Emergency in Ukraine - Immediate Relief Assistance

The new project activities by Fondazione Soleterre in Ukraine, co-funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Kiev, has started. It includes three mobile units to reach the most remote rural areas, which lack healthcare coverage, and provide medical and psychological assistance to the population.

During the two years of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, 59 medical facilities, including hospitals and clinics, were destroyed, and over 400 were damaged (data from OHCHR's "Two-year update"). Due to this and other factors, such as difficulty accessing primary care doctors because of unsafe roads, lack of healthcare personnel, isolation of some rural areas, and living conditions in community centers, access to healthcare for Ukrainian citizens has been compromised, affecting the most vulnerable populations even more drastically.

Fondazione Soleterre has decided to provide a concrete response to this situation with a project aimed at 12,360 people residing in the oblasts of Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia. Funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation for €1,800,000 and implemented in partnership with the local organization World To Ukrainians and the American organization Frontline Medics, the project will address health, prevention, gender-based violence prevention and response, and the distribution of essential goods and direct economic assistance.

Each mobile unit will have a team of doctors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers. This will allow for immediate assistance to both the physical needs of patients, through the transport of basic medical equipment and medical supplies, and psychological needs. The same assistance will be provided to displaced people living in shelters and reception centers in the affected regions.

The new activities also include targeted intervention to prevent and combat gender-based violence. Following the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the risks for women and girls (including minors) have drastically increased: cases of abuse, exploitation, or sexual violence, trafficking, and domestic violence. Thanks to the extensive network and local presence of the partner World To Ukrainians, an awareness campaign will be designed and disseminated to increase awareness of the issue and act in a preventive manner. The campaign will be spread via social media and other media as well as in sensitive locations through the distribution of materials. Simultaneously, Soleterre, with the contribution of specialized staff, will organize training courses for shelter staff and a referral protocol for victims to specialized services available in the area.