People in Need continues to support people in Ukraine
Published: Mar 3, 2022 Reading time: 2 minutes
Intense fighting continues across major cities in Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, as well as Kharkiv, Kherson and Mariupol, and in the Donetska and Luhanska oblasts. Damage to civilian infrastructure has left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity or water. Hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed, while bridges and roads damaged by shelling have left communities cut off from essential support.
At least 550 civilian casualties, including 142 deaths, have been recorded by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) between 24 to 28 February. According to the UN OCHA, 18 million people are affected, with 6.7 million people displaced and 12 million people needing humanitarian aid.
Over one million people have fled Ukraine
More than one million people have now fled Ukraine since the invasion, and the number is rising rapidly, according to the UN. The Ukrainian government estimates there will be as many as 5 million refugees in the worst-case scenario.
Under these circumstances, People in Need has mobilized extensive resources to support the population of Ukraine. Our core team has transferred from Kyiv to Lviv, where a new office has opened. New activities are being planned to address the needs of people in different regions.
Delivery of water and psychological assistance
PIN has adapted to new challenges and organized water delivery to people displaced by ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine. Experienced psychologists are constantly providing psychological support to the population on our telephone hotline 0800210160. People in Need will provide financial support to local NGO partners to support displaced people with water, food, hygiene, and other urgent humanitarian needs in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Sviatohirsk.
Our activities will also be focused on the western part of Ukraine. Specifically, on the border crossings to Poland, where people are waiting for several days in long queues of cars to cross the border. Local authorities and local communities have organized food collection points and transportation of people to these locations. We have engaged in distributing hygiene items and important information at these locations.
People in Need is assisting further by building toilets, heated tents, and providing food for children on the roads leading to border crossings to Poland. PIN is also providing aid to refugees on the borders with Romania and Slovakia.
Five PIN trucks loaded with aid have already arrived in Lviv
The first five humanitarian aid trucks provided by People In Need have already arrived in Lviv. These trucks have brought food, hygiene items, diapers, sleeping bags or sleeping mats. Similar humanitarian material has been requested and will be distributed by Lviv Oblast Administration. People in Need also supports the Lviv humanitarian hub with phones, notebooks, and printers to better coordinate local civil society and NGO activities.
