Advocacy for Ukraine

What is Happening?

The war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine are deepening just as international support appears to be waning. Attacks by Russia have increased substantially along both the frontline and across civilian populated areas, killing, wounding and displacing more Ukrainians and knocking out vital infrastructure. Over 14.6 million people – about 40 percent of the Ukrainian population in Ukraine – need humanitarian assistance. Although Ukrainian aid organizations are at the forefront of humanitarian action, the UN and international aid agencies continue to control most decisions on strategy, resources, and programming. And they continue to expend the vast majority of aid that could be more efficiently and effectively deployed by Ukrainians.

What Must Be Done? 

Refugees International is working with the leading coalition of Ukrainian responders to shift more international aid and decision-making authority to Ukrainians –  and is looking to the global response to the crisis in Ukraine as a model for what can be achieved elsewhere in the world when there is enough political will to meet commitments on localization.

Report

Annual Ukraine Localization Survey 2024

Report

Passing the Buck: The Economics of Localizing Aid in Ukraine

Report

Efforts to Localize Aid in Ukraine One Year On: Stuck in Neutral, Losing Time

Statement

Less Than 1% of Humanitarian Funding for Ukraine Goes Directly to Local Organizations

Statement

New Study Shows Local Organizations in Ukraine Significantly More Cost-Efficient than International Organizations

Statement

Number of Displaced Venezuelans Matches Ukraine Crisis, International Support Does Not

Opinion

Devex: There is a Clear Financial Case for Localizing Aid

Opinion

Forced Migration Review: Breaking the Cycle – Localising Humanitarian Aid in Ukraine

Perspective

Localizing Aid in Ukraine: Perspectives from Ukrainian Humanitarians in Odesa, Lviv, Zaporizhia, and Dnipro

Advocacy Letter

Letter: Localization of Humanitarian Aid in Ukraine

Advocacy Letter

Communique from the National Conference on Localization in Ukraine

Event

Tools for Assessing the Locally-led Response in Ukraine: The Humanitarian Localization Baseline and Annual Localization Survey

Event

Discussing ‘Passing The Buck: The Economics of Localizing Aid in Ukraine’

Event

The Second Annual Ukrainian Aid Leadership Conference

Commentary

Romania Needs a Longer-Term Approach to Welcoming Displaced Ukrainians

Featured Image: Women who fled the war in Ukraine carry their babies after crossing the Polish Ukrainian border on March 07, 2022 in Kroscienko, Poland. © Omar Marques/Getty Images