Three years of war: Bringing hope to Ukrainians amid an uncertain future

• Monday 24 February marks three years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

• Humanitarian needs are vast for 3.7 million internally displaced and 6.8 million having fled the country. 1 in 3 people in Ukraine require urgent humanitarian assistance.

• Amid uncertainty over potential peace talks, ongoing fighting, occupation, and widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure leave Ukrainians facing a precarious future.

• CAFOD’s partners are providing immediate relief and helping people rebuild their lives and find hope for the future.

Three years of relentless conflict has left Ukrainians displaced, traumatised, and facing an uncertain future. CAFOD warns that humanitarian needs remain critically high, with an increased need for mental health support alongside urgent needs such food, water, and shelter.

Despite international debate about peace talks, the situation in Ukraine remains extremely volatile, with daily threats of shelling and airstrikes continuing to put lives at risk. An estimated 12.7 million people (36% of the population) urgently need aid. Millions of people have been forced to flee, countless homes, schools, hospitals, and livelihoods have been destroyed, and the country's infrastructure is devastated. Conditions are particularly dire along the eastern and southern frontlines where jobs are non-existent, and survival is a daily challenge.

The UN stated that some 63% of households have reported experiencing mental health issues, while 1.5 million children are estimated to be at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Josie O’Reilly, CAFOD Ukraine Programme Manager, said: “The psychological damage of three years of war has been just as damaging as the physical destruction. Ukrainians have been through so much, lives have been completely disrupted, with families losing loved ones, fleeing their homes, and losing jobs, all while fearing for relatives in other parts of the country, yet their resilience and hope for a better future remains strong.

“Our partners provide immediate and long-term mental health support to help Ukrainians recover, rebuild their lives, and move forward. We continue assist with urgent needs such as food, water, medical supplies, fuel for heating and helping repair damaged houses.”

Within Ukraine CAFOD partners have reached over 11 thousand Ukrainian women, men, and children in Ukraine with mental health and psychosocial support services. The services are offered through their humanitarian day centres and mobile teams that drive out to rural, frontline areas in eastern Ukraine to reach the most vulnerable communities. Support provided includes peer group sessions to talk through anxieties, life experiences and build social networks, access to trained psychologists for one-to-one sessions, and raising community awareness about mental health.

Many of the millions of Ukrainians who have been forced to flee their homes are now living in derelict of bomb-damaged houses, often without roofs, heating or means of cooking.

As well as mental health support, CAFOD’s partners carry out repairs for people to make homes habitable as well as providing cash assistance for food, water and medical supplies and fuel for heating.

Maria and her family fled Berdyansk in southeastern Ukraine, a region currently under Russian occupation. They managed to find a home and make essential repairs, but as winter approached, with temperatures dropping as low as -20°C, Maria feared for her children. Caritas Ukraine provided firewood to help them survive the freezing conditions.

Maria shared: “When the firewood arrived, it became a playground for the little ones. Our emotions were off the scale because we knew it was a lifeline in winter.”

A UN Survey at the end of last year revealed that 61 percent of Ukrainian refugees and 73 percent of internally displaced people still plan and hope to return home but the active conflict is preventing them.

Ukrainian refugees in Romania face this impossible choice. International humanitarian aid and local government funding is declining making it hard to stay, but the alternative to return to homes which are destroyed, occupied or under threat of bombs in not an option. Local organizations like CAFOD partner Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) are supporting refugees in Romania to integrate and make a life in Romania and live with hope and dignity.  

JRS Romania runs a kindergarten for Ukrainian children in Bucharest, classes and group therapy for older children while providing legal support and employment coaching to the parents to help them rebuild their lives with dignity.

Catalin Albu, General Manager at CAFODS partner JRS described the change he has seen in the children: “I have known some of these children for three years. They arrived deeply traumatized by war, separation, and life as refugees. These experiences have left deep scars. Through education and therapy, we have helped them heal and rediscover joy. Now, I see them laughing, playing, and hugging me.”

Thanks to generous support for CAFOD’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), of which CAFOD is a member, the charity has helped over 185,000 vulnerable women, men and children access vital aid including food, water, shelter, child-friendly spaces and psychological counselling support across Ukraine, working through local Ukrainian partner organisations: Depaul Ukraine, Caritas Ukraine and Caritas-Spes Ukraine.  

CAFOD’s partners were there before the crisis, they have scaled up their work to respond to their communities' needs during the crisis, and they will remain long after the rest of the world has moved on. CAFOD is working to ensure that when that happens, these organizations have the skills they need to continue the incredible work they are doing.