As of March 23rd 2021, since launching the Choose Love Ukraine Crisis Fundraiser, together we have raised $7 million—in 4 weeks.
When we began this campaign, it was anticipated that 4 million people would be displaced. In less than a month, more than double, a total of 10 million people have been displaced. This number keeps rising and with it the needs only increase.
We need your support more than ever to reach as many people as possible in the coming months. Every single Dollar/Pound/Euro counts.
$2.5 million has already been sent or committed to 29 organisations responding to the crisis. We are assessing and working to support over 20 additional groups between Ukraine, Romania, Moldova and Poland.
It is because of you that this is possible. You are amazing. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for choosing love, for your trust and for your generosity.
We are committed to ensuring that we keep you up to date on how your donations are being used, and to sharing the positive impact of you choosing to put love into action.
Choose Love’s current response:
The situation in Ukraine is ever evolving, and, as it stands, there are currently two strands of our strategic humanitarian support; emergency response and longer-term support and capacity building.
We are working to ensure that both of these strands reach organisations and communities in Ukraine and the surrounding countries. We will also continue to use our platform to counter misinformation and mobilise our network of influencers.
In Ukraine:
We have committed funding for:
- Food
- Hygiene kits
- Bedding
- Evacuation support
- Operational/transport cost for aid
- LGBTQIA+ support
- Medical supplies and facilities
In surrounding countries:
We have committed funds to support:
- Emergency shelters
- Longer-term accommodation programmes
- Teams organising welcome and inclusion
- Ukrainian-led teams translate and share information
- Legal advice, and advocacy efforts.
- Organisations and networks specifically support newly arrived or arriving individuals from marginalised groups, including BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, individuals with disabilities and children.
We will be continuously evaluating the best ways to ensure mid and long-term support and capacity building.
Updates from our partners on the ground:
Sadly, organisations on the ground are prepared for increasingly growing needs for the unforeseeable future. Whilst Poland and the Ukraine crisis is in the spotlight and news headlines – and is currently driving an incredible amount of donations – all groups have raised concerns around the sustainable flow of resources. Long term commitments and funding are needed to continue this critical, live-saving work.
Needs:
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), the food security situation in Ukraine is worsening. Mariupol, Kharkiv and other cities are being encircled and continue to experience heavy shelling, with hostilities leaving people isolated and facing severe shortages of food, water and energy supplies. As insecurity persists and supply chains are disrupted, people might fall deeper into emergency levels of hunger and malnutrition. Supply chains have been severely disrupted and many distributors are not operational. Some stockpiles are inaccessible, and medical supplies are running low. Hospitals are struggling to provide care to the sick and wounded.
Needs in healthcare are primary healthcare medicines and medical supplies, including antibiotics, pain medicines, medicines for cancer patients, blood and blood substitutes, IV fluids, personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as other items (e.g., flashlights, walkie-talkies, blankets, cots and water bottles). Emergency WASH services are urgently required for IDPs in collective centres, especially in central and western Ukraine. The restoration of electricity and water supplies in the hardest-hit areas is needed to prevent the spread of communicable water-borne diseases.
Our contacts report that the collective centres in Western and Central Ukraine are very much overcapacity and in need of aid; including drinking water.
Context:
An unprecedented 10 million people have now been displaced in 4 weeks. People are currently fleeing to Poland, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, Hungary and the Russian Federation.
Since the 24th February, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says more than 1.5 million children have fled Ukraine – 75,000 on average per day. Abuse, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and trafficking risks continue to mount amid wide-scale displacement.
On 4th March, the Deputy Mayor of the city of Mariupol announced that the level of destruction he is seeing in his city is comparable to that of Aleppo. Half a million people in Mariupol alone are currently without power and water. The comparison with Aleppo gives us an indication of the level of fire power Russia is wielding.
We are anticipating that this will become a protracted crisis. An alarming 90 per cent of the Ukrainian population could face poverty and extreme economic vulnerability.
Thank you for your continued support,
Choose Love team
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