The Foreign Ministry awarded Estonian Refugee Council with a letter of appreciation for our great contribution to helping Ukraine. The awards are given out each year to citizen diplomats and NGOs for their significant contribution to advancing Estonian language, culture and business in the world. The head of Estonian Refugee Council Eero Janson and project manager Taavet Tomberg were happy to receive the honour on December 14.

For the fourth year in a row, the Estonian Refugee Council's social enterprise Siin & Sääl organizes a Christmas bazaar, where refugees and people with a migrant background sell handcrafts, snacks, and sweets made by themselves.

For the last two years, the Christmas bazaar has been online only, but this year the Tallinn office of the Estonian Refugee Council will also open its doors to visitors.

• Give Spark To The Hedgehog - Christmas (gift) campaign for buying generators in Ukraine
• We have supported about 180 000 people with over 30 million euros cash based support. You can learn more aboutmulti-purpose cash assistance in the animation.

In Ukraine, we have supported about 180 000 people with 29,3 million euros.

We are again accepting offers for accommodation (primarily in Tallinn, Tartu and other major cities).

Estonian Refugee Council has mediated more than 1,000 long-term accommodations. Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the iceberg, because during that time, we have had nearly 4,000 worried families looking for homes. We have brokered apartments, houses and parts of houses in the larger cities of Estonia. The biggest demand is in urban centres such as Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu, where it is easiest to find work and for children to continue their education. 

Estonian Refugee Council (ERC) is a value-driven non-governmental EU-certified humanitarian organization. ERC was established 21 years ago and currently provides humanitarian assistance to displaced people and other vulnerable people in 5 crisis-affected countries (Ukraine, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, and Kenya) and different support services to beneficiaries of international protection in Estonia. Our mission is to stand for the rights and well-being of refugees and other vulnerable groups in Estonia and abroad.

Estonian Refugee Council opened a travelling exhibition "Wolf in sheep's skin: sexism and exploitation in the migration crisis of the 21st century" in the Tallinn Central Market which talks about sexism and the usage of people in difficult situations. 

The purpose of the exhibition is to highlight the cases that the Estonian Refugee Council's staff and volunteers encountered this spring and winter and to point out the dark sides of our own society, which the refugee crisis brought sharply into the limelight.

At the end of October, the “Empowering Women” entrepreneurship programme will begin in Estonia. This programme is aimed at women escaping the war in Ukraine. The three-month entrepreneurship and mentoring programme aims to support women who are ready to regain their self-sufficiency through entrepreneurship.

• Estonian Refugee Council received the European Citizen 2022 award for its activities towards Ukraine
• Estonian Refugee Council and Garage48 help women who have lost their income in the war to create dozens of new businesses in Ukraine

Estonian Refugee Council received the European Citizen 2022 award for its activities towards Ukraine.