NGO Estonian Refugee Council and the NGO Mariupol’s Friends operating in Narva, signed an cooperation agreement to ensure sustainable and professional assistance to refugees arriving in Estonia via Narva. According to the agreement, Estonian Refugee Council will support the people leading Mariupol’s Friends, who previously worked as volunteers, with a salary and will be in an advisory role if necessary.

Humanitarian aid in Ukraine

What we are doing? ​

Originally from Tartu but living in Tallinn for the last 20 years, Meelis joined our consulting team on the advice of a colleague from the National Library in March. This man consults on the phone and in the office without letting his slightly "rusty" Russian language hold him back because often people just need to let everything out: “Often the conversation starts in an annoyed manner, but after 10 minutes of conversation, the other person calms down and thanks for taking the time to listen to his problem."

In this autumn 3-day NET therapy training will take place in Tallinn, which is meant for psychologists who come in contact with traumatized refugees and would like to improve themselves in this field. The course will be led by Kirsi Peltonen and Antti Klemettilä from Finland, who are specialised in promoting mental health of refugees.

• In total, we have mediated over 20 million euros cash based support to people in Ukraine. 

Humanitarian aid in Ukraine

What we are doing? ​

Ann Margit, 29, became a volunteer of the Estonian Refugee Council after the invitation of her friend on February 28th. She was one of the first members of the data-processing team that brought order to the flooded system of proposals for help and cooperation, allowing the right people to find each other. In the first few weeks, she spent six hours a day working on this, which allowed our consultants to act faster.

• We received official accreditation from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine to work in Ukraine as an international humanitarian aid organization.
• We have already provided multi-purpose cash assistance to more than 40,000 households.
• The most important information for refugees can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section of our website: https://www.pagulasabi.ee/en/general

Humanitarian aid in Ukraine

What we are doing? ​

Since the end of April, we have organised group counselling for Ukrainians all over Estonia on four topics: adaptation, employment, digital skills and supporting a child’s adaptation. In addition to providing specific knowledge, this has helped refugees to expand their local network of contacts and friendships and has created a better foundation for building their lives. 

• Another Joint Market Monitoring Initiative report on markets and prices has been completed. Estonian Refugee Council also participates in the data collection for the survey, our areas of responsibility are the Zaporizhia and Kharkiv oblasts. The study will help the humanitarian sector to maintain a consistent picture of where and how markets in Ukraine are operating, whether and how fast commodity prices are rising, and so on.