Ukraine: our distributions to meet local humanitarian needs nearly ten months after the start of the war. 

The Première Urgence Internationale teams continue to respond to the most urgent needs of the civilian populations affected by the war in Ukraine.

Humanitarian aid in Ukraine

Almost ten months after the beginning of the escalation of the conflict, the activities carried out in the regions of Lviv, Dnipro, Poltava, Kharkiv and Donetsk alternate between direct aid to beneficiaries through distributions in collective shelters and structural aid through the donation of materials to health centers or local organizations.

In Kharkiv, our teams are present in the areas particularly affected by the war

“We have been working in the Kharkiv region for several weeks now with one of our mobile teams which visits collective centers where displaced people live”, explains Simon Ford-Coron, deputy coordinator of  Première Urgence Internationale in Dnipro. This mobile team offers health, mental health and protection consultations for displaced civilians who have seen their access to healthcare temporarily limited by the hostilities.

Première Urgence Internationale has also begun to provide structural support to hospitals in the region, to help them cope with the winter. Some of them have been heavily affected by the fightings. At the end of November, the World Health Organization reported 715 attacks on health facilities in Ukraine. “By distributing winter equipment, we are responding to the growing and urgent needs of health facilities in the region and the country, in cooperation with the Kharkiv Region Health Department,” said Simon Ford-Coron.

Winter equipment delivered to the hospital in Balakliya, Kharkiv region | © Première Urgence Internationale

Hospitals fear the winter

In Izum and Balakliya, cities located in areas where the Ukrainian government recently regained control, two hospitals received a donation of heating equipment. This will enable them to ensure the well-being of patients and the continuity of services. In two days, 85 radiators, 20 infrared heating systems, 60 boilers and 365 blankets and electric blankets were distributed. “This is our first winter support project for hospitals in the Kharkiv region. This aid will help the local population affected by the war,” adds Natalyia, a member of the Première Urgence Internationale emergency team.

Hospitals in Izioum and Balakliya were damaged in the fighting and are now facing power cuts. According to local authorities, 80% of Izioum is destroyed.

Another distribution took place in the hospital of Bohoduhiv, a city located north of Kharkiv. “These radiators will be used for our maternity ward, the blankets will be used to equip each bed in our wards, and the boilers to heat water”, says Hanna, deputy head doctor of the municipal hospital of Bohoduhiv.

Distribution in Izioum  | © Première Urgence Internationale

Structural aid for health centers in Dnipro

In December, Première Urgence Internationale‘s health teams in Dnipro distributed protective equipment, hygiene products, water fountains and medicines to the health center in Novomoskovsk, in the Dnipro region. “This humanitarian aid is particularly important for us in these difficult times”, explains Yevhenia, head of the outpatient department of the Novomoskovsk health center, “we have received medicines and products necessary to continue treating our patients”, she adds. Further distributions are planned in the coming weeks to other health centers in the region.

Distribution in the health center in Novomoskovsk, Dnipro region | © Olya Ostin

In Lviv, distribution of hygiene kits in collective shelters

In November, the Première Urgence Internationale teams in Lviv distributed more than 600 hygiene kits to displaced persons living in twenty collective accommodation centers in the Lviv region. “This type of kit is useful because, being a pensioner myself, I don’t have the financial resources to buy what I need”, says a man from the Luhansk region. They include hygiene products (laundry, soap, detergent, diapers and standard hygiene products). “Our goal is to help internally displaced people meet their basic needs,” explains Olga, project manager for Première Urgence Internationale in western Ukraine.

Distribution of hygiene kits in Lviv © Katya Moskaluyk | Première Urgence Internationale

Finally, at the end of November, the mobile teams distributed 450 Americares feminine hygiene kits to women living in collective shelters in the Lviv region. The kits included sanitary napkins, soap, shampoo, wet wipes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soaps and tampons.

Olha, protection officer in Lviv, during a distribution in a collective reception center © Katya Moskaluyk | Première Urgence Internationale

Our activities in Ukraine are supported by the Crisis Center of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – OCHA), USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the Renault Foundation, the Faurecia Foundation, and in-kind donations from Civil Protection and Americares.

Distributions in Kharkiv were supported by European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, those in Dnipro by the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – OCHA), and those in Lviv by the Crisis and Support Center of the French Foreign Ministry.