Ukrainian and Romanian children at SOSVEM in Cisnadie, Romania; Credit: (c) Katerina Ilievska / SOSVEM

Luxembourg non-profit organisation SOS Villages d'Enfants Monde (SOSVEM) announced that as of 21 April 2022, SOS associations has reached 6,933 direct beneficiaries in Ukraine and 1,350 in host countries, and also coordinated the evacuation and support of 1,500 children, particularly vulnerable children living in orphanage-type institutions.

In Ukraine, more than two months after the start of the war on 24 February 2022, the situation continues to deteriorate and the human toll to increase. As of 25 April, there were 7.7 million internally displaced people in Ukraine and more than 5.2 million refugees.

With its partners on the ground, SOSVEM has launched a vast emergency aid programme for thousands of children and families in Ukraine and in a dozen transit and destination countries. Preventing family separation, ensuring that children who find themselves alone receive appropriate protection and care and trying to reunite families, such is the mission of the organisation. It also involves guaranteeing immediate support, providing shelter, distributing food and basic necessities, offering psychosocial support, relocating children in danger, accompanying children and families on their way to exile and, in the longer term, to help families rebuild themselves.

Services offered by SOS in Ukraine

In Ukraine, where it has been active since 2003 and despite an air attack on one of its sites, the local association continued its three main programmes (family support, care and emergency aid) for 492 families and 1,275 children and launched new services: evacuation, relocation assistance, psychological first aid, orientation assistance, financial assistance. 6,933 people benefited from it. The psychosocial support team offered, sometimes in bomb shelters and trains, 210 consultations to 177 beneficiaries.

  • Relocation of children and families: SOS Ukraine has provided assistance to 770 people (including 560 children) from SOS host families, also from "kinship families" who do not benefit from regular support from the association. The rehousing of host families was quickly organised, communication being established between SOS Ukraine and the other SOS associations. Most of the families were welcomed in the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, often in SOSVEM. The organisation was also able to to provide shelter for entire families or groups of friends.
  • Help for displaced families: Through a consortium of partners, SOS Ukraine was able to provide vital aid to 2,978 people: evacuation, transport, shelter, housing, first psychological support, etc.
  • Financial aid: 1,452 people received financial assistance (fixed sum for three months).
  • Support for the 113 employees of SOS Ukraine: in their relocation and resettlement in new places of work.

Services offered by SOS in the host countries

Faced with the emergency and the needs, a dozen SOS associations from neighboring countries (Hungary, Poland and Romania) or further afield (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and Czech Republic), opened their doors to 1,350 Ukrainian people. They offered assistance and protection, housing, food aid, distributed hygiene kits, clothing and toys, provided access to medical services, provided psychosocial support and helped with finding a job.

Training of SOS employees in psychosocial support

The psychological and social sequelae can have an acute long-term impact on the mental health and psychosocial well-being of people in psychological distress, hence the need to provide them with psychosocial support. Four orientation sessions were offered by experts in mental health and psychosocial support to Member Associations to guide them in the implementation of such services. More than 200 participants took part.