Tetiana Stawnychy, president of Caritas Ukraine, met with CNEWA’s staff from its administrative center in New York on Monday, 31 March, providing updates, particularly on the impact of drone warfare targeting civilians, and the response of Caritas, the parish-based charity of the Greek Catholic churches throughout all of Ukraine.
Caritas Ukraine is one of CNEWA’s main partners in the country, which has been at war with its neighbor since 2014.
In partnership with the major archiepiscopal curia of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, its foundation Mudra Sprava and the Knights of Columbus, Caritas Ukraine’s community-based initiatives provide basic needs, such as food, water and shelter for those who are internally displaced.
A few details:
- The front is more than 1,870 miles long with intense hostilities along a third of the front
- Heightened risks — aviation, artillery, small range personal drones — extend 25 miles deep from the front
- Long range drone and missile strikes continue throughout the country
- Schools, hospitals and apartment buildings face targeted attacks
One in every two people (16.3 million people) are chronically affected by this war, said Ms. Stawnychy. More than 12.5 million people are in need, 12 percent of whom are children, 30 percent of whom are elderly and 14 percent of whom have special needs. The United Nations’ coordinated humanitarian response plan for 2025 originally targeted 6.5 million people in need; however, with the significant reduction of foreign assistance from the United States, the target will be further reduced.
In addition to emergency relief, Ms. Stawnychy reported that Caritas Ukraine provides housing, protection services, access to health care, education, employment, community integration and ongoing case management for the most vulnerable, as well as long-term shelter and care solutions for the sick and elderly. The risk of the internally displaced returning to front line areas is high, she said, when they do not find the support they need.
She outlined a number of goals for 2025:
Continue humanitarian action where needed: Includes the provision of temporary shelter and light repairs of homes, winterization programs, food security and hygienic water access, availability of medical services, evacuation relief and scaling of perceived traumatic stress (P.S.S.).
Transition to stabilization/recovery/development: Supports continued P.S.S. programs, mental health and case management, searching for durable solutions for housing and water, capacity building exercises and access to medical care.
Focus on crisis and resilience centers: Emphasizes P.S.S. work in schools, child-friendly spaces and inclusion programs; the funding of 10 medical clinics to provide medical care and rehabilitation; and the integration of these efforts with home care services.
Caritas Ukraine is also prioritizing its efforts with veterans and their families, including rehabilitation services, initiating community activation programs and building social cohesion through community development, offering microgrants, and encouraging volunteer programs. Caritas Ukraine also recommends reforms to the social protection system, seeking durable solutions for social care and building cooperation between the N.G.O. sector and the government.
Thanks to the prayerful and generous support of CNEWA’s friend and benefactors, Ms. Stawnychy noted, Caritas Ukraine’s work is nothing short of lifesaving.
At the end of her presentation, the president of Caritas Ukraine expressed her sincere thanks to CNEWA for its unceasing support, describing that support for a people under siege is “the spirit of being seen.”
CNEWA encourages readers to continue to keep in your prayers — especially in this season of such strife and uncertainty in our world — all the people of Caritas Ukraine, who work tirelessly to uphold the dignity of human life and aid those most in need.
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