© UNHCR/ Maciej Moskwa
“All neighbouring towns and villages became a battlefield. We left everything behind, absolutely everything.”
Nastia, refugee from Ukraine
Since the beginning of hostilities, nearly one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes. Over 7.9 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded across Europe, and over 5.9 million people are displaced within Ukraine.
When bombs fell near her home in Dnipro, Nastia escaped with her mother and two children. They survived an arduous journey to the Polish border and are now staying in Wroclaw.
However, they are running low on cash and don’t know when they’ll be able to return home. Loud noises like ambulance sirens continue to scare Nastia’s five-year-old son.
Rozalia registered for UNHCR cash assistance in Poland after a three-day journey to reach the border.
Forced to shelter in bunkers or crowded accommodation centres, Ukrainians are desperate for the fighting to end. Many are cut off from essential supplies such as food, water and power, and need urgent assistance.
For those able to escape across the border into countries like Poland and Moldova, the emergency isn’t over. Refugees have been forced to leave everything behind. They need a safe place to stay, cash to buy basic items such as food and clothing, and access to counselling and legal aid.
The majority of refugees fleeing Ukraine are women and children. Many have special needs and require additional support. Together with UNICEF, UNHCR has established Blue Dot protection hubs across the region to support the most vulnerable, such as unaccompanied children, young mothers, and the elderly.
UNHCR is leading the humanitarian response in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. With your support, UNHCR is providing safe places for refugees to stay, delivering survival kits to people who’ve lost everything, distributing cash assistance to help people meet their basic needs, and protecting the most vulnerable, such as unaccompanied children.
Your gift can help us establish more reception and accommodation centres to provide safe, warm places for people fleeing the war.
Your gift can provide cash assistance to help refugees cover their basic needs, including shelter, food and medicine.
Your gift can help displaced people access social services and psychological support such as counselling.
Liubov, a World War II survivor, fled her home in Kyiv with a small bag containing key documents.
You can support refugees fleeing Ukraine and people internally displaced within the country by making a donation or fundraising for us.
If you are looking for information on how to assist family members or friends in Ukraine, see our Help page here.
Your donation can support refugees fleeing Ukraine and people internally displaced within the country. Your support can help provide protection, cash assistance and core relief items such as shelter materials, blankets and sleeping mats.
UNHCR is providing refugees from Ukraine with protection, shelter, core relief items (blankets, water jerry-cans), as well as cash assistance, both within Ukraine and neighbouring countries.
Some of the ways UNHCR is helping people forced to flee:
UNHCR is present in Ukraine and providing humanitarian assistance wherever necessary and possible. To that effect, security and access for humanitarian efforts must be guaranteed. We have prepositioned stocks of relief items in various locations across Ukraine and have been able to deliver mats, blankets and other core relief items. UNHCR has reinforced operations in Ukraine and around, sending more resources, staff and stockpiles.
UNHCR and local partners have rolled out the Protection Monitoring Tool, which will allow identification of key protection risks and needs of the affected population. The main immediate needs identified are fuel, cash, food, medicines and shelter materials to reinforce bunkers. UNHCR and protection partners also launched a Protection Service Mapping tool to map services currently available by partners and Ukrainian authorities.
UNHCR continues to work with partners on immediate response activities at the border and in affected urban areas, focusing on core relief items and food for IDPs, setting up heating points at the border, and providing information and legal counselling through various channels.
The majority of UNHCR staff has been relocated to safer areas within the country, including central and western Ukraine, where conditions enable better humanitarian access. Staff safety remains our utmost priority.
UNHCR has offices located in Poland, Romania, and Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and in Budapest. We have a longstanding presence in the region, working with national authorities on refugee related matters. We stand ready to support efforts by governments and other stakeholders to find solutions in case of possible movements.
We have 115 staff in Ukraine and over 100 staff in the neighbouring countries. We have reinforced our operations in Ukraine and around, sending more resources, staff and stockpiles. We have stockpiles prepositioned in various locations in the region and around the world. We stand ready to send more staff and supplies.
UNHCR supports Governments in responding to the protection and basic needs of refugees fleeing Ukraine. Our role is also to ensure the people seeking safety and protection can do so.
Access to information is a key priority for people forced to flee. UNHCR and partners are providing information to refugees from Ukraine through dedicated 24-hour helplines, information leaflets, and ‘Help’ websites established in countries neighbouring Ukraine to ensure that refugees have access to information about available services, rights and legal aid in the country they are staying in.
UNHCR is working to enhance reception capacity of the various countries and has prepositioned core relief items in the region, including through establishment of a new warehouse in Poland.
The majority of funds raised by Australia for UNHCR are directed to UNHCR’s emergency operations, providing the ready funds and resources to respond quickly and effectively in situations of crisis and disaster.