We have supported people affected by the war in Ukraine since 2014, adapting our aid services according to the evolving situation and people's needs. Our goal is to provide timely, effective, and needs-based assistance to people living in war-torn areas and displaced people who have had to leave their homes.

Since February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, about a third of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes. According to UNHCR, over 14.6 million people, roughly 40% of Ukraine's population, will need humanitarian assistance in 2024. About 3.7 million people have been internally displaced in Ukraine, about 6.5 Ukrainians have been forced to seek protection in other countries. 

In March 2022, we started distributing multi-purpose cash assistance in Ukraine, being the first internationally and still one of the largest providers of cash-based assistance, reaching also frontline areas. Cash-based aid is a quick, cost-effective, and dignified measure that allows people in areas where markets function to decide what they use the aid for. We provide both multi-purpose cash assistance, aimed at alleviating immediate needs, and targeted cash assistance, such as support for the reconstruction of war-affected homes or for the purchase of solid fuels.  

Based on need we have also distributed in kind assistance such as food packages, sleeping bags, generators, etc in different regions.

We help people affected by the war in Ukraine secure sustainable livelihoods by supporting them in starting or developing crisis-resilient micro-businesses. 

You too, can help people affected by the war in Ukraine by donating.

Activities since 2014

Estonian Refugee Council started supporting the people affected by the war in Ukraine at the end of 2014 with launching the donation campaign "For Ukraine!". Our activities in Ukraine have changed according to how the situation  and the needs of the people have changed. At the end of 2014, we started distributing medical, hygiene, and food packages to internally displaced people and in front-line areas in Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Later we continued with medical aid programmes, delivering necessary medicines, medical equipment, and equipment to hospitals. In 2015 and 2016, summer camps for internally displaced children and children with special needs were held on Khortitsa Island, Zaporizhzhia. In the same years, we sent 11 volunteer specialists from Estonia to Ukraine.

Due to the changing needs, in the fall of 2016, we started a new programme, supporting the livelihoods of internally displaced people in Eastern Ukraine and residents of front-line areas with creating and expanding small businesses to secure a sustainable income. In line with needs, we have also consistently supported elderly people living close to the front line with food and hygiene supplies, schoolchildren with school supplies, and the most vulnerable households with financial support to get through the winter.