• We payed school allowance for all refugee children starting school in Estonia until the end of April this year. 5,016 children received support, in the total amount of 250,700 euros.
• In two months, we have distributed more than 8,800 food packages to about 8,750 people in regions of Ukraine where it is not possible to provide monetary aid.

Humanitarian aid in Ukraine

What are we doing at the moment?

• We provide multi-purpose cash assistance, with which people can buy food, medicine, hygiene supplies and other basic necessities. As of now, we have provided cash-based assistance to approximately 238,000 people, worth a total of 42 million euros. The allowance is UAH 2,220 (= about EUR 61) per household member per month. You can get help for a total of three months. A separate call centre and application platform has been opened for applying for cash-based support in Ukraine: https://register.pagulasabi.ee/
• In April, we restarted the food security programme, and in two months, we have distributed more than 8,800 food packages to about 8,750 people. We implement the programme where it is impossible to provide cash-based aid (e.g. de-occupied/liberated areas, areas under frequent attacks). We intervene with help in Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
• We are part of the Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (JMMI), within which we help the humanitarian aid sector to keep a constant overview of where and how the markets are functioning in Ukraine, whether and how fast the prices of essential commodities are rising, etc. Our area of responsibility is Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv Oblasts.
• The second part of the entrepreneurship program aimed at women in Ukraine, which started in April, i.e. the training program aimed at already operating companies, ended with a festive final day on May 27, when the grant recipients were announced live, and their self-recorded introduction videos were played. According to the jury's decision, 12 operating companies received support in the total amount of over 45,000 euros (about 1.79 million UAH). The activities will begin in Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Chernihiv and Kirovohrad, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions. Most support is received by companies engaged in food production, as well as businesses operating in the textile field, agriculture and storage.

In addition to the support of Estonian donors, we also make financial interventions with international partners: the European Union (ECHO), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the World Food Program (WFP).

Supporting Ukrainian refugees in Estonia

What are we doing at the moment?

• We advise people in Tallinn (Vambola 6, Eesti Pagulasabi office) from Tuesday to Thursday (10am-5 pm). The helpline +372 5881 1311 (Mon-Fri from 10 am to 5 pm), e-mail dopomoha@pagulasabi.ee is open to Ukrainian refugees and people helping them. Viber, Whatsapp, Telegram channels are also open for advice at +372 5464 0007.

• We will start with the updated schedule of training supporting adaptation in June. We organise training across Estonia on five topics: education system, entrepreneurship, legal issues in the example of Estonia and Ukraine, the field of work and digital skills.

• To date, 224 digital skills workshops and 222 work-related group counseling sessions have taken place. Counselling takes place all over Estonia, and nearly 3,532 Ukrainian refugees have participated.

• We organize international and temporary protection adaptation program training.

• 9,718 people have completed the temporary protection adaptation program with us. At the moment, the trainings have ended with us.

• 1,674 people have completed the International Defense Adaptation Program with us. Many more trainings await, more information here.

• We regularly offer support person service to refugees all over Estonia. People can be sent to us through local authorities. More information here.

• We provide accommodation from our database. Due to the shortage of accommodation places, we currently do not provide long-term accommodation in public facilities managed by the Social Insurance Board. We focus on providing emergency accommodation to those Ukrainians who have suddenly lost their place of residence. We collect accommodation offers from private individuals (primarily in Tallinn, Tartu and other major cities). Offers can be entered via the form on the website.

• Together with Garage48, we help Ukrainian women to start micro-enterprises in Estonia. The best women's teams of the entrepreneurship programme have been selected, the participants are being counseled and supported.

• In the direction of mental health, in cooperation with the NGO Peaasjad, we brought to Estonia a methodology called MindSpring, which supports the adaptation of people with a refugee background to a new environment. We offer the program to refugees all over Estonia. The first groups started in March.

• As part of the community programme, we organize regular group activities (women's and men's groups, adaptation clubs) and larger family events. As of today, a total of 119 events/group activities have taken place this year, with over 1,900 people participating.

• The most important information for refugees is at the top of our website in the frequently asked questions section. We continuously update the information in the section in Estonian, English, Russian and Ukrainian.

Estonian Refugee Council's activities in Ukraine are financed by donations from private individuals and companies, as well as by various institutional donors. You can continue to support our activities on our website or on the For Ukraine campaign page.

MTÜ Eesti Pagulasabi is a public interest non-profit organization founded in 2000, whose goal is to stand up for the rights and well-being of refugees in Estonia and abroad. Eesti Pagulasabi is a humanitarian aid organization certified by the European Union. ERC has been providing humanitarian aid in Eastern Ukraine since 2014.