Ukraine has seen continuous fighting since February 24, 2022. Attacks are still being seen throughout the country, with airstrikes and blasts reported in multiple areas. Although Ukrainian military bases, airports, and airfields have been the primary targets, many public and private buildings have also been hit. The assaults have caused extensive disruptions in Ukraine's infrastructure and resources. In Ukraine, millions of people are in need of humanitarian assistance including food, clean water and hygiene supplies. Families are also in danger of contracting water-borne infections, which can be fatal, if they do not have access to safe drinking water. Food insecurity continues to increase. Ukrainian people are still at risk, and GlobalMedic has been actively responding since March 2022.
At the start of our response, GlobalMedic worked with long-time local partners to provide support and facilitate cross-border shipments of essential items such as tents, cots, and medical supplies into Ukraine. We immediately sent our Rapid Response Team to Romania and Moldova to help address the overwhelming level of need by collaborating with local partners to expand shelter facilities and provide food, hygiene, and medical supplies to refugees entering the country, including the provision of hot meals and hygiene items to incoming refugees at local train stations. Over one year later, GlobalMedic has expanded operations in the affected areas to diversify assistance programs to refugees.
Ensuring access to safe, clean drinking water is a priority, and GlobalMedic is helping to restore access to this resource through the provision of Family Emergency Kits (FEKs). FEKs are kits designed to provide families with a holistic solution to multiple problems they face in an emergency. The kits use a ceramic gravity-based filtration system to provide families with an easy and reliable way to access clean drinking water. This unit can provide families with clean water for up to one year, are lightweight, portable, don’t require electricity, and are highly adaptable to many situations. In the FEKs we also include things like hygiene items and a solar light to provide families with additional resources. To date, GlobalMedic has sent over50,848 FEKs into Ukraine and Moldova.
GlobalMedic is responding in Ukraine and Moldova with food security programs. Food insecurity in Ukraine and the surrounding communities is significantly increasing as the conflict continues. GlobalMedic continues to provide food hampers to Ukrainian refugees in Moldova. These hampers are filled with a variety of regionally sourced vegetables and pantry essentials. Local Moldovan women have been hired to pack this aid and over the summer we expanded the project to purchase and include produce grown on their farms in the packages. Not only does this program provide food assistance to Ukrainian refugees, it also supports the Moldovan economy which has been strained by the influx of refugees. GlobalMedic is also distributing food hampers to internally displaced persons in Ukraine through our hub in Siret, Romania. Items are purchased and packed in Romania by volunteers at which point they are taken across the border for distribution in Ukraine. Additionally, GlobalMedic has started packing food kits in Ukraine to support the local economy and to better reach those impacted by the conflict. In total, more than 596,235food hampers have been packed and distributed. Additionally, we operated a hot meal program in Odesa, where we contracted a local restaurant to prepare hot meals which are distributed to IDPs in the city. This has the dual impact of providing food security to vulnerable Ukrainians while also supporting the restaurant’s business and employees.
