Ukraine Crisis Response:
ADRA Changing Lives One Year Later
The lives of millions of Ukrainians were forever changed on February 24, 2022, when their country awoke to a military conflict. Within hours of the crisis, ADRA launched a global response to assist the tens of thousands of women, children, families, and individuals who fled their homes to escape the shelling and seek refuge in neighboring countries.
A year after the battle broke out, ADRA continues to provide humanitarian aid inside and outside the eastern European nation to help vulnerable communities who have been subjected to increasing violence, trauma, devastation, and displacement. The global humanitarian organization has escalated operations, sent response teams, and launched dozens of projects to assist the most vulnerable people affected by the ongoing conflict.
We’ve seen how the crisis has torn families apart in the last year, with fathers and sons forced to stay behind and fight for their country, women volunteering to stay in war-torn areas to support the cause, and others, including moms and children escaping bombs and fleeing for safety, as well as how the cold, harsh winter has impacted devastated communities and those on the frontlines.
ADRA commends the fortitude and resilience of the Ukrainian people in the midst of this ongoing conflict and is committed to providing life-saving assistance to help them improve and rebuild their lives.
Thank you—from Ukraine
Artem Dikhtairuk, Vice President for ADRA in Ukraine, shares a heartwarming thank-you message and update from the field.
Crisis Dashboard
ADRA’s crisis response is ongoing, and numbers change daily. Click here to interact with the Ukraine Response dashboard.
How is ADRA helping?
- ADRA provides food, shelter, water, multipurpose cash assistance, vouchers for emergency supplies, psychosocial counseling, winterization initiatives, water-trucking distribution, hygiene kits, generators, feeding centers, micro-grants, children camps, and other life-saving services to refugees and displaced families, men, women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
- ADRA has distributed nearly $40 million in humanitarian aid to communities affected by the ongoing crisis.
- ADRA has evacuated and transported over 60,000 people, many of whom were stranded in conflict zones.
- ADRA has dispatched numerous convoys to deliver food, medicine, and other necessities.
- ADRA mobilized over 5,000 volunteers to assist refugees at border crossing points and in neighboring countries.
- ADRA has partnered with trusted allies to airlift and deliver critical medicines, medical equipment, and supplies to Ukrainian hospitals, neonatal units, and maternity clinics.
- ADRA has coordinated efforts with 32 of its country offices around the world to support the Ukraine response.
- ADRA has established integration centers in some countries to assist refugees in adapting and thriving in local communities.
ADRA Country Offices Featured Programs
Ensuring Warmth in Ukraine
Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, and Kharkiv regions have been under occupation for an extended time, and most buildings have been destroyed, while some communities are still under shelling. The local authorities turned to ADRA in Ukraine with a request to help equip warming centers to help the most vulnerable living in the region – people with disabilities and reduced mobility, families with children, and elderly people
Cash-for-Rent Program in Poland
ADRA in Poland has supported 1,642 refugees in Poland through a Cash-for-Rent program to provide three months of rent for families to have a safe place to call home and to provide stability as they seek employment. This program has helped refugees feel like equal members in their new community, providing the comfort of independence, and language classes to be able to work in Poland.
The majority of the refugees fleeing to Poland from Ukraine are educated, women entrepreneurs with children who hope to return to their homeland when the war ends.
Open hearts and homes in Norway
Due to the war in Ukraine, over 30,000 Ukrainians immigrated to Norway in 2022. It is estimated that 40,000 newcomers will seek refuge this coming year, and ADRA in Norway will continue to create a warm welcome while helping to provide assistance to the refugees.
In 2022, ADRA in Norway helped provide language cafes, youth events, leisure activities, family dinners, welcome packages, summer camp support, and other life-filled activities to help refugees adjust to their new life and reality.
“Following the refugee influx from Ukraine, local churches have been an amazing support. We had around four active local ADRA teams before the war in Ukraine started, but now the number has grown to ten active teams. It has been touching to witness the welcoming spirit and strong local engagement for new refugees across the country,” says Frida Reierson, ADRA local teams coordinator at ADRA Norway.
