, as Yuliia Kabanets pointed out, 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 remain major challenges.
🔹Investing in 𝐮𝐩𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 is essential for sustainable recovery.
🔹Social integration and workforce inclusion are key—both in host countries and for Ukraine’s future. Maria Shaidrova emphasized that well-supported displaced individuals are more likely to contribute locally and later return to help rebuild Ukraine.
🔹Patrick Daru reinforced the need for 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 to facilitate employment.

Grateful to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, to our expert speakers and to Mateusz M. Krawczyk & Maureen Zweistra for moderating.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲? 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠.