More psychosocial support for Ukraine
In the second year of war, we must continue to support Ukraine.
Read moreAccording to the latest figures of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 100 million people were on the run in 2022. This is the highest number recorded. Displaced individuals remain among the most vulnerable members of society and their health needs are often neglected. Many of them undertake long, exhausting journeys with inadequate access to food and water, sanitation, and other basic services, increasing their risk of getting sick. Crowded living conditions in refugee camps also contribute to the spread of communicable diseases. When people are on the run, it is especially maternal and child health that suffers due to limited access to specialized care. In addition, malnutrition is prevalent among the displaced, particularly children, because of food insecurity and inadequate nutrition. However, flight not only affects physical health, but also mental health and well-being as refugees frequently experience trauma, depression, and anxiety.
On the occasion of World Refugee Day, June 20th, we are launching a digital campaign under the title „ On the run: Health must not be left behind “. With this campaign, we want to raise awareness about everyone ‘s right - regardless of their circumstances - to health and access to people-centered and high-quality health services.
More information about our campaign "On the run: Health must not be left behind"
Ukraine, Europe's largest country, has been struggling for peace not just since February 24, 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine, but war has been raging in eastern Ukraine since 2014.
After Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, violent confrontations along the line of contact continued in the eastern part of the country. The Implementation of the 2015 Minsk Peace Agreement wasn’t as successful as hoped and did not provide a path to peace, as none of the negotiated ceasefires were held.
In the early morning of February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Subsequently, more than 17 million people needed and still need humanitarian assistance. The escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine forced millions of people to flee their homes, seeking safety, protection, and assistance. 5.5 million people are internally displaced and over 7 million people have crossed European borders into neighboring countries (Source: OCHA Situation Report, 19.12.2022). Millions of people are still suffering from the consequences of the war, which brings every day further challenges for those affected. Medical support, reconstruction of destroyed houses and infrastructure, provision of shelter, transport of essential relief supplies and psychosocial support: these are just a few of the needs on an endless list to support people in Ukraine.
The international network of the Order of Malta has been, is and will remain by the side of the affected communities in Ukraine, for as long as they need support. We will continue to provide relief services adapted to the situation and needs on the ground.
As the war in Ukraine continues, an end to the conflict is not yet in sight. Millions of people are still dependent on humanitarian aid and will be for decades. We support the people in Ukraine with various projects and work closely with the Malteser Ukraine team, which assesses the needs of the people on the ground and implements the relief projects.
Our aid focuses on psychosocial support for internally displaced persons, the strengthening of the health system, the provision of winter aid and urgently needed relief supplies.
Malteser International launched a larger emergency response on the first day of the Russian invasion, coordinated the relief efforts of the Order of Malta Relief Organizations (OMROs) and supported the colleagues of Malteser Ukraine in the implementation of relief projects on the ground. The joint activities focused on providing warm meals for refugees as well as medical and psychosocial care for displaced people within Ukraine, at the borders and upon arrival in neighboring countries. The transport of relief goods into Ukraine like food and non-food items, medical supplies, heating equipment have also been initiated. Three days after the invasion, first relief supplies from the German Malteser arrived in Ukraine.
In the second year of war, we must continue to support Ukraine.
Read moreMobile teams provide psychosocial support to children and youngsters.
Read moreAfter several major cities in western Ukraine were bombed, our work continues.
Read more"We expect that after the war millions of people will still need therapeutic support."
Read moreIn Ukraine, we prepare refugees and people whose homes have been destroyed for the winter.
Read moreCologne/Lviv. On Wednesday, 4 May, Malteser International and Malteser Ukraine send its 150th relief transport for the people in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. 44 pallets medical supplies donated by the global healthcare group Fresenius and medicines will be transported from Germany to Lviv in Ukraine. The transport is supported by the organisation "action medeor". The Order of Malta in Ukraine will distribute the aid delivery to hospitals that are currently in great need of medical material.
Read moreCologne/Lviv. In the city of Lviv, Malteser International has further expanded psychological support for refugees. Around 200,000 people are currently staying in the western Ukrainian city near the border with Poland. "The streets are full of people. They hope that they will not be forced to leave Ukraine. But even as refugees in their own country, the psychological burden is great. They have lost their homes, left their families behind, and face an uncertain future. More than 10 percent of them need psychological support," says Pavlo Titko, head of Malteser in Ukraine.
Read moreCologne/Lviv. A relief transport with medical equipment urgently needed by Malteser Ukraine in Lviv started today from the Lower Rhine. The medical aid organization “Action Medeor” dispatched EUR 60k worth of supplies ordered by the Order of Malta. "It is part of the chain of deliveries that we are able to send from Germany thanks to many donations," said President of Malteser International Europe, Douglas Graf von Saurma-Jeltsch. Basic foodstuffs, sleeping bags, and camp beds are also still being brought across the border.
Read moreCologne/Lviv. Cold, snow, and a lack of food, medicines and other essential goods threaten the welfare of refugees in Ukraine. "The situation for the fleeing women, children and elderly is catastrophic. We are starting to run out of everything," said Pavlo Titko, Head of Order of Malta Ukraine.
Read moreCologne/Ivano-Frankivsk. In the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Malteser Ukraine has started to provide displaced people with tents, cots, blankets and food. The relief supplies sent from Germany on Thursday arrived on site on Saturday and will be put to immediate use. In addition, the displaced people are receiving medical and psychological care.
Cologne/Lviv. Malteser International expects a very high need for help for those fleeing the situation in Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people are already on the run, within the country and to neighboring states. We expect the number of people fleeing to increase further in the coming days. “The supply situation in Ukraine itself is becoming increasingly difficult. What is especially needed are everyday medicines, as well as cots, blankets, food, and cash to provide for the many people affected," says Oliver Hochedez, head of Malteser International's emergency relief department.
Read moreThe population in Ukraine is increasingly suffering from the consequences of the tense situation in the border conflict with Russia: "Especially for people we have been supporting for a long time and who are suffering from the consequences of displacement from their homeland, old traumas are breaking out again. A major topic in the therapy and group sessions is always: What do we do with the children? How do we tell them that we might have to leave our home? How do we talk to them about war?", reports Pavlo Titko, Head of Malteser Ukraine.
Read moreNina Navídríz lives in the village of Korobochkine, about 50 kilometers southeast of the city of Kharkiv. A missile attack has destroyed her house in the middle of the night, and she miraculously survived. Leaving the village, where she has spent her whole live, wasn’t an option for Grandma Nina. She moved into a barn which we prepared for the upcoming winter.
Read moreTogether with her family, Nadiya has lived in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv when the war broke out. Along with Kiev and Odessa, Kharkiv was one of the first cities to be attacked by the Russian army at the beginning of the war. The family immediatley takes refuge in the basement of their apartment building, where they remain for the next 44 days - without seeing any daylight. When they realize that there is no end of the war in sight they flee from Kharkiv to Lviv in the west of the country. There they are safe for the time being.
Read more
When the first bombs fell over Mariupol on February 24, 2022, and Darya and Stanislav were awakened by the explosions at five in the morning, memories immediately came flooding back to them. It was only in 2014 that the couple had fled Russian attacks from Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine. They fled to Mariupol with their two-year-old son Bogdan. At that time, the Russian army had attacked cities in eastern Ukraine and eventually annexed Crimea. By 2022, there was repeated fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army along the so-called contact line in Donbass, culminating in Russia's war of aggression on large parts of Ukraine in February 2022.
Read moreKateryna Sukhomlynova was so many things until the war began in Ukraine: A Malteser employee in Mariupol, a paramedic, a member of the city council and a volunteer in the local police association. Today, the 44-year-old is one of millions of refugees from Ukraine and homeless. But Kateryna Sukhomlynova is a strong woman. She travels tirelessly through Europe, together with her 17-year-old daughter, reporting on what she experienced in Mariupol during the first weeks of the war.
Read morePavlo Titko, head of Malteser Ukraine in Lviv, has been on permanent duty since the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine on 24 February 2022. He tells us about the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine, how the people are feeling, which relief supplies are most urgently needed and how he himself is dealing with this extreme situation.
Read moreWhen Katja and Sascha married, he was already a soldier at the front. Shortly afterwards, Katja became pregnant. When her son Zachar was born, Sascha returned to Pokrovsk and Katja was overjoyed. But the man she married had changed. Sascha suddenly could no longer walk among people, crowds in the street frightened him. He became aggressive towards the family and at night he screamed in his sleep. Katja finally persuaded him to get help at our psychosocial support centre.
Read more47-year-old Oksana Khmelnytska is a trauma therapist and project coordinator for our partner organization "Psychological Crisis Service" in Ukraine. On the ground she leads a Malteser International project that provides psychosocial support to people suffering from the consequences of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In this interview she talks about how people in the region are doing today and the challenges displaced persons face in everyday life, especially those who have fled the conflict areas.
Read moreAround 47,000 displaced people live in the Ukrainian town of Sievierodonetsk. Oksana is one of them. She also has the job of helping others to find a new beginning. Read the story of her inspiring journey from hopelessness to hope.
Read moreLisa Schönmeier
Email: lisa.schoenmeier(at)malteser-international.org