Weekly Update #114
May 6, 2024
May 6, 2024
REFUGEE SITUATION
(as of 19 April 2024)
General Figures
Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe
5,930,400
Last updated March 14 2024
Covers those granted refugee status, temporary asylum status, temporary protection, or statuses through similar national protection schemes, as well as those recorded in the country under other forms of stay
Refugees from Ukraine recorded beyond Europe
541,200
Last updated March 27 2024
Covers those granted refugee status, temporary asylum status, temporary protection, or statuses through similar national protection schemes, as well as those recorded in the country under other forms of stay
Refugees from Ukraine recorded globally
6,471,600
Last updated April 19 2024
Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities
THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
World Food Program Overview of Response (2023)
Maintaining its leading operational position for emergency response, WFP helped 4.5 million war-affected vulnerable people meet their needs across its activities in Ukraine in 2023, with 90 percent of these beneficiaries residing in areas close to the frontline.
Around 2 million people consistently received support every month, many relying on WFP’s assistance to fulfill their food requirements. WFP also supported the restoration of supply chains and strengthening of food systems, as well as provided services to humanitarian and development partners.
The ripple effects of the conflict persevered, adversely affecting food security, the ability of people to meet their essential needs, and the safety and security of affected communities. This situation called for sustained, conflict-sensitive humanitarian assistance, coupled with support to the Government of Ukraine to continue responding to humanitarian needs.
Food access continued to be the key challenge for food security in Ukraine, rather than availability. The war has significantly affected access to markets for Ukrainian agricultural produce and other commodities, amplifying challenges for national and international supply chains. The suspension of the Black Sea Initiative and targeted attacks on port and grain storage infrastructure severely hampered the country’s export capacity. Russian-controlled areas remained inaccessible despite steady requests for humanitarian access.
The focus of WFP operations in Ukraine in 2023 remained crisis response, emphasizing the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 (Zero Hunger). WFP also expanded its efforts to strengthen the Government and
non-government partners' capacity. This involved enhancing the shock-responsiveness of the social protection system and strengthening food systems, paving the way for a smooth transition and eventual handover of humanitarian
assistance to the Government and other stakeholders.
WFP’s assistance also remained largely concentrated along the frontline - 90 percent of the beneficiaries - in the east and the south throughout the whole year, where communities experienced acute and severe food insecurity for both physical and economic challenges. Proximity to the frontline prevented these communities from accessing food, heightening their food insecurity. As the frontline remained stable with little shift, 2023, unlike 2022, did not see a significant movement of people, neither through internal displacement nor returns.
Key Results of Response
1.4 million crisis-affected Ukrainians were served with food and cash to meet their food and nutritional needs. The distribution process in the field was streamlined by transferring what used to be a centralized process to field offices, for faster and more direct engagement with partners in the field locations. Post-distribution monitoring showed high satisfaction rate with both quantity and quality of the assistance, and access to the distribution. The monitoring findings also suggested that WFP’s in-kind assistance mitigated further deterioration of food consumption.
WFP maintained the largest humanitarian cash caseload in Ukraine, providing multi-purpose cash assistance to nearly 1.3 million. A strategic market-based transitional support programme was initiated, shifting in-kind assistance to cash areas where market functionality was restored. Close to 200,000 people received the transitional support.
2023 marked a pivotal moment for WFP's support to the national school meal programme in Ukraine, as it transitioned from a pilot phase to a scaled-up initiative, ultimately reaching nearly 50,000 children within the same year.
Throughout 2023, WFP systematically worked with the Government of Ukraine to address the pressing needs of those most vulnerable to ongoing conflict. Aligned with the national pension reform, the complementary social benefit cash programme aimed to support war-affected retirees and persons with disabilities receiving less than the minimum sustainable Government pension. WFP provided cash top-ups to over 400,000 people under this initiative in the most war-torn hromadas in the south, east and north of Ukraine in 2023.
For the Food Assistance part, the cluster reached an average of 79 percent of the monthly target. In June, when the Kakhovka Dam emergency broke out, over 3.5 million people (96 percent of the target) were provided with food assistance, demonstrating the coordinated capacity among partners to mobilize resources. In contrast, both agricultural and non-agricultural livelihood activities were heavily underfunded, resulting in reaching only 22 percent of the annual target of over 3 million people.
The WFP-led Logistics Cluster played a pivotal role in Ukraine’s humanitarian response, facilitating 107 inter-agency convoys and delivering 3,227 mt of relief items to 69 locations across six frontline oblasts in 2023. As a key enabler of the humanitarian response, it engaged 129 organizations in logistics coordination, information management, and service provision. Storage facilities in Dnipro, Kherson, Kropyvnytskyi, Kyiv, and Odesa received 16,118 m3 of cargo on behalf of 22 partners.
Source: WFP
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Overview of the ICRC’s response two years after the escalation of the armed conflict
Since 24 February 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has posted over 900 staff throughout Ukraine to help communities build the strength and capacity to recover and with the aim of minimizing the conflict's current and future impacts.
We have provided a range of emergency services over the last two years, for people living on the frontline, including distribution of food, water and other essential items. We have supplied health-care facilities with equipment and resources to improve their emergency preparedness and meet increased demand. Repairing water stations and assisting in the reconstruction of damaged homes have also been critical components of our response strategy.
Promoting compliance with international humanitarian law is another essential part of our response, to preserve the safety, physical integrity and dignity of those affected by the conflict, including civilians, prisoners of war, separated families and deceased or missing persons.
Thousands of families have received information about detained or missing relatives thanks to collaboration between the ICRC Central Tracing Agency Bureau and the National Information Bureaus of Russia and Ukraine, although more remains to be done. The ICRC has also taken part, as a neutral intermediary, in the repatriation of the remains of hundreds of fallen Ukrainian and Russian soldiers in coordination with relevant authorities on both sides.
Working alongside our partners from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, we have brought help to vast numbers of people who need it in Ukraine, neighbouring countries, and other places where people have sought refuge. In total, the Movement has brought humanitarian assistance to over 11.6 million people. That response was made possible by more than 129,000 volunteers and the staff of 58 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Since February 2022, we have visited almost 2,400 prisoners of war on both sides and have shared news and updates directly with thousands of families. We continue to push for access to all prisoners of war through bilateral dialogue
Source: ICRC
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Russia-Ukraine international armed conflict: 23,000 people reported missing
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is seeking to clarify the fate of 23,000 persons whose families have no news of them, either because they have been captured, killed, or because they lost contact after fleeing their homes. The pain of family separation comes on top of indescribable loss and suffering. Two years after the escalation of the armed conflict, humanitarian needs are rising, including for millions of people displaced, both within and beyond the borders of the two countries.
By the end of January 2024, the ICRC, in collaboration with Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere, had helped 8,000 families receive information on the fate or whereabouts of their missing loved one. Over the last two years, the ICRC has received more than 115,000 phone calls, online requests, letters or in-person visits from families from both Russia and Ukraine looking for their missing relatives.
Established in March 2022, the Central Bureau Tracing Agemcu-B works with the parties to the conflict to prevent disappearances and support families searching for their relatives on both sides of the frontline.
In accordance with the Geneva Conventions, both Russia and Ukraine authorities have set up National Information Bureaus (NIBs) in charge of collecting, centralizing and transmitting information on protected persons (such as prisoners of war or civilian internees) in their hands.
The ICRC works in close collaboration with Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement partners in around 50 countries to be able to bring answers to families of the missing or prisoners of war. It also assists the parties to the international armed conflict in fulfilling their legal obligations related to the recovery, identification, transfer, and repatriation of human remains, including by playing a neutral intermediary role when needed.
Source: ICRC
STATUS OF THE CONFLICT
Russian forces made a notable tactical advance northwest of Avdiivka near Arkhanhelske on the night of May 3 to 4, likely following a Ukrainian decision to withdraw from the area on May 3.
Ukrainian forces may have decided to trade space for time as they wait for the arrival of US aid to the frontline at scale in the coming weeks – an appropriate decision for an under-resourced force at risk of being outflanked. The Institute for the Study of War continues to assess that Russian forces are likely trying to take advantage of the limited time window before the arrival of Western military aid deliveries by intensifying offensive operations and that Russian forces may make further tactical advances in this area in the near future.
Russian strikes on Kharkiv killed at least one person and wounded nine on Tuesday, the regional governor said. Russian bombardment of Kharkiv, which lies near the Russian border and is Ukraine’s second-largest city, has intensified in recent weeks.
The Ukrainian village of Ocheretyne in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region has been battered by fighting, drone footage obtained by the Associated Press shows. Russian troops have been advancing in the area, pounding Kyiv’s depleted, ammunition-deprived forces with artillery, drones and bombs. Ukraine’s military has acknowledged that Russia has gained a “foothold” in Ocheretyne, which had a population of about 3,000 before the war, but says the fighting there is continuing.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) on Tuesday described a worsening situation in Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine, with an increasingly anxious population subjected to regular air raids. It said the city now regularly suffers “severe power outages, interruptions in water and heating supply, and a complete halt of trams for public transportation”. The IRC said recent attacks had caused “extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and led to a sharp increase in casualties among the local population … air raid sirens sound day and night”, with people “experiencing heightened anxiety and distress”.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said he was encouraging countries with Patriot missile systems to donate them to Ukraine, which has appealed for more of the air defence systems. “There are countries that have Patriots, and so what we’re doing is continuing to engage those countries,” Austin told a congressional hearing. Various European Union countries possess the systems, including Spain, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden. Zelenskiy has previously told Nato members that his country needs a minimum of seven additional Patriot or other high-end air defence systems.
Sources: ISW
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Cubans lured to Russian army by high pay and passports
Russia has likely been recruiting Cuban nationals to fight in its army in Ukraine, research by the BBC has shown.
In September and October 2023, passport details belonging to over 200 Cubans who allegedly joined the Russian army were leaked online by a pro-Ukrainian platform called InformNapalm.
The passport details were obtained, the site said, by hacking the emails of a Russian military recruitment officer in Tula, south of Moscow.
A Facebook search has shown that 31 of the names mentioned in the Ukrainian leak match accounts whose owners appear to be in Russia or linked to the Russian army. Some, for instance, have posted photos of themselves wearing Russian military uniform, or in locations that bear Russian street signs or Russian number plates. Others list Russia as their current place of residence.
Many of those Facebook users started posting Russia-related content in the second half of 2023, indicating when they might have arrived in the country.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has suffered heavy losses on the battlefield. A BBC investigation confirmed the names of more than 50,000 Russian troops killed in Ukraine - but the real number is likely to be much higher. Ukraine's own estimate puts the number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded in the war at nearly 500,000.
Recruiting foreigners to replace some of the losses also helps the Kremlin avoid the risks posed by trying to mobilise Russians by force. When Russia declared a partial mobilisation in 2022, hundreds of thousands of men left the country.
Bringing Cubans into Russia is relatively straightforward. The two countries have been allies since the Cold War, Cubans do not need a visa to travel to Russia and direct flights to Moscow make the trip easie
Meanwhile, lucrative army contracts offered by Russia appeal to Cuban men desperate to escape the worsening economic crisis on the US-sanctioned island.
Documents leaked online and media reports suggest Cuban men are offered monthly payments in the region of $2,000 (£1,600) per month - a huge sum for Cuba, where the average monthly salary is under $25 (£20).
The promise of Russian citizenship may also entice some Cubans. Since the start of its war against Ukraine, Moscow has been taking steps to make it significantly easier for foreigners to obtain Russian citizenship after spending time in the army, and the BBC has seen social media posts suggesting that some Cuban fighters received Russian passports within months of signing up.
A Russian passport allows visa-free travel to 117 destinations, while Cuban passport holders are limited to 61. The Cubans wanted to "help our country achieve the objectives of the special military operation", it reported, adding that "some of them would like to become Russian citizens in the future".
But finding a reliable estimate of the number of Cubans who have joined the Russian ranks is difficult. Ukraine's diplomatic envoy for Latin America and the Caribbean, Ruslan Spirin, put the number at 400 in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
One Cuban officer in Russia, Lázaro Gonzalez, told an exiled anti-government radio station that 90 Cubans were serving under his command. According to him, they were likely to be deployed to already occupied parts of eastern Ukraine rather than frontline positions. "As the Russian army occupies areas in Ukraine, what we Cubans do is support the army in those cities and in those areas that are occupied, that's all," Mr Gonzalez told the Miami-based radio station.
Numerous reports suggest Cubans have often joined the Russian army after coming into contact with recruiters on social media, but that not all of them appeared aware of the real nature of the job on offer.
For their part, Cuban authorities have issued conflicting statements on their citizens' involvement in the Ukraine war. Following a flurry of reporting in September 2023 about Cubans fighting in Ukraine, authorities in Havana said they had arrested 17 people involved in their recruitment.
However, soon afterwards, Cuba's ambassador to Russia, Julio Antonio Garmendía Peña, said his government had nothing against Cubans who wanted to "simply sign a contract and legally take part in this operation alongside the Russian army".
Hours later, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said Havana was against "the participation of Cuban citizens in conflicts of any sort".
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have said they have seen an increase in the number of foreign fighters joining Russian forces in recent months, as well as foreigners among the soldiers the Ukrainian army has captured on the battlefield.
Petro Yatsenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's agency for prisoners of war, told the BBC many of them came from low-income countries such as Cuba, India and Nepal, as well as African and Central Asian states.
Source: BBC
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Russia is capturing its biggest swath of territory since July 2022, as Kyiv desperately awaits US weaponry
The five-month wait before US Congress approved $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine may have caused lasting damage that will be felt on the frontlines for months to come.
Russian forces have used the “artillery drought” hampering Ukraine’s defenses since December to push forward on the eastern front near Avdiivka, making the largest advance since the early months of the war. Moscow’s progress has prompted warnings from senior Ukrainian military officials of a possible threat to Kyiv’s supply lines and hubs in the east, which are now perilously close to being in range of superior Russian firepower.
The bleak news of progress comes ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive in late May, which could threaten Ukraine’s presence in the Donetsk region and hard-fought, if modest, gains towards the occupied port city of Mariupol. Russia has thrown vast resources at weak Ukrainian defenses across the eastern frontlines, pushing toward three key points: the vital military hub of Pokrovsk, west of Avdiivka; the strategic heights of Chasiv Yar, near Bakhmut; and Kurakhove in the southeast.
On February 17, Ukraine announced it had withdrawn from Avdiivka, a town battled over for a decade, one which Russia appears to have sacrificed hundreds of troops to take. Yet Moscow’s advance did not stop there. Over the next 10 weeks, as a CNN map and analysis by the Ukrainian monitoring group DeepStateMap shows, Russian forces slowly took village after village to Avdiivka’s west, taking advantage of Kyiv’s failure to build fortifications and reluctance to publicly state the extent of their territorial losses in that area.
He said there was a lack of defensive fortifications along the Avdiivka “entire left flank” — which would effectively mean open plains are now vulnerable almost as far as a key highway that leads to the strategic Ukrainian hub of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian officials have also warned publicly about the threat to Chasiv Yar, a small town near the city of Bakhmut, brutally torn from Ukrainian control last May. Chasiv Yar sits on a hill, and Lt. Col Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the Ukrainian Khortytsia command, said Tuesday on Ukrainian television that Russian forces were aiming to push along the canal near it, and seize it to gain a strategic advantage over vital nearby Ukrainian military towns.
If those four towns, (Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Druzhkivka), which sit along the same highway, were to come under serious threat of capture, Russia’s goal of control over the entire Donetsk region would come much closer to fruition.
Source: CNN
UPDATES ON INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE
The United States Announces more than $190 Million to Support Ukraine’s Energy Sector
On May 3, 2024, Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman announced that USAID will provide more than $190 million to the Securing Power, Advancing Resilience and Connectivity (SPARC) project, which will provide urgently needed energy assistance to the Government of Ukraine (GOU) over five years. This project will focus on improving the resilience, reliability, affordability, and security of the electric power, natural gas, and district heating sectors in Ukraine and provide critical technical assistance, reform support, and equipment and services to maintain energy supply. Following the passage of the National Security Supplemental last week, the United States will also provide at least $1.4 billion in additional funding to support Ukraine's economic recovery.
On March 22, 2024, Russia launched its largest attack to date on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, further demonstrating the urgent need for this investment. USAID has dedicated nearly $1 billion in energy assistance since the onset of Putin's full-scale invasion, building short and long-term resilience for the people of Ukraine. This includes over $475 million in emergency support provided during the last two winters to help Ukraine repair and maintain its energy infrastructure. This equipment includes autotransformers to ensure electricity transmission to communities across the country and mobile boiler houses to heat critical facilities like schools and hospitals. This support is helping Ukrainians achieve the future they envision for their own country – one in which Ukraine is prosperous, democratic, and independent.
The United States’ ongoing support for Ukraine reflects our commitment to its sovereignty, economic prosperity, and democratic institutions. USAID’s SPARC program will help keep the lights on for millions of Ukrainians and empower them to continue to protect their homeland.
Source: USAID
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The United States Announces $60 Million to Bolster Agriculture Amid War-Time Threats in Ukraine
On May 3, 2024, USAID Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman announced that USAID will provide an additional $60 million to help mitigate the impact of Russia’s war on agricultural production in Ukraine and accelerate Ukraine’s economic recovery. Despite Russia’s brutal war and its attempts to destroy Ukrainian farmland and agricultural export infrastructure, agriculture remains a key driver of the economy, generating over 60 percent of the country’s export revenue last year. Following the passage of the National Security Supplemental last week, the United States will also provide at least $1.4 billion in additional funding to support Ukraine's economic recovery.
This new initiative will work to improve Ukrainian farmers’ production efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness in the current war-time environment, while helping lay the groundwork for the sector’s long-term, sustainable growth.
The program will be part of USAID’s groundbreaking Agriculture Resilience Initiative-Ukraine (AGRI-Ukraine) aimed at bolstering Ukraine’s agricultural production and exports and to help alleviate the global food security crisis. Since July 2022, USAID has invested over $350 million in AGRI-Ukraine and leveraged more than $370 million from the private sector and other donors, providing a model for effective private sector partnerships. The initiative has already reached more than 32 percent of the country’s registered farmers through providing seeds, fertilizers, crop protection, storage, access to financing and other services, helping over 14,000 farmers deliver the 2022 and 2023 harvests and plant their 2024 crops.
At the launch event, Deputy Administrator Coleman underscored the importance of agriculture to the Ukrainian economy, as well as to global food security. USAID will continue to bolster the entire sector, safeguarding this major economic engine for future generations of Ukrainians, and restoring global food supply.
Source: USAID
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Additional Norwegian support
Norway is to accelerate its military and civilian aid for Ukraine for this year by 7bn kroner to a total of 22bn kroner (£1.6bn/US$1.97bn). The prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store, said it would be brought forward from 75bn kroner pledged to Ukraine covering 2023 to 2027. Of the 7bn kroner brought forward, 6bn kroner would go military aid, primarily desperately needed anti-air defence and ammunition.
Source: The Guardian
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More than $3.1 million in grants for Poland and Ukraine to support resilience and recovery
The Center for Disaster Philanthrophy, a non-profit organization based in USA, focuses on all aspects of recovery to strengthen disaster-affected communities, from preparedness and planning to rebuilding and addressing inequities that exacerbate vulnerabilities.
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Recovery Fund was established in February 2022 to focus on investing in long-term solutions to addressing humanitarian needs that arise, particularly among the most vulnerable, marginalized and at-risk people, including those who are internally displaced (IDPs) within Ukraine and refugees who have fled to surrounding countries due to the war.
In 2023, 17.6 million people in Ukraine required humanitarian assistance, 45% of whom are women, 23% are children and 15% are people with disabilities. In addition, millions of refugees have fled Ukraine, with the majority recorded across Europe. The 2023 Regional Refugee Response Plan, which includes Poland, Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania and other surrounding countries, called for $1.69 billion in aid.
Last year, CDP took a trip to Poland, to meet with local partners to better understand ongoing needs and where CDP can make the greatest impact on the economic and social integration of refugees and long-term recovery. It intentionally funds programs and organizations serving Ukrainians displaced in the surrounding countries because there is a great need for these populations.
Despite the high needs recorded, many Ukrainian organizations and organizations in Poland and other host countries have struggled to secure much-needed financial support to meet their communities’ needs. With a dramatic fall in funding levels, particularly in refugee-hosting countries like Poland, many international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) have withdrawn, are closing their offices or are determining exit strategies for their programs in the region, reinforcing the need to invest in the capacity of local organizations and locally-led initiatives.
Supporting a just and equitable recovery
The aim of this round of grantmaking from the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Recovery Fund is to continue to invest in programs and initiatives that help strengthen resilience, facilitate the integration of IDPs, refugees and returnees, and ensure an inclusive, fair and equitable recovery from the negative impacts of the war. Priorities include targeting marginalized and at-risk populations, such as LGBTQIA+ populations, women and children, refugees, and minority groups, for programs prioritizing livelihoods and economic empowerment, shelter, education, legal advice and case management, integration and social cohesion, and mental health and psychosocial support.
CDP has also prioritized working with non-traditional humanitarian actors, including human rights groups, advocacy organizations, and other civil society actors that existed before the invasion and have become humanitarians overnight. These partners are often better positioned to tackle root causes of vulnerability and discrimination that existed pre-conflict. They know the context well and have deep roots and trust within networks established over time. We work with these actors to address the root causes of vulnerability to ensure an equitable and inclusive recovery for all.
Many of the grants also include investments in systems that will further develop and strengthen the infrastructure needed for an equitable recovery and bolster local capacities. For example, CDP partnered with Refugees International to provide support to the recently formed Alliance for Ukrainian Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), helping them formalize structure, governance, strategy and raising their profile by funding the 2nd Annual Aid Conference, which saw the major actors from the UN, humanitarian and donor community in attendance.
CDP’s funding not only supported the conference but will also support the Alliance in developing report products, including a business case for localization, a localization annual survey and a lessons learned report at the end of the year. This work will build a more robust, locally-led response in Ukraine, which should be better able to withstand the inevitable diminishing funding and interest from outsiders and improve the long-term provision of aid for Ukrainians in need.
Latest round of grants from the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Recovery Fund
The CDP is pleased to announce more than $3.1 million in grants to nine organizations working in Poland and Ukraine.
Corus Solutions received $1 million to rebuild smallholder farmer and IDP livelihoods, increase local climate-adaptive agricultural capacity and production, and improve food security in Kharkiv Oblast.
Fundacja Teach for Poland received $250,000 to enhance the competencies and leadership skills of intercultural assistants working with refugee children from Ukraine who are integrated into public Polish schools, fostering intercultural dialogue and education and promoting resilience.
Fundacja Ukrainski Dom (Ukrainian House) received $250,000 to increase and improve the participation, integration, and effective social and economic inclusion and functioning of Ukrainian refugees in society, enabling them to fully exploit their potential and counteract social exclusion and discrimination.
Gender Stream received $250,000 to identify and strengthen the leadership capacity of nascent LGBTQIA+ rights activists and civil society leaders to work with their communities and to advocate for greater inclusion of affected LGBTQIA+ people in response and recovery plans.
Miyamoto received $250,000 to develop guidelines and training to enable the safe demolition of asbestos-containing structures in war-damaged Ukraine, which pose a significant health hazard to communities recovering from the impact of war.
ORAM received a two-year grant of $485,000, co-funded from the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Recovery Fund and the Global Recovery Fund, to build the capacity of INGOs, NGOs and CSOs working with LGBTQIA+ refugees and provide them with the tools to meet the unique needs of LGBTQIA+ refugees in Europe and
Philanthropy in Ukraine received $249,760 towards a multi-donor funded project to build out and enhance the Philanthropy.in.ua platform, conduct comprehensive research, offer capacity-building initiatives to empower local civil society, and broker and foster a proactive community of Ukrainian and international nonprofit organizations, ultimately resulting in a strengthened and more impactful philanthropic ecosystem to respond to long-term recovery needs in Ukraine.
Polish Center for International Aid (PCPM) received $250,000 to support The Polish Organizations Pooled Fund (POP Fund), which aims to address the ongoing longer-term recovery and integration needs of Ukrainian refugees in Poland by providing nine small grants to Polish local NGOs and CBOs delivering critical assistance programs, particularly for the most vulnerable populations.
Refugees International (RI) received $160,000 to help operationalize the localization agenda in Ukraine through the recently launched Alliance for Ukrainian CSOs, which requested that RI continue to provide expertise and international advocacy support across the Alliance’s multiple lines of effort.
Source: Center for Disaster Philanthropy
HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE
Angelus - May 5, 2024 (Sunday)
And please, continue to pray for tormented Ukraine – it suffers a great deal! – and also for Palestine and Israel, that they may be peace, that dialogue may be strengthened and bear good fruit. No to war, yes to dialogue!
E per favore, continuiamo a pregare per la martoriata Ucraina – soffre tanto! – e anche per Palestina e Israele, che ci sia la pace, affinché il dialogo si rafforzi e porti buoni frutti. No alla guerra, sì al dialogo!
Links to the full text in ENGLISH and ITALIANGeneral Audience - May 1, 2024
And then let us not forget to pray for peace. Let us pray for people who are victims of war. War is always a defeat — always. Let us think of tormented Ukraine which is suffering so much. Let us think of those who live in Palestine and in Israel, who are at war. Let us think of the Rohingya, of Myanmar, and let us ask for peace. Let us ask for true peace for these people and for the whole world. Sadly, today, investments in arms manufacturing are those which yield the most income. Terrible, profiting from death. Let us ask for peace, may peace advance.
E poi non dimentichiamo di pregare per la pace: preghiamo per i popoli che sono vittime della guerra. La guerra sempre è una sconfitta, sempre. Pensiamo alla martoriata Ucraina che soffre tanto. Pensiamo agli abitanti della Palestina e di Israele, che sono in guerra. Pensiamo ai Rohingya, al Myanmar, e chiediamo la pace. Chiediamo la vera pace per questi popoli e per tutto il mondo. Purtroppo oggi gli investimenti che danno più reddito sono le fabbriche delle armi. Terribile, guadagnare con la morte. Chiediamo la pace, che vada avanti la pace.
Links to the full text in ENGLISH and ITALIANNEWS
Pope sends Paschal greetings on Julian calendar Easter
Ukraine celebrates Easter in the shadow of war
Pope denounces arms industry and condemns profiting from death
Catholic leaders press for Orthodox Easter Ukraine war prisoner swap
Humanity draws closer to the Church. Easter interview with Kharkiv Exarch (Google translate)
"Renovabis": 27 million euros to support Catholics in Eastern Europe, 25% - for Ukraine (Google translate)
Father Roman Mykievich about funerals of soldiers, accompanying their families and the experience of Easter (Google translate)
An Italian family opens the doors of their home to those fleeing war (Google translate)
Ukraine: after the destruction of a church, believers pray in a container (Google translate)
MEMBER PHOTOS
When the Khakovka dam in Kherson broke, Caritas Czech Republic, with its partner, New Dawn provided drinking water to affected communities, provided mobile toilets and also repaired critical infrastructure in the flooded areas. Moreover, 5 boreholes were drilled for new wells in Snigyrivka community. (Courtesy of Caritas Czech Republic)