Resilience through Integrated Services for Social Empowerment

finished

Two years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war continues to inflict untold suffering on its people and extensive damage on infrastructure and services, including housing, health, education, and energy facilities. Humanitarian needs are massive: 14.6 million people need assistance country-wide in 2024, and 1.9 million people in the Southern oblasts of Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson.

Building on the success of CARE4U2, Caritas Switzerland (CACH) and Caritas Spes (CS) propose a third phase of projects together, RISE: Resilience through Integrated Services for Social Empowerment. This integrated project is multisectoral and aims to enhance the resilience, safety, and well-being of vulnerable populations affected by conflict in Southern Ukraine.

The project was informed by joint participatory needs assessments with a wide spectrum of people belonging to vulnerable and marginalised groups and designed using a conflict-sensitive lens. Project activities will be extended to underserved rural areas, witnessing a greater severity of unmet needs, via multidisciplinary mobile teams supported by community volunteers.

RISE will allow for a continuation of the existing successful programming partnership between CACH and CS to reach vulnerable conflict-affected populations in Ukraine.

The objective of RISE is to enhance the resilience, safety, and well-being of vulnerable populations affected by conflict. Building on Phase 2, Phase 3 will continue to respond to emergency needs, and transition to stabilisation-focussed activities by prioritising and supporting long-term and sustainable solutions and expanding its shelter and protection interventions for vulnerable populations affected by conflict in Southern Ukraine.

The RISE project applies a complementary and holistic approach combining shelter, protection, MHPSS, and cash assistance to empower beneficiaries to address their needs.  RISE covers needs across three outcomes:

• Shelter: Homes in the targeted oblasts often suffer minor or major conflict-related damage, and these regions also witness the arrival of an important number of IDPs and returnees. To allow beneficiaries to live in safe and dignified homes, cash for light and medium shelter repairs will be provided to socioeconomically vulnerable non-displaced and returnees’ damaged homes will support IDPs and local population whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
• Protection: Due to displacement, disruptions to livelihoods and gaps in service provisions, many conflict-affected Ukrainians are struggling to support themselves and meet their basic needs. To address protection needs, RISE will provide case management to support vulnerable and marginalised individuals to obtain rights and access services, complemented by legal assistance and provision of Cash for Protection, to empower beneficiaries to overcome protection risks. In response to shock or displacement, Emergency Cash assistance (ECA) will be provided to socioeconomically vulnerable individuals, enabling them to cover their basic needs. Lastly, PSEA awareness raising will be implemented across the board to prevent exploitation and abuse.
• Mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS): The wide-ranging stressors experienced by Ukrainians have pushed the mental wellbeing of much of the population to breaking point, and there is a high demand for increased availability of MHPSS. RISE plans to address well-being and mental health needs through a holistic approach combining community-based psychosocial support, peer-to-peer support groups based on shared experiences, individual counselling for people with emotional distress and art therapy in group settings.
• Further components: Support technical partner to ensure high quality implementation and sustain activities after the project’s end, as well as establishing a business development and a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) units at national level, contributing to improved programme quality and financial sustainability.