39 - Veteran's Voices: Portfolio Evaluation of US Assistance to Ukraine's Veterans

Abstract Information: After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Department of State (DoS) responded in various ways. One of these responses addressed the dynamic shift in the number of Ukraine veterans in need of support, transitioning from an estimated 650,000 to 1.5 million. The State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO) led several programs to assist the government of Ukraine and other relevant stakeholders in supporting veterans. This year, Resonance Global conducted a portfolio evaluation to assess how the various CSO-funded programs supported veterans. First, we will discuss the findings from the evaluation, including how the U.S. example of veteran support has influenced Ukraine’s approach to working with its veterans. Second, we will discuss how assistance for veterans has become more inclusive, particularly in providing increasing support for female veterans, veteran’s family members, and younger veterans of newer conflicts. Finally, we will discuss how the evaluation team used Institutional Histories and the Most Significant Change approaches to collect diverse voices about the outcomes and changes contributed by the CSO Veteran portfolio efforts.