Hungarian Interchurch Aid’s response to the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine - Six months of assistance on report
In the past 6 months, more than 6 million people have fled Ukraine, and many more need help within the country as well – only the number of displaced is estimated at 6.6 million. A day after war broke out, Hungarian Interchurch Aid was already helping those fleeing the horrors of war on both sides of the border – until now, we have assisted some 135 thousand people altogether. As the crisis worsened and needs grew, our response also grew by new modalities, warehouses, offices and staff. Having had a presence in Ukraine for more than 25 years, today HIA is playing a leading role in ACT Alliance’s Ukraine Forum, a coalition of aid organisations working in Ukraine. With three field offices – in Kyiv,
Lviv and Berehove - coordinating the aid work, our activities now span over 12 regions of the country stretching from the westernmost areas to the vicinity of the contactline in Eastern Ukraine. Besides our work in Ukraine, we are also making significant efforts to provide multi-sectoral assistance for Ukrainian refugees in a complexity unique in Hungary, by offering a wide range of services through our Support Centre for Ukrainian Refugees located in downtown Budapest. In this extraordinary endeavour, we are backed by an unprecedented collaboration of our donors, volunteers, corporate partners, the Churches and the Hungarian Government, which is reinforced by solidarity.
Thanks to them, we are able to evolve our response and react to rapidly changing needs. At the same time - with the war dragging on with no end in sight - we also need to put emphasis on long-term projects of reconstruction and development in the war-torn towns and villages of Ukraine. In this report, we would like to present the first six months of our efforts in this humanitarian crisis, accompanied by stories from the field. We would also like to sincerely thank you for the continued trust and support you have shown for the work of Hungarian Interchurch Aid, and kindly encourage you to follow our activities on our online and offline platforms.