Category: News

Our partners from the non-governmental organization Peace Winds Japan visited the Lviv region to agree on the next steps of further cooperation, to see with their own eyes the people they were able to help and to showcase this in Japan.

Right to Protection with funding from Japan Platform and support from Peace Winds Japan is implementing a project to help the war-affected population in сollective centers, social institutions and the private sector. Our activities include assistance with food and hygiene kits and non-specialized medical equipment. We also provide psychological and legal counseling, and help the administration of collective centers to develop legal documentation. 

During the visit, PWJ representatives met with the head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration, Maksym Kozytskyy and the mayor of Drohobych Taras Kuchma. The main topic of discussion was the needs of internally displaced persons, their physical and psychological health and living conditions. In addition, they discussed the prospects of exchanging experience between Lviv schools and Japanese educational institutions. 

As part of the visit, the Peace Winds Japan delegation also visited the Pustomyty Library, where group psychological sessions are held by our specialists. The event was attended by both IDPs and local residents. All the participants agreed that such sessions help not only to maintain their psychological health, but also facilitate the integration of IDPs into communities.

At the Pidkamin psychoneurological boarding house, the team inspected the place where the IDPs live and collected all the necessary information to improve their living conditions.

Our partners highly appreciated the warehouse where the food parcels are stored, as it is large and well organized. Later, our colleagues saw with their own eyes the process of providing legal aid and distributing food parcels at the art school in Stryi. More than 50 IDPs received assistance. 

Partners from Peace Winds Japan noted that our team is very friendly and active. Such visits are extremely important because they make cooperation more fruitful and help us to focus on the most necessary assistance for people.

According to official accounts, prior to full-scale invasion some 5,000 refugees and asylum seekers were living in Ukraine. Having already fled other conflicts or persecution, they lack documents or even a nationality, do not have a safe home country to return. 

While Europe has provided an unprecedented level of support and rights to Ukrainian nationals, previously displaced asylum seekers and refugees have faced significant barriers to protection. To better understand the protection risks faced by those who were forced to flee to the European Union (EU), we examined the scope and limitations of the policies enacted by the EU and its Member States to protect those fleeing the war in Ukraine. Additionally, HIAS and Right to Protection (R2P) conducted a survey of 300 non-Ukrainian asylum seekers and refugees – many of whom we had previously been providing legal aid in Ukraine.

Based on this research R2P and HIAS have developed recommendations for the governments of EU member states to help improve the situation of this vulnerable group.

The full report

English version:

Ukrainian version:

International standards for the protection of civilians, its adaptation to Ukrainian realities and the peculiarities of the Ukrainian protection standard were discussed at the educational training for officials, civil servants, employees of the State Emergency Service and social services in Khmelnytskyi by our professional trainers and consultants Maryna Turenok and Yulia Kostyuchenko.

“These are specialized modules for representatives of the authorities and services that respond to emergencies. During these two days, we built a clear plan of action and response to emergencies: with whom they should communicate, whom to involve in such cases, how to organize the process. All hromadas, without exception, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, faced problems when they did not know whom to involve in resolving the situation. There should be joint activities of different services in solving such issues,” said Yulia Kostiuchenko, civil protection consultant at the Right to Protection CF, trainer and volunteer with 9 years of experience.

Yulia also shared real cases when it was necessary to provide assistance to affected civilians. At the training, the case of rescuing a girl from Mariupol who lost all her relatives was worked out in detail. The military and volunteers managed to take her from the occupied territory to a safe hromada.

💬”We have analyzed in detail how we can help this child, who to involve, what help to provide in the first place. In such cases, it is really necessary to involve medical specialists who conduct examinations, psychologists, police, because it is necessary to find the next of kin who could establish guardianship. These are difficult but real stories of people who need help from the community,” said Yulia.

The trainings were held within the framework of the project “Preparedness and Stabilization in Central and Western Ukraine” implemented by the Right to Protection CF together with the NGO ACTED Ukraine and the IMPACT initiative and funded by the UK from the British people.

DRR #UKaid #CivilProtection #ACTED #IMPACT #ProtectionMainstreaming

To update knowledge on civil protection and organization of evacuation activities, in especially in social institutions for persons with disabilities and the elderly – this was the goal of educational trainings from experts of the Right to Protection, which took place this week with representatives of the authorities in Vinnytsia, in particular the Regional and District Departments of Social Protection, the Service for Children at the regional and district levels, the State Emergency Service and the Center for Social Services.

A few months earlier, consultants of the “Preparedness and Stabilization in Central and Western Ukraine” project of the Right to Protection were able to evaluate the accessibility and inclusiveness of social institutions in Vinnytsia region, as well as the safety of using protective facilities in these institutions. Maryna Turenok, project expert, had the opportunity to share her experience in this area at a meeting with officials.

The participants of the training received practical recommendations on organizational and legal support of civilians during crisis situations and improvement of emergency response capabilities of the authorities.

“We set ourselves the task of familiarizing the participants of the training in detail with the basic principles and standards of international humanitarian law, the work of international organizations and cluster systems that provide assistance to civilians during emergencies and armed conflicts, including those operating in Ukraine. And also to talk about humanitarian standards for the protection of children, women, the elderly and persons with disabilities, for their implementation during an emergency or humanitarian crisis or armed conflict”, – says Yulia Kostyuchenko, project trainer of the Found.

The project “Preparedness and Stabilization in Central and Western Ukraine” is implemented by the Right to Protection CF together with the NGO ACTED Ukraine and the IMPACT initiative and is funded by the UK from the British people.

#DRR #UKaid #CivilProtection #ACTED #IMPACT #ProtectionMainstreaming

Last week turned out to be busy for our organization for international work meetings. Yes, our advocacy coordinator Tetiana Luzan visited Washington. There, she took part in a gathering of employees on issues of international policy, advocacy, communications, and the involvement of the Jewish community, organized by the foundation’s long-standing partners, which started the existence of the BF “Right to Protection” in Ukraine – HIAS.

Tetyana Luzan met with representatives of civil society in the USA, and also talked with representatives of congressmen’s offices specializing in issues related to Ukraine. She talked about the work of the fund in the conditions of a full-scale invasion, the directions of our activities and the main problems that our colleagues are working on solving within the framework of the projects implemented by the fund.

I drew attention to the issue of housing for immigrants. Thus, in September, the government of Ukraine approved a special simplified procedure for providing housing for temporary use to displaced persons and persons whose housing was destroyed using the funds of humanitarian and other aid.

“Ukrainian legislation provides for the possibility of providing IDPs with temporary housing for a period of up to one year, with the possibility of further extension. Such housing is provided at the expense of special housing funds created for these purposes by local self-government bodies. However, in the absence of such premises, as well as financial resources for their construction, reconstruction or acquisition, which may be necessary for the formation of such funds, local authorities may not be able to provide IDPs with temporary housing. As an option, it can be financed by international donors”, – noted Tetiana Luzan.

The meetings also discussed the issue of providing psychological assistance to Ukrainians and the need for psychosocial support. Currently, such support is often provided by humanitarian organizations, where there are experts who specialize in psychological trauma caused, for example, by military conflicts. However, their number is not sufficient to provide assistance to all who need it.

We are glad that we were able to talk about the problems of Ukrainians at such a high level. We are sure, that this will speed up the resolution of certain issues and help us to help people even more!

Thank you to HIAS for the invitation and high evaluation of our work.

Ukraine belongs to the countries of Europe with the lowest supply of water resources per capita. Military actions on the territory of our state and their consequences will only worsen the situation in the future. What risks await us and what needs to be done so that access to drinking water does not turn into a luxury for us – experts on water resources protection shared their vision of the problem during the webinar for journalists.

This webinar is the first stage of the grant program for media representatives. We implement it together with our partners – with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the assistance of ACTED. Journalists who would like to participate in covering the problem of pollution/limited access to water resources in Ukraine as a result of the war and propose their own concept of a thematic media project will be able to participate in the grant competition and, in case of victory, receive funding for its implementation.

Therefore, we are waiting for proposals from representatives of the media community (we will leave the link to the application below).

And with you we will be glad to share information on this topic from our experts in the near future, because this problem will affect the lives of each of us and will be echoing for many years to come.