People who were forced to leave their homes because of the war continue to settle in new places, flow into a new space, and solve many problems. What problems do they face in Odessa, how do they feel, and how do Odessans help them? In order to answer these questions, we turned to the organization of the Public Movement "Faith, Hope, Love", in which from the very beginning of the war they began to help the victims of the conflict, were among the first to create a Volunteer Headquarters and began to provide humanitarian aid to IDPs who arrived in Odessa.
"According to statistics, as of January 1, 2023, 137 IDPs were registered in Odesa and Odesa region, of which 30% are children, but in reality their number is higher, as not all are registered. Due to the state of war, the occupation of the territories and the unstable situation, people are scared and confused, they often do not want to contact the law enforcement agencies because they think that there are more important problems now and it is not the right time. Therefore, in March 2022, with the support of the IMC company, we opened the "IDP First Aid Center", on the basis of which medical, social, humanitarian and legal assistance is provided to internally displaced persons. The employees of the Khabu regularly collect and analyze the needs and main problems of IDPs. Many forced migrants from the occupied territories, especially women and children, have experienced gender-based violence and need the support of specialists, therefore one of the urgent needs of IDPs is psychosocial support," says the head of the public movement "Vira Nadiya Lyubov" Tatyana Semikop.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the "Faith, Hope, Love" GR team began to create new relevant projects to support internally displaced persons, organize the provision of psychosocial support, attract additional financial and organizational resources, and distribute humanitarian aid. One of these is the project "Strengthening the capacity of projects to prevent gender-based violence."
"This project is implemented within the framework of the "Able and Strong" program, implemented by the Eastern Europe Foundation with the support of Switzerland. Our main goal is to provide a complex of psychosocial protection services to vulnerable sections of the population, especially women and children who have suffered from gender-based violence, and to strengthen the organizational level of civil society to provide support to victims. In addition, as part of the project, training is planned for representatives of public organizations working with IDPs," says the project coordinator. Lilia Leonidova.
"Every Sunday, starting in November 2022, the project staff provides humanitarian aid in the form of food rations and hygiene kits to internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as people who have become more vulnerable due to the war. Special attention is paid to the most vulnerable groups of IDPs affected by the conflict, in particular, people with disabilities, women and girls who face various forms of discrimination, and elderly people affected by GON," the sociologist noted. Olena Knyazeva, which constantly monitors the work of the project.
Due to the large number of requests for psychological support, including due to violence, psychologists and social workers are involved in the project, who provide assistance, support and psychosocial support to women who are victims of gender-based violence. Taking into account the work experience of the "Faith, Hope, Lyubov" GR, the project employees accompany and support the victims at all stages of receiving relevant services and assistance. For women who have suffered from gender-based violence and need help with organized training, trainings are held every Sunday, where women receive knowledge on understanding the causes and consequences of GBV.
