BE-Relieve: Belgium prepares for reconstruction and supports Ukrainians with their daily, urgent needs

After four years, Ukraine remains ravaged by relentless war. The danger is not confined to the eastern front; essentially, the entire country is unsafe. For instance, Kyiv, the capital, is subjected to weekly missile and drone attacks. Shelters are a must.

As part of Belgium’s support for Ukraine, the Belgian agency for international cooperation Enabel was tasked with assisting the country. For this, we are committing €150 million over a four-year period, from early 2025 to the end of 2028.

The aim of the programme, dubbed BE-Relieve, is to pave the way for post-war reconstruction. Some projects are already helping the country align with EU regulations, taking a step towards future EU membership. In addition, we contribute to sustaining daily life in Ukraine, despite the ongoing attacks on power facilities, hospitals, and other essential services.

The numerous projects under the programme address three major needs: (1) energy supply & energy efficiency, (2) health & social protection, and (3) education & skills development. While some projects have been largely completed after just one year, others are still scheduled for later implementation.

Most of them are in the Chernihiv and Kyiv regions, and in the capital Kyiv itself. Depending on the situation, other regions closer to the front line may also be addressed temporarily. For example, Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Donetsk.

Below is a non-exhaustive overview.

Energy supply and energy efficiency

BE-Relieve strengthens Ukraine's energy resilience in four ways:

• 321 generators to provide electricity to 35 schools and kindergartens, as well as to health centres and essential services (drinking water, electricity, etc.).
• 61 mobile heating units to provide heat to public facilities in the event of a power outage. Of these, 14 have already been delivered to the Mykolaiv region.
• 14 fixed heating units for healthcare facilities, including in the Sumy and Odesa regions.
• 2 Combined Heat and Power (CHP) turbines, which generate both heat and electricity, thereby operating more efficiently. Damaged turbines are being repaired.

During this winter period, the focus is on immediate reconstruction to meet urgent needs as quickly as possible and to strengthen resilience. Given the wartime context, this is largely unavoidable. We do need to ensure that short-term measures are in line with the intended long-term goal: Build Back Better.

The transition to renewable energy includes supporting Ukrainian companies that provide integrated energy solutions, known as ESCOs or Energy Service Companies. They focus primarily on increased energy efficiency or energy savings in existing buildings. The project, currently in its start-up phase, also includes alignment with EU standards.

A good example of an energy-saving intervention is the thorough renovation of a school in the village of Kyinka, including a new insulated roof and the insulation of the walls to improve energy efficiency. Its inauguration is scheduled for spring 2026.

Health and social protection

This section addresses the reconstruction and refurbishment of hospitals, in addition to urgent repair works. After all, many hospitals have been severely damaged by the war. Old infrastructure from the Soviet era is also in need of modernisation.

For example, windows and lifts are being replaced and utilities are being rebuilt. In addition, key medical equipment is being delivered, including items for an operating theatre and a neurology department. Shelters against radioactive fallout are being constructed.

This section also includes a significant soft component. This includes, among other things, the training of specialists. A particularly important example is a master’s programme in speech and language therapy, conducted in collaboration with Switzerland. After all, many people in Ukraine have been seriously injured or traumatised. Regaining their speech and language skills is essential for them to get their lives back on track.

In wartime, blood transfusions are, of course, crucial. To support this, Enabel and Red Cross Flanders have joined forces with a €2 million programme. In November 2025, a Ukrainian delegation visited the Red Cross blood laboratory in Mechelen. The goal was to learn from each other and set up a state-of-the-art blood centre in Chernihiv.

The initiative supports Ukraine in steadily meeting EU requirements for blood services. This means that quality control, transportation, storage, and collection must meet strict requirements.

Complex surgery is essential due to the large number of injured people in the country. This entails an investment of more than 4 million euros in cranio-maxillofacial surgery, aimed at correcting deformities of the head, face, and cheeks. This is being done in collaboration with the Ukrainian Superhumans Centre.

Belgian companies are also doing their part. For example, the start-up Ceriter provides smart insoles that make it easier to relearn walking.

Considerable effort is directed towards supporting mental health, not in the least that of healthcare workers. Under the ‘Care for Carers’ project, psychological relaxation rooms are being planned for staff across five clinics.

Education and skills development

This section also includes both a hard and soft component.

Schools in Ukraine may operate only if they are equipped with the required shelters. To this end, BE-Relieve plans to construct three new civil defence shelters and renovate four dilapidated ones. To scale up its efforts, Belgium joined the Civil Protection Shelter Coalition, a Team Europe initiative co-financed by the EU’s Ukraine Facility programme. As the implementing partner, Enabel will coordinate four additional frontline shelter projects.

BE-Relieve also makes significant investments in vocational education, both in the buildings and, importantly, in the training programmes themselves. Like many European countries, Ukraine faces a significant gap between the training provided by schools and the skills demanded by the labour market. BE-Relieve is working to bridge that gap by focusing on the skills needed for reconstruction, such as engineers and construction workers.

Vocational education should evolve into genuine ‘centres of excellence’ in line with European requirements. This is being carried out in collaboration with the European Training Foundation. Ukraine is conducting fact-finding visits to Belgium and Italy for this purpose.

Supporting education involves setting up a ‘tripartite’ cooperation among schools, private stakeholders, and public bodies, with regional councils helping to facilitate discussion. A so-called Junior Academy Model will help to bridge the gap with the labour market. That includes companies such as Belgium's Etex, which supplies advanced, lightweight building materials.

Through all these efforts, Belgium is aligning itself with the activities of the European Union and other EU Member States. Through these efforts, we seek to equip the Ukrainian people for post-war reconstruction while assisting them with their immediate and most pressing daily needs.