[Updates] Emergency Responses to the Ukrainian Crisis: Month 6
This August marks the sixth month since the initial invasion of Ukraine by the Russian military. Since the beginning of the humanitarian crisis, Peace Boat Disaster Relief (PBV) has been working with partner NGOs based in Romania to provide humanitarian assistance within Ukraine and to those who were forced to flee their country. PBV has joined hands with PATRIR (Romanian Peace Institute) to offer emergency supplies to citizens in Ukraine. Between May and July, the team delivered medical supplies to more than eight hospitals in Kyiv, Odesa, and Kharkov with funding support from Japan Platform. PATRIR has been shipping food and daily essentials to Ukraine, where citizens have limited to no access to such items. With the help of local NGOs, the PATRIR team has been distributing emergency supplies for families in dire situations at drop-off points. Thanks to the generous support from Palsystem, daily necessities such as pasta, flour, canned food, detergent, and baby nappies have regularly been transported to Ukraine.
In addition to the goods
and transportation support to Ukraine, PBV supports those who fled Ukraine due to war through various partnerships with Romania-based NGOs. Due to medical institutions in Ukraine focusing on emergency medical treatment for wounded patients, many cancer patients faced discontinuation of their treatment. PBV’s partner Youth Cancer Europe (YCE), based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, has been supporting such cancer patients from Ukraine by finding hospitals in Europe where they can start or continue their treatment, receive transportation, document preparation and resettlement in the destination countries. Since the beginning of the crisis, YCE has helped more than 240 patients receive treatment in safe environments across Ukraine and Europe. YCE’s support is not limited to just the patients, but also to the family members of patients who fled. The patients and their families not only need long-term support for treatment, but also to build a new life in a country away from home. YCE team is dedicated to supporting both patients an
d families, and continues close communication with them even after settling down in new locations.
Since the beginning of the invasion, Romania hosts more than 80,000 Ukrainian refugees, over 50,000 of whom have been registered for temporary protection which allows them to stay in Romania for 12 months. One of the PBV’s partners in Romania, the Romanian National Council for Refugees (CNRR) has been present at border crossing points and Bucharest since the beginning of the crisis to provide information and counseling to new arrivals. As a leading expert group on the refuges, CNRR has teamed up with UNHCR to help nearly 30,000 people with protection support, legal advice, referrals, and information both in-person and helplines by the beginning of August.
While we pray for the immediate restoration of peace in the region, PBV continues to support the people affected by the conflict. We express our heartfelt gratitude to all the partner organizations, donors, grantors and supporters who have made this project possible and seek your kind understanding and further contributions to help those living in extremely difficult co nditions under the war.