Cash to buy what’s needed most

Millions of Ukrainians are now living away from home due to the escalation of the war this year. Many are struggling to find the money to pay rent on their temporary home. Plus, they need to fill that home with its essentials. Most will have left their jobs behind, and so they must do all this without an income. For some, simply being able to afford food is challenging.

With support from our partners, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is helping displaced Ukrainians in meeting these challenges.

Cash as humanitarian aid

Cash is one of the most effective measures to making the situation for Ukrainian refugees a little easier. The explanation for this is twofold:

Firstly, while goods need to be sorted, packed, shipped, stored, and distributed, cash arrives immediately.

Secondly, cash assistance ensures that we respect the individual choices of people. It gives people the freedom to decide for themselves what or need to purchase. This leads to a more dignified response for people who have been forced to flee. NRC, together with our partners, distributes cash to displaced Ukrainians inside Ukraine, as well as in Poland, Romania and Moldova.

But Pietro Mirabelli, NRC’s Cash & Markets Programme Development Manager for Poland, Romania and Moldova, explains that providing cash assistance is more than handing out cheques. “There is a whole system behind tracking and identifying the vulnerabilities and subsequent follow-up to recognise that vast differences between different people’s vulnerabilities,” he says.

Iryna (left) is working with the cash assistance programme, here standing with her PCPM colleague Orysia Kyliukh (right). Photo: Tomek Klimczak/NRC

Iryna Bilokolodskych fled to Poland from Dnipro, Ukraine, in March 2022. She now works for the Polish Center for International Aid (PCPM), NRC’s local partner organisation in Poland. It’s her job to distribute cash to those who need it.

“Thanks to these cash transfers, families with no place to stay can now pay rent for apartments, as well as security deposits,” says Iryna. “Just today there was a lot of joy and cheering when they learned that the cash will be available in 10 days, and that they will be able to pay for an apartment and buy clothes for winter.”

NRC and PCPM chose Lubelskie Voivodship as our project location because of the proximity to the Ukrainian border. The cash assistance project will reach 860 Ukrainian families to help them cover their most urgent needs this winter.

Iryna points out that, for some people, the cash will provide more than just essential items. “There was also a woman today who will use the cash assistance to bring her disabled mother from Ukraine to Poland, so they can be together again,” she says. “And it’s all thanks to this programme.”

Iryna’s PCPM colleague, Orysia, adds: “For me, it's very important what we are doing here, and I feel myself as a part of something really good. We are doing something good for people.”

Providing safety in a difficult situation

Zinaiida Sievastianova also decided to come to Poland in March this year. She and her three children fled their hometown in Kharkiv district, because Zinaiida needed to protect the lives and health of her children.

Though they had escaped the threats from tanks and rifles, they now didn’t have an income. Zinaiida worried she would not be able to put a roof over their heads. There were no jobs available for her in the small town of Szydłowiec, Poland.

Thanks to the cash assistance programme, Zinaiida’s now has one less thing to worry about. In addition to covering the family’s warm clothes for the winter, food and hostel fees, she is planning to sign up for a Polish language course for adults. This will help her in finding a job, so she can begin to rely on her own income.

Iryna talking with Zinaiida and her children at the centre. Photo: Tomek Klimczak/NRC

NRC has so far distributed more than 10 million euros to families inside Ukraine. This cash assistance has reached 12,226 households in 23 Oblasts all over Ukraine. In addition, we have reached 2,112 individuals in Poland, approximately 860 families, all benefitting from cash assistance. The amount spent in Poland is currently over 773,000 euros, and some transfers are still processing. By the end of 2022, the total amount will be 865,000 euros.

This cash assistance is crucial for helping Ukrainians cover basic needs. Now that winter is here, the situation is difficult for displaced people in the region, and the needs for humanitarian aid are constantly growing.

We're grateful to our donors for the continuous support
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union, Ukraine Humanitarian Pooled Fund, USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, UNHCR, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German Federal Foreign Office, Belgium Directorate-General for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid.