Ukraine
Humanitarian context
Since 2014, eastern Ukraine has been destabilized by a conflict between the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and the Ukrainian government. These clashes resulted in the death of more than 3,000 civilians, injured 7,000 and affected 5.4 million people. The Minsk agreements signed back in 2015 never succeeded in bringing peace and stability to the region.
Russia’s launch of a military offensive on Ukrainian territory on February 24, 2022 led to the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. More than 6.5 million civilians are displaced in the country and 7.84 million have taken refuge in Europe.
*Ukraine is currently facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis with 17.7 million people in need.
Regular air and ground attacks heavily affect the functioning of essential services, such as hospitals, health centers, schools, but also the livelihoods of the civilian population. Since October, attacks on energy infrastructure have resulted in the destruction of almost 50% of Ukraine’s energy system. This has consequences for millions of civilians, especially in large cities, who experience daily power and heating cuts in the middle of winter.
* Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Key figures
implementation
Description of the mission
Première Urgence Internationale has been operational since 2015 in the Donetsk region, on both sides of the contact line. Faced with a humanitarian situation that has resulted in multi-sectoral needs for the populations, Première Urgence Internationale has developed an integrated approach combining health, mental health, access to water, hygiene and sanitation in health infrastructures. Thus, Première Urgence Internationale has directly supported beneficiaries (free access to medicines) and the health and social system of this region (provision of medical equipment).
Since February 24th, in the context of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, Première Urgence Internationale has been responding to the most urgent needs of the civilian population. Première Urgence Internationale has deployed its teams in the regions of Lviv, Dnipro, Poltava, Kharkiv and Donetsk, in order to support internally displaced persons living in reception centers with free health, mental health and protection consultations, and local Ukrainian organisations and structures with in-kind donations.
Premiere Urgence Internationale in action
In 2022, Première Urgence Internationale rapidly adapted its humanitarian response to the urgency of the situation in two ways
- the extension of operations to other areas affected by the war in Ukraine,
- assistance to refugees in Poland with the opening of a mission in March.
Première Urgence Internationale has opened offices in Dnipro and Lviv in order to develop programs to support the most vulnerable civilian populations in the East and West.
Première Urgence Internationale has deployed mobile medical teams to provide initial medical assistance to displaced civilian populations whose access to healthcare has been temporarily limited or stopped due to the fighting. Première Urgence Internationale‘s mobile teams intervene directly in collective accommodation centers, which are mainly in rural areas. They provide health, psychology and protection consultations, complementing the Ukrainian health infrastructures which continue to function.
Première Urgence Internationale in Ukraine has also developed a strategy of direct assistance to the civilian population (distribution of hygiene kits), to local associations managing reception centers (distribution of furniture) and structural assistance to health establishments (distribution of heating materials, household products, personal protective equipment).
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