As organizations from around the world respond to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, our Relief and Rehabilitation Fund is supporting members working in the region. The fund, which helps members respond to disasters where lives are at risk, received a supplemental $150,000 from the Government of Manitoba to support Ukraine relief efforts.

Four organizations have received grants: Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC), The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF), Save the Children Canada, and UNICEF Canada. These funds will help provide emergency medical kits to hospitals, hygiene kits and cash assistance for displaced people, and educational tools to keep civilians safe from explosives left behind.

Through the Ukraine Compassion Project, Health Partners International Canada and their partners Medical Ministry International are supplying 20 medical kits to the two largest hospitals in Kyiv. These compact kits include a comprehensive set of medical supplies and medications that will help the Shalimova Hospital and Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital continue to provide health care in the city.

Zaporizhzhia Reception Centre, where 1,800 internally displaced persons have been welcomed to date. Photo: PWRDF

In the Zaporizhzhia Reception Center in eastern Ukraine, families escaping the conflict will receive hygiene kits from The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund and local partners Hungarian Inter-Church Aid. The kits will help 1,800 displaced people by providing basic needs items like toothpaste, soap, and diapers for small children and the elderly.

For 39 Ukrainian refugees in Romania and displaced within Ukraine, Save the Children Canada is providing one year of monthly cash vouchers worth $112 CAD.  These vouchers replace employment income, helping them meet their basic needs while supporting the local economy in their host communities. The vouchers will be distributed by Save the Children Ukraine and Save the Children Romania, and will indirectly reach over 1,400 people.

UNICEF Canada is supporting multiple local partners to create resources for civilians to educate them on safety around Explosive Ordinance. Explosive Ordinance remains in conflict zones well after the fighting has stopped, and can cause civilian injuries and death even decades later. Teaching the public how to recognize threats and dangerous areas can be life-saving. UNICEF and their local partners believe this broad education campaign could reach as many as 6.7 million people living in conflict-affected areas.

These projects represent some of the vast scope of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. From basic medical and sanitary supplies to explosives recognition training, it will continue to take a cooperative global effort to meet the needs of refugees and civilians in Ukraine and the surrounding countries. To date, 15 of MCIC’s members are involved directly in the response.