The Estonian Refugee Council signed a cooperation agreement with the World Food Programme (WFP) to support more than 60,000 people in four oblasts in North-Eastern Ukraine with multi-purpose cash assistance. The amount of the grant allocated for this purpose by WFP is 12.5 million euros, which will reach those in need under the coordination of the Estonian Refugee Council's team on the ground in Ukraine.

“We were the first humanitarian organisation to already start on 2 March with multi-purpose cash assistance in Eastern Ukraine. Multi-purpose cash assistance remains the preferred way to support the people of Ukraine: it is fast, effective and dignified. Until now we have given aid from the funds donated by kind people in Estonia, but we can now significantly increase the volume of our aid programme in cooperation with the World Food Programme,” said Eero Janson, Director of the Estonian Refugee Council.

Since the escalation of the war to this day, the Estonian Refugee Council has supported 7,000 households, or about 21,000 people, in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kiev and Sumy oblasts, but the focus has also been on Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv and Chernihiv oblasts. The World Food Programme's support will focus on the Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv and Kiev oblasts, and other oblasts will continue to be supported with the support of Estonian donors.

“If the people we support learn that ordinary people from small Estonia are helping much larger Ukraine in this way – they are very surprised and grateful. We support people who are in the most difficult situations, who have had to leave their homes, or who are alone in a front city with several children and who want to get to a safe location. People use this money to cover their basic needs: food, water, hygiene, gas,” said Tamara Ogorodova, Head of the Estonian Refugee Council's Ukrainian representation and local partner, Unity for the Future.

WFP's monetary support is for three months, with a monthly payment of 2,220 hryvnia, or approximately 70 euros per person. According to the UN, multi-purpose cash assistance remains the fastest and most efficient way to help people, except in some regions where markets are no longer functioning.

In addition to multi-purpose cash assistance, the Estonian Refugee Council has supported ten hospitals in Eastern Ukraine in acquiring medical supplies and equipment, food and generators. The Estonian Refugee Council has also distributed blankets and other essentials in shelters in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv.

The Estonian Refugee Council is a humanitarian aid organisation certified by the European Union. In Eastern Ukraine, the Estonian Refugee Council has been providing humanitarian aid since 2014.

Photo: Orin Louis Jones, Kiev