War in Ukraine: displaced women and children desperately hoping to return home one day
Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing human suffering, loss of life and displacement. Over 10 million people were forced to leave their homes and some 12 million are not able to leave due to difficult security situation.
Millions of people are facing severe consequences of this military aggression. The EU has allocated €93 million in humanitarian aid to support those affected by the war. Our humanitarian partners have already established their presence all across Ukraine to provide aid to the ones who need it the most.
People in Need is one of such organisations. This Czech NGO is a long-standing EU humanitarian partner in Ukraine and despite the security concerns, they are currently on the ground helping the people in every way they can.
With EU humanitarian funding, they have already delivered 7 cargo trains full of goods to Kyiv and Dnipro, and from Dnipro further to Kharkiv and Donetska oblast.
In eastern Ukraine, where people have no longer access to shops or goods, they are providing food and hygiene parcels. In Moldova, People In Need is planning to provide cash assistance to help the Ukrainian refugees cover rent and other basic needs.
With EU humanitarian funding, People in Need has supported hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in eastern Ukraine since 2014, by providing safe drinking water, sanitation, cash assistance, and psychosocial support.
Starting from 2017, the EU extended its funding to the ACCESS Consortium, a consortium of humanitarian non-government organizations led by People in Need.
Story and photos by People in Need.
The war in Ukraine is causing human suffering, loss of life and displacement. Over 3.87 million people have already fled to neighbouring countries in search of safety. 9 in 10 of them are women and children.
Countless civilians have been killed. “I will never forget the day when I was trying to get out of Irpin… I was outside when the car of my neighbour’s was shelled. The father died and the mother and a child were wounded,” shared Olha.
In many places in Ukraine, apartment buildings, once warm homes to families, are now impossible to live in or have been completely destroyed. Infrastructure that once served millions of people has been heavily damaged.
Civilian infrastructure including power plants, radio towers and bridges, has been destroyed in the war. The impact of such attacks will have long-lasting consequences.
For older people and people with disabilities, it is almost impossible to flee. They rely on their relatives, neighbours, and volunteers who help them in these harsh circumstances
Parts of the country have become unrecognizable as many flee and buildings crumble. But people still believe that they will be able to return home one day, when peace comes back to Ukraine.
"I’m ready to do everything by myself, including construction works, to rehabilitate destroyed houses. I simply want to come back to my town,” says Olena from Korosten who stays in a collective centre in Lviv region with her 2 daughters.
