Humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees in the Republic of Moldova

Since February 2022, the situation in the Ukraine has escalated due to the conflict with the Russian Federation. The entire territory of the Ukraine is under attack by the Russian army and thousands of victims are registered every day. Many people are therefore fleeing to Western Europe or the neighbouring Republic of Moldova.

Therefore, this humanitarian project provided emergency aid for refugees from the Ukraine who were seeking protection in the Republic of Moldova. It was implemented by Speranta 87 Moldova, the local partner organisation of HOPE’87, together with its partners RTL – Wir helfen Kindern, Deutsche Postcode Lotterie, the Rotary Club, “ZF hilft” and the YOU Foundation – Education for Children in Need in order to help children and women in need as well as the elderly who have been forced to leave their homes in the Ukraine for fear of their lives.

In order to identify all the refugees in need, the team of Speranta 87 travelled across the Republic of Moldova and established contact with refugee organisations who know where the refugees live and helped to gather them for the distribution of humanitarian aid supplies. This way, also refugees in more remote areas could be identified and this way more than 44,000 Ukrainian refugees living or transitioning through the Republic of Moldova could be provided with ready-made meals and other food items such as tea, wheat, cereals, sugar and vegetable oil as well as with non-food items, including hygiene products, washing powder, school material, educational games and toys, baby products, sets of clothes for children and youth and first-aid kits, containing a variety of the most common medicines like paracetamol, ibuprofen etc. and medical products like plasters. The project team further organised events for the distribution of humanitarian help on special occasions such as the Children’s Day and the first and last days of the school year. During these events, over 2,000 children were provided with humanitarian support.

Background information

Until the end of 2023, more than 800,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered the Republic of Moldova since the beginning of the war in February 2022. Often, these people were on foot and had only a few personal belongings with them. Due to compulsory military service for men between the age of 18 and 55, only women with children and the elderly came – two extremely vulnerable groups in immediate need of help. These people have basic needs and needed emergency medical care. Therefore, an immediate relief effort had been launched, providing accommodation and food as well as baby products such as baby food, diapers, baby oil, etc., daily necessities such as pharmacy items, newspapers, phone card, internet access, books and school supplies, etc. and personal hygiene products such as soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels, sanitary napkins, etc.