Uplifting Local Ukrainian Responses
The NP assessment team on the ground in Ukraine has now traveled to Lviv, Kyiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Vinnytsia, and back to Lviv.
“Value what you have. All of us are well and that is of utmost importance. We hope for the best and just want to return to our homes.”
Survivor from Mariupol
In Odesa, the team visited Ukrainian community groups preparing makeshift underground bunkers and visited with volunteers at food distributions. The strength of NP is we adapt to context and needs by listening to local people.
Read the summary of preliminary findings with key conclusions from the assessment, as well as recommendations on emergency and future protection programming in Ukraine. We look forward to sharing a more information in the coming weeks.
The report highlights the need for local and global collective action. Additional resources from our supporters will allow NP to address these concerns as a community. With your help, we can tackle the following:
- An upscaling of flexible small-grant mechanisms and other resourcing, capacity-strengthening, and mentoring support for civil society groups, local organisations, and volunteers currently mobilised as part of the local humanitarian response;
- In particular, an investment in support focused on safety and security of civil society and volunteers engaged in frontline humanitarian efforts, including evacuations from occupied areas. Specifically, requests for training and support have been made by local groups for psychological first aid, Early Warning Early Response planning, and unarmed civilian protection practices.
- Support for pro-active, forward-leaning, cross-cutting humanitarian and peacebuilding efforts focused on relationship-building and mediation between host communities and displaced civilians, and other future efforts such as inclusive ceasefire and peace agreement negotiations;
- Support for protection mainstreaming training, including related to humanitarian data security, to ensure the safety of both displaced civilians and humanitarian volunteers;
- International support on implementation of humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law with volunteer centres and civil society;
- Recognition of the leadership of local Ukrainian organisations and volunteers in the humanitarian response, and continued prioritisation of this leadership in the context of international efforts.