ACTION ALERT – Ukraine
Ukrainian children are fleeing Russian aggression. Przemyśl, Poland 27/02/2022 | Photo: Mirek Pruchnicki. License: CC 2.0 Generic
On February 24, 2022 Russia initiated a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. Since then, over 1 million Ukrainians have fled the country. The war and the influx of refugees into neighboring countries is creating a humanitarian crisis that is changing by the hour.
Please read below how our members are responding and determine how you can help. And please share!
You can support the organizations listed below directly through the links provided, or you can contribute to the Global Impact Ukraine Response Fund (see below) that will support multiple efforts.
Millions of people in Ukraine are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
CARE aims to reach four million people with immediate emergency assistance.
A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Ukraine as attacks of war put millions of lives at risk. Families fleeing violence are in urgent need of water, food, hygiene kits, psychosocial support, and cash assistance.
CARE is responding to the crisis in Ukraine now. In partnership with People in Need, CARE’s Ukraine Crisis Fund aims to reach four million people with emergency assistance – particularly innocent families, women and girls, and the elderly who are likely to suffer the most by this crisis.
Eight years of conflict have already left significant scars throughout Ukraine. 2.9 million people in the eastern part of the country are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and this number is rising dramatically.
“The population in eastern Ukraine has been suffering from the conflict for almost eight years now,” says Sofía Sprechmann Sineiro, CARE International Secretary General. “Every day is a fight for survival. Besides fear of attacks and violence, millions of people have no access to essential resources and services. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbates the situation.”
CARE International will work with People in Need to distribute urgently needed emergency supplies such as food, water, hygiene kits and cash to cover daily needs. Learn more.
Concern has deployed an emergency response team to support the people of Ukraine.
Humanitarian needs are escalating by the hour, civilian casualties are growing, essential services are being disrupted and people are being forced to flee their homes in their thousands.
As of Tuesday 1st March, more than 660,000 people had already crossed into neighbouring territories and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is estimating that as many as 5 million people could be displaced during the crisis.
As hundreds of thousands of people go in search of safety, it’s time to act. Learn more.
Global Impact’s Charity Alliance partners are responding in Ukraine.
On Feb. 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine. The situation is dire, and it continues to escalate. Like many around the world, we are concerned for the safety and well-being of the Ukrainian people.
Families are fleeing their homes with only what they can carry. Shelter, bedding, food, water and medical supplies are needed. In addition to the immediate harm faced by civilians, this conflict could result in a long-term humanitarian crisis that upends communities, crushes the local economy, disrupts children’s education and thwarts access to routine medical care.
You can help. Give to the Ukraine Response Fund and support multiple Charity Alliance partners through one donation. Your gift will go to leading nonprofits including Direct Relief, International Medical Corps and UNICEF USA for their critical work to:
• Position medical staff and supplies for lifesaving care.
• Protect refugees, many of whom are women and children.
• Supply healthy food, clean water and reliable power.
• Provide mental and emotional support.
• Reunite separated families.
International Rescue Committee (IRC)
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could displace far more people and cause more human suffering than Europe has seen this century.
The IRC is quickly mobilizing resources that will provide lifesaving support to people forced to flee their homes in Ukraine. Our teams are already on the ground in neighboring Poland, and working with our local partners in both Poland and Ukraine.
As Poland prepares to receive as many as 1 million refugees from Ukraine, the IRC is working to scale up the support we provide to the government and local nonprofits to address the crisis, and help meet the basic needs of people fleeing the conflict.
“We truly hope we can avert disaster and avoid the human suffering we will inevitably see if this conflict continues to escalate,” says Lani Fortier [Senior Director of Delivery on Emergencies, International Rescue Committee]. “However, the IRC is ready and preparing for the worst. We are working to quickly mobilize resources and connect with partners to establish a response that will provide lifesaving support to civilians forced to flee their homes.
“We will work to respond where we are needed the most and with the services that are needed urgently. Whatever the needs are, we are preparing to meet them.” Learn more.
Mercy Corps is deeply concerned about the humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine and surrounding area that is now unfolding, and threatening many lives and livelihoods. We see risks of food shortages and huge numbers of women, men, and children forced to flee from their homes. The destruction of infrastructure like hospitals and health services could lead to a rapid spread of diseases, including COVID-19.
Mercy Corps is mobilizing a team to the region to assess where help is most needed. We anticipate providing emergency cash assistance as well as supporting local organizations that know their community needs best. Mercy Corps provided humanitarian assistance in Ukraine following the 2014 conflict, helping over 200,000 people with emergency cash, food, water, and sanitation supplies.
All over the world, Mercy Corps works alongside communities to help families affected by disasters, conflict, and climate change. Learn more.
As the situation continues to unfold in Ukraine, we at OutRight have started to receive the first requests for help from partner organizations in Ukraine and neighboring countries which are preparing to support LGBTIQ people in search of shelter, safety and security. As we know all too well, in times of crisis, LGBTIQ people who are already marginalized face higher risks and are often excluded or left behind from humanitarian relief efforts.
Already, people are leaving Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the eastern part of the country for, at the moment, safer rural areas and the western parts of the country, while neighboring EU countries work to prepare shelters for an influx of displaced people.
OutRight has launched a Ukraine Fund and 100% of donations will go directly to LGBTIQ+ groups providing emergency assistance to and protecting the rights of queer and transgender people. We have distributed our first round of grants to three local partners, who have shared: “Your involvement is empowering and inspiring – now we know for sure that we are not alone.” Learn more.
Children are caught on the front line of Ukraine’s conflict. While events are changing rapidly, there are constants in this and every conflict: children are being killed and injured; they are forced to flee their homes and they are witnessing terrifying events beyond their comprehension.
No place inside Ukraine is safe for the 7.5 million-plus children who are exposed to shelling, air strikes and ground combat. For children whose families have fled to other countries in what has become Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II, they are arriving at borders confused, scared, and in urgent need of physical and emotional support.
With our longstanding regional presence and eight years’ work inside Ukraine prior to the escalation of the conflict, Save the Children has the staff, operations and partners to respond to the crisis. Our teams and partners inside Ukraine are prepared to launch one of our agency’s largest humanitarian relief and recovery efforts ever, as soon as security conditions allow. Elsewhere in the region, other Save the Children teams are actively addressing needs of children and families arriving from Ukraine and scaling up work as fast as possible. Our priorities are clear:
- We ensure that children will survive by delivering health, water, sanitation, and nutrition
services. - We distribute cash grants and vouchers, so that children and their families have a safety
net to get them through this crisis and build resilience. - We prioritize age-appropriate Mental Health and Psychosocial Support to respond to the
deep psychological impacts of conflict and displacement on children. - To protect children from additional harm, we prioritize services for particularly
vulnerable children, unaccompanied minors and children with disabilities, and services to
prevent separation of families and reunify families who have been separated. - We focus on social and emotional wellbeing and a safe return to learning so children
continue to learn, despite displacement and disruption to education. - By advocating with governments across the globe, we will ensure that the rights of
children are upheld.
Conflict in Ukraine poses immediate threat to children.
UNICEF is working to scale up life-saving support for children and their families.
Escalating conflict in Ukraine poses an immediate and growing threat to the lives and well-being of the country’s 7.5 million children. Humanitarian needs are multiplying. Children have been killed. Children have been wounded. They are being profoundly traumatized by the violence all around them. Hundreds of thousands of people are on the move, and family members are becoming separated from their loved ones.
We must protect all children in Ukraine. Now. They need peace.
The past eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine have inflicted profound and lasting damage to all children and their communities. Now, the suffering extends across the country. Hundreds of thousands are without safe water, electricity or water due to damage to infrastructure. UNICEF is working to scale up humanitarian delivery in the east and expanding across the country as needed. Learn more.
Children face a conflict that threatens the lives of millions
Children and their families are facing days and nights of terror and uncertainty. Artillery fire, missiles and fighting on many fronts are forcing families to shelter underground, live with curfews and shortages, evacuate their cities, or flee to neighbouring nations.
World Vision Multi-Country Response Plans:
1. Refugee Response in Romania
WV Romania is activating life-saving assistance including hygiene kits, child-friendly kits, and psychological first aid to some of the 67,000+ refugees upon their arrival into Romania from Ukraine as well as also supporting children moved from institutions in Ukraine who are now in Bucharest. Our goal will be to ensure that:
- Refugee families’ immediate/basic needs are met
- Psychological first aid and educational continuity is provided to affected children and their families
- Romania can support refugee access to accommodation and basic services.
About World Vision Romania
World Vision has been active in Romania for 31 years, with 220 staff members in five APs geographically covering 60% of the country, being a trustworthy partner for local government in the areas of education and child protection. Over 250 partners – NGO’s, schools, municipality, impacting 2.5M children through programs and advocacy, 7,000+ parents, professors, implementing a budget of $6 million (FY22). The ADP closest to the Ukrainian border is IASI, with 32 staff members.
2. Partnering Response in Ukraine
World Vision does not have a presence in Ukraine, however, we have a mandate to implement cross-border child-focused programming in Ukraine through partners. World Vision is actively seeking to partner with INGOs in country with the goal of providing lifesaving support to the affected children and their families. Capacity of INGOs is very limited in country and the ongoing conflict is challenging their ability to respond. According to the preliminary information, the partnering response will focus on health, child protection, food, and NFI distributions. As the situation in Ukraine becomes clearer and access to the context allows, World Vision will look at supporting local NGOs as is appropriate.
3. Partnering Response in Moldova
World Vision Romania has approval to work cross border through partners in Moldova. A rapid partnering plan will be developed in the coming days that will be subject to all standard World Vision partnering procedures.
4. Refugee Response in Georgia
According to unofficial figures, there are about 4,000 Ukrainians stranded in Georgia, who entered the country as tourists during past weeks and are now unable to return home. World Vision is working closely with the Embassy of Ukraine in Georgia, as well as the National Tourism Administration, and discussing the following potential interventions that will be finalized in the coming days as the response is coordinated:
- Using our country-wide footprint and networks to disseminate messages to assist the “Emergency Hub” of the Ukrainian Embassy to reach people stranded in Georgia
- Establishing an effective referral mechanism for the citizens of Ukraine to enable them to access support system to meet their immediate needs
- Subject to need and on a case-by-case basis WV Georgia may provide vulnerable people with PSS assistance, medical support, food assistance (in kind or cash assistance), temporary shelter and potentially support to vulnerable children
- Mobilizing a volunteer pool (psychologists, doctors, social workers, etc.) to provide the tailored support to the Citizens of Ukraine residing in Georgia
About World Vision Georgia
World Vision opened an office in Georgia in 1996, and is currently one of the leading children’s rights non-governmental organizations in Georgia. World Vision works in four dedicated geographical regions in Georgia; Imereti, Kakheti, Samtskhe-Javakheti and Tbilisi. World Vision has been actively engaged in the strengthening of the child welfare system and creating a healthy and active society for children that is inclusive, tolerant and provides equal opportunities for all. The organization’s long-term presence in the country has successfully positioned it as a reliable development partner for national and local governments, CSOs and other stakeholders.