Ukraine crisis: Support for War-affected People in the Odessa Region

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The conflict in Ukraine has been going on now for over a hundred days and is leading not only to more and more victims among the civilian population, but also to massive destruction. Humanitarian organisations estimate that, so far, 11 million people have fled from the war. Of these, 6.3 million have found refuge inside Ukraine.

Now that Russian forces have withdrawn from the area around the capital Kiev, fighting is concentrated mainly in the east of the country. A second front line is currently
active close to the city of Mykolayiv in the south of Ukraine, which is leading to a sustained movement of refugees into the municipality of Odessa (Odeska Oblast) further west. As a result, the number of newly arriving war-displaced persons is currently particularly high here. Because the local authorities and host families cannot bear this burden alone, Caritas Switzerland is supporting the refugees together with its local partner organisation Caritas Spes, the relief agency of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine.

The aim of the project is, to provide particularly vulnerable people who are fleeing from the armed conflict into the municipality of Odessa, with a one-off cash payment, so that they can cover their basic needs for the next three months.

The project supports 950 particularly needy people affected by the war, giving them 180 Swiss francs each. With this money, these internally displaced persons can buy the daily necessities that they feel they most urgently need for themselves and their families.

A total of 368 households will receive a one-off payment. The partner Caritas Spes registers the needy at one of the so-called evacuation checkpoints or at the Caritas Centre in Odessa. Households that meet the selection criteria are then informed by SMS and receive the financial support directly into their bank account.

Caritas Switzerland is a member of the Cash Payment Working Group, through which the aid organisations working in Ukraine ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of this special form of support for the needy. Among other things, the working group issues guidelines for the amount of the payments, the payment modalities, and the safeguarding of the results. In accordance with these guidelines, the project team will conduct a survey of a sample of beneficiaries, a few weeks after the funds are disbursed. This will track what the beneficiaries have spent the money on.

This project is a test run for a deeper cooperation between Caritas Switzerland and Caritas Spes in other regions of the country. An additional activity of this project is therefore to train the staff of Caritas Spes specifically for this further cooperation. This training cooperation is of a longer-term nature, which is why the project duration lasts far beyond the cash action and amounts to a total of 18 months.

The project provides emergency aid for the war-affected population inside Ukraine.