DanChurchAid & Norwegian Church Aid in Ukraine

Photo story: EU Funding to Mine Clearance and Assistance for Victims of War in Ukraine

DCA-NCA is supporting those, who have lost their homes or been injured in the war, while clearing lands from explosives to limit further casualties.

Ukraine

Kateryna Survived Artillery Strike: “I Didn’t know How Many Documents I Needed to Start Over”

Since 2022, over 12,000 civilians have been killed and 27,000 injured in Ukraine. With EU funding, victims of war like Kateryna are helped to recover.

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Main activities

DCA/NCAs work in Ukraine is centered around two strategic goals: To save lives and build resilient communities. DCA/NCA Ukraine works with survivor and community-led response, infrastructure reestablishment, protection and Humanitarian Mine Action to meet the local humanitarian needs of Ukrainians suffering under the Russian invasion.

Implementing our projects in collaboration with Ukrainian partner organisations, DCA/NCAs activities in Ukraine consists of the following activities:

Community-led response to crisis

DCA/NCA work together with locally led community groups, initiatives, and organisations, providing them with flexible small grants to implement small projects on the ground across Ukraine. Through this, vulnerable, conflict-affected populations are being supported through community-based frontline actors that are too often cut off from international assistance.

These projects meet the direct needs of people on the ground in communities affected by the war in various ways ranging from providing vulnerable citizens with food, to helping local shelters with furniture and other items for them to host internally displaced people (IDP) throughout the winter. Working with survivor and community-led responses (SCLR) is in line with DCA/NCAs firm commitment to localisation.

DCA/NCAs work with SCLR contributes to DCA/NCAs overall goal of building resilient communities.

Humanitarian Mine Action

DCA/NCA Ukraine’s humanitarian mine action activities aim to increase the safety of communities exposed to mines and other explosive remnants of war through a wide range of trainings, information materials and activities, survey and clearance activities. DCA/NCA is currently undertaking the mapping and clearance of areas contaminated by explosive ordnance and, in partnership with the State Emergency Service Ukraine, we are ensuring the safe disposal or demolition of explosive remnants of war.

As a direct result of DCA/NCAs information activities, there will be a significant increase in knowledge of the dangers of explosive remnants of war and a decrease in injuries and fatalities. The knowledge on safe behaviour in areas with risks of explosive ordnance will minimise the number of accidents, injuries and deaths caused by improper handling of explosives. It will furthermore facilitate the safe return of internally displaced people and help promote safe reconstruction of communities damaged in battle.

Along with mine and battle area survey and clearing, information activities are achieving DCA/NCAs overall strategy of saving lives.

Protection

DCA/NCA is conducting psychosocial sessions to help people overcome the momentous challenge of speaking openly about their traumas and stress. Psychosocial support encompasses a range of interventions aimed at addressing the psychological and social needs of individuals affected by conflict. Through counseling, group sessions, and community-based initiatives, survivors are provided with a safe space to process their experiences, confront their pain, and rebuild their lives.

Furthermore, DCA/NCA is creating safe spaces for survivors of gender-based violence, veterans, and for the war-affected population. In close collaboration with Ukrainian partner organisations, DCA/NCA is striving to put a focus on mental health in Ukraine, and to address the problem.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

These activities cover the repair of damaged water, heating and gas pipes, and shelters. DCA/NCA is focused on preparing vulnerable populations for the freezing winter. In Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts, DCA/NCA is doing small and medium repairs in collaboration with Ukrainian partner organisations such as Southern Development Strategy (SDS). Among the activities in Mykolaiv, DCA/NCA has completed repairs on the central heating plant in Mykolaiv, which is providing heating to 160.000 residents. Restoration of gas and water supply to de-occupied villages, window replacements, and repairs for private housing and public institutions are among the other activities conducted by DCA/NCA in Kherson and Mykolaiv.

Legal support

We utilise our Ukrainian partner Right to Protection’s local expertise in the areas of legal support for people who have had to flee their homes in parts of Ukraine most affected by fighting, or who are in other ways affected by the Russian invasion. Together with Right to Protection, DCA/NCA provides free legal support to conflict-affected people and internally displaced people in de-occupied communities of Ukraine’s North as well as establishing cooperation with local authorities, law enforcement agencies, and free legal aid organisations in order to strengthen cooperation and coordination among different institutions in target regions.