Disaster Response Ukraine Project #55586

Responding to the Conflict in Ukraine

Project Report | Jul 5, 2022
Addressing the Emotional Scars

By Caitlin Bartkus | Specialist, Grants and Reporting

Our team providing a PFA training in Poland

83-year-old Svetlana was not wearing a bloodied bandage as she waited in a Romanian refugee reception center after crossing the border from Ukraine. She did not need to be rushed to the hospital or given an emergency dose of medication.

But it would be unthinkable to say that Svetlana, now a refugee with an uncertain future and a recent past filled with violence, escaped the war in her homeland unharmed.

Unlike physical wounds that demand immediate attention, the emotional scars left after witnessing conflict and loss are often left untreated, and vulnerable refugees and other survivors are made to suffer in silence.

That is why International Medical Corps integrates mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services into our emergency response efforts.

MHPSS activities have been in high demand since the outset of the invasion in Ukraine, and our MHPSS team continues to implement both immediate and long-term program efforts. This includes a strategy comprising three pillars: 1) help for helpers, including staff support and training to healthcare providers, service providers and community leaders; 2) providing services to conflict-affected communities and IDPs through partners and direct services; and 3) social and behavior-change communication focused on destigmatizing MHPSS and promoting help-seeking behavior.

Our team has also observed that tension is growing between host communities and internally displaced persons (IDPs). To alleviate these growing tensions, International Medical Corps is focusing on community-based interventions that work to lessen the strain. Our MHPSS team is providing training in psychological first aid (PFA), as well as providing training in “Doing What Matters in Times of Stress—Self-Help+” to key community members, such as teachers, city council members, religious leaders and local organization staff members. International Medical Corps is also providing ongoing training for hospital staff at the Chernihiv Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

As of June 23, International Medical Corps had provided 877 MHPSS consultations and trained 659 people in PFA and psychosocial support in Ukraine and the region.

The generosity of GlobalGiving and its community of donors helps International Medical Corps address the physical and emotional scars of those affected by the conflict in Ukraine.

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Apr 6, 2022
Six Weeks: Ukraine's Humanitarian Crisis Continues

By Kathan Reddy | Project Assistant

Our team provides health kits to a Lviv hospital

Six weeks. It has been six weeks since the fighting started in Ukraine. Just six weeks for the conflict to precipitate the largest refugee crisis Europe has seen since World War II. Just six weeks for violence and chaos to completely engulf the eastern European nation of 44 million, the brutality only growing each day.

Already, over 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes to neighboring countries or other parts of Ukraine, the majority forcibly displaced from their towns and communities by imminent danger. Beyond the staggering numbers of displaced, injured and killed, there have been dozens of confirmed attacks on healthcare facilities.

The destruction of infrastructure has left nearly a million Ukrainians without power, and 6 million without reliable access to safe water. In the eastern city of Mariupol, security threats have prevented desperately needed humanitarian convoys from delivering any aid for over a month. Needless to say, the situation is dire, especially for the many millions of Ukrainian children throughout the war-torn region.

This is a human crisis of horrific proportions.

As the majority of Ukrainians evacuating are women and girls, protection programs remain essential. And amidst the COVID pandemic, the overcrowding of evacuation centers, lack of safe water and suboptimal vaccination coverage have increased the risk of disease transmission. In the face of these mounting odds, International Medical Corps is standing firm in its mission and duty to save lives.

Already, our teams have delivered 112 pallets of vital medicines, supplies and health kits to 12 health facilities in Ukraine — materials capable of supporting over 300,000 people for three months. International Medical Corps continues to provide MHPSS consultations in southeast Ukraine, having provided more than 120 consultations in the last month, and is providing remote psychological first-aid (PFA) training to first responders. Our gender-based violence teams are working to distribute dignity kits and other resources for evacuating women and girls.

Across the borders of adjacent nations Poland, Moldova, and Romania, critical services including health, MHPSS and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) have been bolstered by International Medical Corps’ teams. Priority deliveries have included WASH supplies and non-food items (NFIs), including sleeping items, towels, hygiene kits and more. In response to the crowded, unsanitary conditions in many locations, we have also delivered thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to border crossings to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.

To date, International Medical Corps has directly reached more than 313,000 Ukrainian men, women, and children with healthcare and hope. This live-saving work is directly enabled by GlobalGiving, its community of donors and others. Together, we are relieving suffering and saving lives.

We distribute hygiene kits to refugees in Moldova

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Mar 2, 2022
This is a humanitarian crisis.

By Jessica Smit | Manager, Direct Marketing

People wait for loved ones to cross into Poland

It is below freezing tonight at the Ukrainian refugee reception center in Lubycza Królewska, Poland, where an International Medical Corps staff member took the photo above. Through the harsh winter cold stand lines of Ukrainian families who crossed over the border from their home country amid the sound of sirens and explosions.

The needs of Ukrainian people both in the country and those who have fled across the region are great.

The statistics surrounding the Ukrainian crisis are staggering. Officials are now saying that over 660,000 Ukrainians have fled their country and sought temporary refuge around the region in the past week.

And while statistics tell part of the picture, this is not a statistical crisis. This is a human crisis.

Even with our decades of experience responding to disasters and conflict around the world, we at International Medical Corps cannot know how great the needs will be or long this crisis will last.

But what we do know is that our mission remains the same. No matter where, no matter the circumstances, our teams are dedicated to helping communities in crisis receive the lifesaving care and support they deserve.

Our staff is racing against the clock to rapidly scale up our health and protection activities inside Ukraine and throughout the region, prepositioning emergency supplies—including food, water and hygiene kits—to support those fleeing the conflict. Conditions are changing by the minute, but our teams have been working in Ukraine since the conflict first began in 2014 and have the direct experience needed to work amid the tumult.

We have the expertise, the staff and the supplies needed to make a difference.

International Medical Corps is grateful for the support of the GlobalGiving community of donors. Together, we can help save lives and relieve suffering in Ukraine.

Distribution of food, water, blankets and more

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