support services

Overview of Estonian Refugee Council on December 5

05.12.2022

Humanitarian aid in Ukraine

What we are doing?

  • Implementing multi-purpose cash assistance so people can decide themselves what they need the most. As of now, we have supported about 180 000 people. In total, we have mediated around 30,6 million euros cash based support (Estonian donors + WFP + OCHA + IRC). The assistance amount is 2220 UAH (= according to the new rate, about 58 EUR) per household member per month. There is a separate application platform for multi-purpose cash assistance in Ukraine: https://register.pagulasabi.ee/
  • We restarted the food distribution program in areas where cash-based assistance is not possible (eg de-occupied/liberated areas, areas under frequent attacks). The value of one food basket is around 57 euros.
  • We started a (Christmas) campaign in cooperation with street artist Edward von Lõngus to collect money for generators in hospitals and schools in Eastern Ukraine. You can buy charity products here: https://www.pagulasabi.ee/en/give-spark-hedgehog 
  • Our on-site call center in Ukraine receives approximately 50 000 calls and serves around 700 people per day, advising and sharing information on support options, pre-selecting our own multi-purpose cash assistance beneficiaries and referring people to other programmes as needed.
  • Supporting hospitals in Eastern Ukraine with medical supplies, food and other necessities (e.g. generators).
  • Handed out 2900 blankets, 4600 sleeping bags and other essentials to the people in bomb shelters and IDP accommodations.
  • We are part of the Joint Market Monitoring Initiative (JMMI), under which we help the humanitarian sector maintain a consistent overview of how and where in Ukraine markets are operating, whether and how fast basic necessities prices are rising, and so on. Our area of responsibility are the Zaporizhia and Kharkiv oblasts. 

In addition to the support of Estonian donors, we also carry out cash-based assistance with international partners:

  • With funding from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), we support 32,190 people in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Kharkiv regions.
  • With the funding from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) we will within three months provide cash-based assistance in total to 12 000 people in the Zaporizhia and Donetsk oblasts.
  • With the funding of  International Rescue Committee (IRC) 24 000 people in Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kiev, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions will receive 3-month cash support.
  • With the World Food Programme (WFP) we support 60 500 people in the Kiev, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts with multi-purpose cash assistance.

Supporting Ukrainian refugees in Estonia

What we are doing?

  • The Estonian Refugee Council’s counselling center in Tallinn (Liivalaia 28) continues to counsel both refugees and their loved ones from Tuesday to Thursday (from 10-17). An information hotline is open for Ukrainian refugees and people helping them: +372 5881 1311 (workdays from 10am to 5pm); also e-mail: dopomoha@pagulasabi.ee. 
  • The most important information for refugees can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section of our website. We update the information in the section in Estonian, English, Russian and Ukrainian. 
  • We mediate accomondation offers from our database. Of all the offers, we have already mediated around 1000 households. Due to the shortage of accommodation places, we currently do not provide long-term accommodation in public accommodation 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 are again collecting accommodation offers from private individuals (primarily in Tallinn, Tartu and other larger cities). Fill the application on our website. 
  • We offer various group counselling’s for Ukrainians on four different topics: adaptation, labour market, digital skills and children's adaptation. Already 177 digital skills, 122 adaptation, 109 child's adaptation workshops and 44 work-related group counselings have taken place around Estonia and over 2840 Ukrainian refugees have participated. We conduct group counseling together with our good partners: BCS koolitus, MTÜ Igale Lapsele Pere, Töötukassa and Tööinspektsioon.
  • We offer support groups led by psychotherapists in Tallinn and Maardu. To register for the group, call the Tallinn Psychological Crisis Center on 631 4300 (Mon-Fri 9-19, Sat 10-15).  
  • We are paying school support to all refugee children going to school in Estonia. Currently the support has been paid to 4403 children, in total amount of 220 150 euros. 
  • Together with Garaž48, we help Ukrainian women to start micro-enterprises in Estonia. The best women's teams of the entrepreneurship program have been selected, the participants are being counseled and supported.

Estonian Refugee Council's activities in Ukraine are financed by donations from individuals and companies, as well as by various institutional donors. Donations for the Estonian the Refugee Council can be made on our donation page and For Ukraine campaign page.

Foto: ACTED

Estonian Refugee Council is a non-profit association founded in 2000 and operating in the public interest, with the aim of standing up for the rights and well-being of refugees in Estonia and abroad. Estonian Refugee Council is a humanitarian aid organization certified by the European Union. In Eastern Ukraine, Refugee Council has been providing humanitarian aid since 2014.