[According to the Ministry of Veterans, as of 1 January 2022, 85,068 people in Ukraine had the status of war veterans, but since the outbreak of full-scale war on 24 February 2022, the number of such people has increased significantly. It is estimated that the number of people who will have the status of war veterans will range from 2 million to 6 million. As for the Lviv region, it ranks second in terms of the number of veterans and is expected to grow to 200,000. The problem is that most of those discharged from service do not want to return to their previous jobs, they need to adapt to civilian, peaceful and quiet life, they need to find themselves in this life, because the war has radically changed their views on life and most of them see themselves only as self-employed and in business. In response to the challenges and needs of Russian aggression against Ukraine, on 1 April 2022, the University established the Centre for Social Development and Public Initiatives as its structural unit, which was reorganised into the Centre for Veterans and Social Initiatives in January 2025 (https://veteran-support.lnu.edu.ua/).
The Centre implements the project "Reintegrating War Veterans Into Civilian Life of Communities by Providing Support and Fostering Development of Veteran Business", which is based on unique model of providing a one-stop service centre for people affected by war and offers comprehensive, fast, and effective support to any person affected by the war in the long term. The project aims at re-socializing and reintegrating combat veterans and women veterans into civilian life by equipping them with skills and knowledge needed to implement their own plans and ideas by starting their own businesses. Targeting at promotion of veteran entrepreneurship, creating favourable conditions for the development of small and medium-sized businesses among Ukrainian veterans, and solving local problems of starting their own businesses by introducing a new approach to start-up development based on a training component, initializing financial support for business cooperation, ongoing mentoring and partnerships between all stakeholders, the project helps to boost veteran entrepreneurial activities, create new jobs, and improve the economic situation at the local level. By teaching business and helping veterans and their families to run a business, we are raising the social and economic level of community development, as business helps to fill the local budget, solve the problem of unemployment, create new jobs, etc. By teaching business and helping veterans and their families to run a business, the social and economic development of community becomes enhanced in times of war, as business helps to fill the local budget, solve the problem of unemployment, create new jobs, etc.]
