Update Report from Ukraine

In cooperation with All Ukrainian Foundation for Children’s Rights (AUFCR) and supported by funds from CISU, Cross Cultures is engaged in emergency provision of assistance across Ukrainian communities affected by war.

 

 

Cross Cultures has established its operations in
Ukraine in 2010, and since then, has reached out to 324,347
children through inclusive activities implemented by a vast network of several thousand volunteers. Our ‘Civil Society- and Public Sector cooperation for Reconciliation, Social Integration and Child Protection‘ project  in Ukraine, supported by the EU, has had an overall aim to strengthen reconciliation, social integration and child protection in Ukraine through a combination of fun sport for children and cross-sector child protection cooperation between school, sport and police. Hence, Child protection has been a focus of our operations in Ukraine, resulting in formalization of cooperation between different state stakeholders and creation of cross-sector networks in Ukrainian communities – the CSP networks.

Cross Cultures works with AUFCR and UAF (Ukraine Federation of Football) in supporting and coordinating these cross sector networks, which are today a backbone of our entire emergency relief operation in Ukraine.

 

Funded by CISU, AUFCR and Cross Cultures activities are focused on distribution of emergency aid and re-location help  to orphanages and children in danger,  as well as to women and families in need, in most vulnerable communities.
AUFCR has immediately mobilized and refreshed inter-cooperation within the CPS networks in the most vulnerable communities identified, in particular

  • Dnipropetrovska oblast: the communities in
    Synelnikove, Pavlograd, Verkhnedniprovsk
  • Zaporizhzhia oblast: the communities in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Khortysia and Energodar
  • Kyiv oblast: the communities in Tarascha, Obukhiv and Stavysche
  • Kharkiv oblast: Merefa, Pisochyn, StarySoltiv
  • Mykolaiv oblast: the city of Mykolaiv

Most of the CSP coordinators have reported to stay within their communities and being able to refresh the links to key community stakeholders – local government, police, school and sport (local sport clubs and schools). Over the last few weeks, AUFCR and CSP coordinators have rapidly made needs assessment, which has identified the most urgent beneficiaries and people in need:

 

Dnipropetrovska oblast: 273 children are in need of basic humanitarian aids, in particular:

  • 92 children/14 girls in Synelnikove;
  • 131 children/89 girls in  Pavlograd;
  • 50 children/32 girls in Verkhnedniprovsk;

Zaporizhzhia oblast: 316 children are in need of basic humanitarian aids, in particular:

  • 185 children/89 girls in the city of Zaporizhzhia
  • 106 children/53 girls in Khortysia
  • 25 children/8 girls in Energodar

Kyiv oblast: 300 children are in need of basic humanitarian aids, in particular:

  • 100 children/18 girls in Tarascha (including orphanage
    for children with disabilities)
  • 100 children/24 girls in Obukhiv(including sport boarding school)
  • 100 children/45 girls in Stavysche

Kharkiv oblast: 217 children are in need of basic humanitarian aids, in particular:

  • 117 children/ 36 girls in Merefa
  • 56 children/12 girls in Pisochyn
  • 44 children/10 girls in StarySoltiv

Mykolaiv oblast: 300 children/189 girls in the city of Mykolaiv

 

Based on this needs assessment, AUFCR, supported by Cross Cultures and financed by CISU, has put all of the CSP Network in target regions in active and operational status, with involvement of all key stakeholders.

So far, AUFCR has assisted in evacuation of six orphanages from eastern to western Ukraine. Female staff, including the foundations director, Mrs. Yevgenia Pavlova are engaged as female drivers for special
evacuations of women and girls who have been raped.

Following up rapidly changing situation and the needs assessment AUFCR has so far packed
and
 distributed 300 hygiene and 300 food packages to Dnipropetrovska, Kharkivska, Kyivska oblasts and to Zaporizhzhia, in the last weeks.
18 000 liters of water were delivered to the city of Mykolaiv, over the last week . AUCFR is in process of procurement and planning the next deliveries to target areas.

Furthermore, AUFCR has provided hospitalization for 4 girls and 23 legal and psychological consultations and treatment were provided to children (8-15) and young woman (18-22) in Kyiv oblast. In the following weeks AUFCR will continue to deliver emergency aid and help.

Upon the request from Cross Cultures, a worrying recent risk assessment has been made : 

‘The huge serious risk we face is transportation. All target areas were and some of them still are partly in the war zone. Interregional roads are seriously damaged, most detours are mined. Trains (if
applicable) are late for 9 – 12 hours. Mail does not work in most locations.
Lack of other transport means is present . Delivery of humanitarian aid is difficult throughout Ukraine. Petrol is also a huge problem. Moreover, within the last 7 days there is no gasoline at all. There is also a huge risk of repeated bombardments and rocket attacks.
The logistic is complicating more over each day (identification of local key suppliers – food, hygiene, medicine) and time consuming documentation
required by donors and National Fiscal Service in Ukraine might hamper the efforts.

Due to security reasons AUFCR and CSP networks do not disclose the current exact locations of aid distribution. Also, the photographs are not taken, as it is mostly children organization is helping and it is unbecomingly to ask parents in frightening and humiliation circumstances for the approval. However few photos were taken upon request, six days ago in Mykolaiv.

Water delivery Ukraine

Yevgeniya Pavlova, Director of All-Ukrainian Foundation for Childen’s Rights: “The support of the Kingdom of Denmark is invaluable for Ukraine. In particular, the partner’s aids of CCPA and the financial support of DERF makes it possible for All-Ukrainian Foundation for Children’s Rights to reach and support various target groups of children, affected by the war in Ukraine: child-victims of GBV, children in orphanages, hospitals, shelters in various regions of Ukraine. The first activity is focused on the delivery of food and drinking water to Mykolaiv region, medicines for children in Kharkiv region, psychological assistance to victims of GBV in Kyiv oblast, as well as the transportation of families with children from Odessa, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk regions to safe communities. The special attention is paid to helping children in institutions (e.g. orphanages, centers for children with disabilities, sport boarding schools) located in war-affected areas”.

Furthermore, in cooperation with UAF (Ukraine Fedration of Football) and funded by UEFA Foundation, Common Goal (sfw) and the New Danish Democracy Fund, Cross Cultures is  in process of building and capacitating a voluntary multidisciplinary network of +500 volunteers (including school psychologists). On top of this we are organizing psychosocial activities and emergency aid for +10.000 IDP children in western Ukraine. So far a network of 160 volunteers has been mobilized and trained on seven seminars. Psychosocial activities are due to begin May 11th.