The full-scale war brought a lot of heartache to Ukrainian families. It is estimated that as many as 13 million people were forced to flee their homes. Currently, there are 4.8 million internally displaced persons officially registered in Ukraine, and another 2 million remain unregistered. At the same time, there are thousands of people who remain in dangerous areas and need to be evacuated.
Who evacuates Ukrainians and how?
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Both the state and specialized public agencies are involved in rescuing people. Over a year, more than 26,000 people were evacuated by the specialists of the NGO "Help People". It is a powerful organization of professionals in the field of evacuation, logistics, humanitarian aid, resettlement, and construction, which has its own car fleet and an evacuation and logistics HUB with a service station, a gas station, a warehouse for humanitarian aid and temporary accommodation for IDPs and employees.
"Our work continues every day. During June-July alone, we saved almost 4,000 people who suffered as a result of the terrorist attack at the Kakhovka HPP," said the head of the "Help People" Oleksiy Voronin.
In addition, the NGO accumulated and provided humanitarian aid to almost 100,000 people in need. More than 1,650 evacuees were assisted in finding housing and settling in a new place.
Simple evacuation is not enough
However, taking people to safe places is only the first step. Ukrainians who have lost everything and have nowhere to return are forced to rebuild their lives and need help.
The magnitude of the destruction caused by the aggressor is astonishing. As of June 2023, we know about more than 163 thousand damaged objects, which constitutes more than 8% of the total area of the housing stock of Ukraine. The greatest destruction was suffered by private, multi-unit residential buildings and dormitories in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv regions. The total value of damages exceeds 54 billion dollars.
The destruction of Ukrainian homes is one of the consequences of the war / Photo by Help People.
"According to very rough calculations, about 4.5 million people in Ukraine lost their homes. The war continues, and there are daily battles and missile attacks, which means that this number is only going to increase. This is a real disaster," stressed Oleksii Voronin.
One solution to this problem may be temporary modular settlements for forcibly displaced persons. There are around 25 of them in the country, and new ones appear every so often. But in the long run, this solution turns into a problem - for many people this temporary housing becomes permanent due to the lack of alternatives. The useful lifespan of the houses is limited, which results in rapid wear and tear, and people's already modest living conditions deteriorate rapidly. In addition, domestic conflicts can also occur in these settlements. Such towns are at risk of eventually turning into ghettos, and this cannot be allowed.
What is the alternative?
A temporary alternative solution is the resettlement of the IDPs in dormitories and reconstructed buildings of housing stock. However, in the future, the best option will be to build permanent housing complexes with developed infrastructure. The "Help People" NGO is currently working on projects like this.
The head of the "Help People" said: "Permanent housing will provide people with decent living conditions. And the proximity of infrastructure, such as kindergartens, schools, and commercial premises, will provide them with a normal life and an opportunity to open private businesses or find a job near their home. We intend to build such residential complexes in cities or next to them so that the new residents have the opportunity to socialize, go to work and lead a fulfilling life."
As Help People is a non-profit organization, it constantly needs financial support to work smoothly and effectively. Therefore, the NGO involves philanthropists from Ukraine and abroad, including Nova Ukraine, Libereco, Vehicles of Light, USAID, the Charity Fund "Alliance UE", and others.
As of mid-July 2023, Help People volunteers have evacuated more than 26,000 people from dangerous areas / Photo by Help People.
"We already have land plots, a detailed construction plan for a town that will be able to host 2,000 people, as well as a vision of its future functioning and development. For example, the cost of social housing for a family of 2 people will be about $15,000-20,000. Now we are looking for donors who are ready to support the reconstruction and construction of social housing for IDPs, and we also conduct regular fundraising for the evacuation of people," concluded Oleksii Voronin.
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