Ukraine: 2 years of “overwhelming solidarity”

What is the LWF doing in Ukraine?

Our work in Ukraine is still mostly an emergency response. After an initial phase in Chernihiv, our response is now focused in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, and the region. Kharkiv is only 40 kilometers from the Russian border and its population experiences air raids several times a day. The attacks target the infrastructure, especially in winter, and people often go without heating or electricity for long periods.

Collaboration with the LWF member church, the German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ukraine (GELCU) is important. We work closely with Bishop Pavlo Shvarts, who is of great help when it comes to local contacts and analyzing where help is needed the most. We also work with two local organizations that run heating points, where people keep warm, receive food and charge electronic devices.

How has your work changed?

At the beginning, our work with refugees in Ukraine's neighboring countries was primarily an emergency response. People needed shelter, something to eat, basic relief goods, and medical care. Six months later, we started to offer specialized assistance, and our services now focus on integration. This includes psychosocial support, language courses and training opportunities, which are mostly provided through the LWF member churches in Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary, and through the country program in Poland.

Another difference is that initially we only worked with refugees outside Ukraine through our member churches and the LWF program. But since summer 2023 we are also active in Ukraine itself.

After two years of war, part of society in Europe is getting used to having a war in Europe. However, that should not obscure the fact that millions of families are dramatically affected by the consequences of the invasion. Immediate needs include food, shelter, medical help including addressing the trauma caused by the war.

Are there also long-term projects in Ukraine?

Our biggest project in Ukraine, together with UNHCR (United Nations refugee agency), is the rehabilitation of apartments in Kharkiv. More han 10,000 apartments were severely damaged by missile strikes in the first weeks of the war or are completely burned out. Their residents are staying with relatives or living in collective accommodation. Many people had put all their savings into these apartments: they were older people, single mothers or people with disabilities who had neither the money nor the ability to make their apartments livable again. By the end of 2023, over 525 apartments had been renovated, allowing many families to move back into better living conditions

Our work therefore goes beyond simple renovation; we have a holistic approach around the needs of the respective families, and also integrated psychosocial care. Everyone needs something different: some need medical help, others have no income or are traumatized by the constant air raids.

What are your plans for 2024 and what are some of the challenges you face?

As the war goes on, it has become more challenging to get funding for our work in Ukraine. The security situation has also become more challenging in the past months.

In 2024, we will focus on income-generating initiatives. Before the war, there were many small shops and businesses in Kharkiv that have since been destroyed. We want to discuss with the local authorities how we can help some of the companies so that they can be productive again and employ people. People should be able to support themselves as much as possible.

What impresses me is the great trust that the people of Ukraine have placed in us right from the start. I feel a great responsibility, to not betray their trust.

Ukraine has received a lot of support, while other areas plagued by conflict seem to have been almost forgotten. What do you tell people who say the aid to Ukraine should be stopped?

The LWF works in 24 countries, and of course we too see the differences between the funds we receive for Ukraine and for example, the resources available to care for Sudanese refugees in Chad.

The support in Ukraine is justified. The people there suffer too. Of course one could argue, for example, that the money spent on a family in Ukraine could support a village in Chad. We should not compare, as every country and situation is different.

We shouldn't say: Let's send the money to Chad, but rather: Let's help in Chad with as much effort as in Ukraine. The resources are available, as the Ukraine emergency aid has clearly shown.