Juliia’s Story
Juliia, 37, and volunteer colleagues launched Help Ukraine Romania as part of Bukovinian Agency for Initiatives and Development (BAID) on 01 March, 2022.
Juliia who has a PhD in Regional Economic Development and years of experience as project manager for international organizations, was determined to help facilitate humanitarian aid in response to the crisis.
The project originally started in Siret, Romania, and aims to facilitate the transportation and delivery of humanitarian aid across the border and into difficult areas of Ukraine.
Help Ukraine Romania assures all logistic support for an effective delivery to areas including the Kiyv region, Kharkiv, and Odessa. Humanitarian donations from NGOs, international organizations and individuals are stored in a warehouse in Siret in Suceava, Romania. This last town before the Siret-Porubne border is roughly 40KM to Chernivtsi, the first town on the Ukrainian side where Help Ukraine Romania’s main office coordinates the logistical operations. It was strategically selected as the home base for the NGO to facilitate the timely delivery access across the South and West of Ukraine which is heavily affected by the crisis as well as by the constraints of fuel access.
As the news of the organization spread, people reached out to Juliia to ask for food and hygiene items to be delivered to their shelters in hard hit areas of the country.
The NGO has evolved from merely delivering to include assessing the areas and most urgent needs around the country. As the winter approaches, Juliia says no one will be spared from the added difficulties ahead, but those who heat their homes with wood will be suffer most.
It is not currently possible to determine the number of landmines casualties since the escalation of the conflict, but it will be an added stress of survival to those needing to risk going into the forests to look for wood to keep warm and heat their foods.
Juliia is relentlessly raising awareness to such struggles ahead. She foresees that the territories under the control of Russian forces and Northern part of Ukraine will be severely affected. “We planning winter kits with heating items,” she explains. “These people are afraid of winter.”
“The most difficult part of my job,” says Juliia, “is to receive these letters and to have nothing stocked in the warehouse.” She goes on to explain that while Help Ukraine Romania assures the deliveries in the most complex areas of the country, it does not provide the products they deliver. For this, they rely on the donors which she tirelessly networks to inform them of Help Ukraine Romania’s availability to transport and deliver in difficult areas.
ACF’s partners, Help Ukraine Romania, deliver food at the IDP center of the Vifil church delivered in Chernivtsi, Ukraine. The activity concerns 57 families which represents an average of 170 persons. Each family received a kit to meet its needs of fresh and dry food to last for 15 days. Photo by ACF/Catianne Tijerina
PROGRAM
Action Against Hunger supports food distributions in Ukraine through the partnership of Help Ukraine Romania (HUR). The NGO is a humanitarian initiative/project of the Bukovinian Agency (BAID) for Initiatives and Development.
The initial partnership between AAH and BAID for HUR initiative dates from April to May, 2022. During this period, HUR assisted 2,475 individuals with food items in Chernihiv Oblast – Oblast that had recently changed control from Russia to Ukrainian forces at the time.
The second partnership was held in July. AAH procured food items that HUR distributed to 1,760 individuals in the Dnipro Oblast and 1,400 individuals in Mykolaiv Oblast.
The third partnership started beginning of August and ended at the end of the month. HUR distributed food items and hygiene kits to 9 IDPs center in Chernivtsi City. The target was to reach approximately 1,500 individuals.
Context
According to UNHCR, some 7 million people have been displaced internally within Ukraine and some 13 million people are estimated to be stranded in affected areas or unable to leave due to heightened security risks, destruction of bridges and roads, as well as lack of resources or information on where to find safety and accommodation.
Action Against Hunger is responding regionally, with activities in Ukraine and in the three main transit countries: Poland, Romania and Moldova.
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