Women Organizations are close

to the Ukrainian refugees

The response of the National Coalition “Life without Domestic Violence” to the refugee
crisis in the Republic of Moldova from the perspective of the women organizations
“We arrived at the border at 3 a.m. carrying two bags and a 2-
year-old daughter, I did not know anything or anyone, but I was Since the set off of the war in the neighbouring
country, Ukraine, the citizens and authorities from the
lucky to encounter good persons like you,” (mother of a 2-year-
Republic of Moldova have been facing an
old girl, Mariupol)
unprecedented crisis. Thousands of persons fleeing the
“I had just one thought in my head – not to lose my breastmilk,
war, the majority of them being women and children,
otherwise I would have no idea where I would go and how I could feed
were crossing the borders of our country on a daily
her,” (mother of an one month old girl, Odessa)
basis hoping to find a safe haven.
“I took three backpacks full of clothes on my back so as to have my
hands free and to be able to hold each other’s hands in the crowd. I was
so scared I could lose my children in all that chaos going on in the bus
stations, on the roads and everywhere,” (A., nurse from the maternity
hospital in Zaporojie).
“The children are so happy and content. They were just amazed,
jumping up and down of joy when they got the earphones. Some even
remembered having exactly the same type back home in Kiev, or having
forgotten theirs underground and being so happy about having the new
ones,” (A. the Centre Diversitatea)
“Should somebody see me with this fur coat, they would think I am rich,
but I’ve been saving money for 5 years to be able to buy it. I could not
leave this dream of mine behind. I only took this piece of clothing for me,
all the rest are the clothes of my son,” (mother of a five-year-old boy,
Odessa).
Being conscious of the women’s vulnerabilities and trying to offer the necessary help to women and children from Ukraine, the women
organizations were the first to mobilize themselves at the very outset of the crisis. Considering the key feminist values such as
solidarity, empathy, risk awareness, recognition of women’s vulnerabilities, real needs and interests, the organizations developed rapid
and direct support mechanisms focused on the safety and psycho-emotional well-being of women and children.
We mobilized to help the women and children from Ukraine. We offered them:
Transportation
Food products Medications and medical Direct financial support
We met them at the border crossing
points, tired, scared, hopeless, and we assistance In order to avoid them slipping into
We offered them packages with food
accompanied them to places where they products and hygiene products, we We helped them find a place to live an even more vulnerable position
were safe and calm. cooked together. in, some decided to stay in our than they are currently in, we
reception and accommodation offered them cash support to cover
centres. their primary needs.

Clothing and footwear Accommodation Services for children

Psychological assistance
Since many of the women packed their We created and offered day
We helped them find a home, some We talked to them, hugged them, we
lives into just one baggage, they needed carecentres with a diversity of
even decided to stay in our centres. cried their pain together with them and
clothing and footwear – so we mobilized creative activities so that these
to help them with that. encouraged them to stay strong. children had an opportunity to
study and to spend their free time
in an active manner.

We stayed together to help the persons fleeing war, the majority being women and children.
To overcome the challenges caused by the refugee crisis, the National Coalition for Life without Domestic Violence carried out a set of actions as listed below:

We established the emergency fund

From the very first day of the war, the National Coalition established an Emergency Fund of more than MDL 3.755.000 to help the member
organizations cope with the challenge of the refugee flow, which was possible due to the financial support from OAK Foundation, Association for
Community Relations, the member organizations such as Women’s Law Centre, HELP Moldova, as well as the UN Women. These resources
were allocated to 15 member organizations and 3 other organizations which are not part of the Coalition but still worked with women and
children, since solidarity is one of our key value.
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 The response of the National Coalition “Life without Domestic Violence” to the refugee
crisis in the Republic of Moldova from the perspective of the women organizations

We initiated the direct financial support procedure

1
Special emphasis was attributed to direct cash support for women. We decided
to react promptly to financially help women fleeing war in order to avoid placing
them in a more vulnerable situation than they currently found themselves in.
Thus, there are currently more than 250 families who received cash support for
their primary needs and more than 7000 women and children who received
diverse support via other means. We also helped centres for women who
helped the refugees, such as the ones in Kirsova, Straseni, Ialoveni, Chisinau.

1 We established the crisis cell

For a better coordination, continuous needs assessment and collection of
funds, we established a crisis cell consisting of the Secretariat team and the
Administration Board members.
All the employees from the member organizations
worked thrice as hard, being emotionally deeply
involved
The aim was to help our colleagues to better understand the peculiarities and
the context of working during war. We participated together with the refugees in
a series of webinars organized by our partners on topics related to the provision
of the first psychosocial aid, ensuring the safety of refugees etc. At the same
time, we organized a specialized course “Trauma and crisis situations during
wartime” facilitated by psychotherapists from Ukraine, for the partner and
member organizations, so that our colleagues could learn new methods and
techniques of working with persons affected by war since the Republic of
Moldova did not have such an experience before.
Besides, we are trying to develop an individual and collective self-care space
where our members would be provided free of charge sessions of psychological
counselling, we are initiating group discussions, support groups etc. about the
importance of speaking about the way we feel, about the way we can help
ourselves and the others.
We established and developed partnerships
and connections since these are what matters
most in times of crisis
The crisis showed us the importance of knowing and responding
exactly to the women’s needs. Since we understood that these
needs are growing and we will require financial resources to
supplement the Emergency fund, we maintained a continuous
dialogue with our donors and partners for simple and flexible
procedures of funds allocation, so that the help could also be
accessible to the smallest organisations and so that the
community level services, the mostly needed ones, should be
properly delivered. From the very first day of the war in Ukraine
we’ve been part of the support group in the framework of WAVE
Network to help the organisations from Ukraine.
In these complicated moments we enjoyed the support
from our friends and partners with whom we developed
trustworthy relationships throughout the years and
with whom we try together to rebuild what the war has
destroyed.
OAK Foundation
Association for Community Relations
Help Moldova
Women’s Law Centre
UN Women Moldova

Organizations that provide direct services to women and child refugees, in the framework of the Coalition as well as
partner organisations:
NGO Women’s Law Centre – social, humanitarian, psychological support, legal advice for women and children, community level integration services, sub granting for
member organisations;
Centre for Assistance and Protection of Victims, Chisinau – shelter, social, humanitarian and psychological support for women and children, community level
integration services;
NGO “Stimul”, Ocnita -social, humanitarian and psychological support for women and children;
NGO Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture “Memoria”, Chisinau - shelter, social, humanitarian and psychological support for women and children,
community level integration and inclusion services;
NGO Association against Domestic Violence “Casa Marioarei” - shelter, social, humanitarian and psychological support for women and children, community level
integration and inclusion services;
NGO Resource Centre “Dacia” - social, humanitarian and psychological support for women and children, legal advice, community level integration services;
NGO Centre “Diversitate” - social, humanitarian and psychological support as well as specialized services for women and children, community level integration
services;
NGO “Jenskie Initiativy” – social, humanitarian and psychological support as well as specialized services for women and children, community level integration
services;
NGO “Resonance” - humanitarian and psychological support, community level integration services;
NGO “Interaction” - social, humanitarian and psychological support for women and children, legal advice, community level integration services, financial support to
member organisations;
NGO Psycho-Social Centre “Vulcanesti” – humanitarian support, community level integration services;
NGO “Everybody contributing for a Change”, Criuleni - social, humanitarian and psychological support and specialized services for women and children.

We plan to continue to help women and children who arrived to our country because of war, to
assess their needs, to adjust our interventions, to develop relationships and partnerships, to
create socially and culturally inclusive societies.