The impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 is still having disastrous consequences for the people: there are around four million refugees in neighbouring countries and over seven million displaced people inside Ukraine. It is the largest human displacement crisis in the world today.
Funds raised
Thanks to Canadians’ great generosity, Development and Peace — Caritas Canada has so far received around $2 million in donations for current and future humanitarian relief operations (95% of which are being used directly for this crisis, 5% for administrative costs). Thank you for your great generosity!
Development and Peace has also received $200,000 from the Government of Quebec and is seeking funds from various levels of government and private foundations.
Development and Peace — Caritas Canada’s response
We are working with three partners: Caritas Ukraine, Caritas Slovakia and Caritas Czech Republic. To date, Caritas Ukraine has reached around 1.5 million Ukrainians who are displaced or living in hard-to-reach areas of Ukraine, while in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, our Caritas partners have helped hundreds of thousands of refugees, mostly women and children.
Immediate response: In the first few months of the war, our partners’ activities were primarily aimed at providing basic assistance, such as:
- food and water;
- hygiene kits and medical care;
- transportation;
- temporary shelter;
- clothes;
- play areas for children;
- counselling and psychosocial support; and
- integration support in neighbouring countries.
Medium- and long-term response: In the last few months, our partners have been providing stabilizing humanitarian assistance to the many families who are returning to their devastated homes or live in a neighbouring region. They are also continuing to provide first-response humanitarian assistance, particularly in the east and south of the country where the fierce fighting is giving rise to urgent humanitarian needs. The more long-term support includes:
- monthly food and hygiene assistance;
- more permanent housing solutions, help repairing damaged homes and household supplies; and
- more in-depth psychosocial support for adults and children, including child-friendly spaces.
On behalf of the Ukrainian people and our partners, thank you for your generous support!
- For further information, please see our Questions & Answers.
