Ukrainian children and families still need our help

November 8, 2022 | Donor News, GFC & Partner Updates

Despite the billions of dollars pledged to help Ukrainians during this crisis, an alarmingly low percentage of that funding is reaching frontline community responders. A June 2022 report found that informal volunteer groups and NGOs were providing vital humanitarian aid in Ukraine but receiving only .003% in direct funding. Of the $100+ billion committed for Ukraine during the first six months of the war, only a small portion is destined for humanitarian aid at all.

As winter approaches and fighting intensifies in Ukraine, we’re continuing to provide emergency support to Ukrainian children and families. We need your help to meet the growing needs on the ground.

Millions of Ukrainians are still under attack or have fled their homes, seeking safety across the border. We urge those with resources to support the frontline community-based organizations that are providing crucial and life-saving services for children, youth, and their families.

Food

Volunteers serving food to internally displaced families at the train station in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. © Maxim Solodjuk.

Global Fund for Children has been funding grassroots organizations in Ukraine for two decades. Our network of 58+ community-based partners in Ukraine and neighboring countries are steadfastly protecting children who have lost their homes, their family and friends, and their sense of security. These courageous community leaders are exhausted. Nevertheless, they wake up each morning and rededicate themselves to the welfare and wellbeing of children and youth: by providing shelter from the coming winter, safe spaces for displaced families, therapy for young people experiencing trauma, and access to education for children facing another disruption of their studies.

There is still too much money held up in the bureaucratic logjam of large international aid agencies, raised but not reallocated, committed but not spent. These are barriers that slow the flow of aid into the hands of those directly serving their communities. Local organizations in Ukraine urgently need this money.

GFC is determined to reduce those barriers by providing rapid, flexible funding to small, nimble, innovative partners who are embedded in their communities. We independently vet these organizations, ask for minimal paperwork, and provide only unrestricted funding so our partners can use the time and money to respond to the most urgent needs. This approach has helped us move $1.7 million in emergency grants to 58 local partners within weeks of receiving the donations from our supporters. This is thanks to the generosity of hundreds of GFC donors around the world stepping up to show their support to Ukrainian children.

Ukrainian refugees receiving assistance from Asylum Protection Center staff in Serbia. © APC

But winter will be long and difficult, and our community-based partners are asking if we have additional funding to support them. Astronomical energy costs are stretching our partners’ budgets as they purchase generators and heating fuel for displaced families. Countless Ukrainian families are still without permanent shelter and adequate winter clothing. As they face these day-to-day difficulties, their homes are still under attack.

We want to say “yes” to these requests for funding. We want to deliver additional emergency grants quickly to our local partners. We need your help to make this happen.

Our Emergency Response Fund for Ukraine is still accepting donations. Your contribution will be shared with our network of more than 58 local partners in Ukraine, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Serbia that are providing life-saving and critical support to thousands of children, youth, and families whose lives have been upended by this war.

Make an emergency donation to help Ukrainian children.

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Global Fund for Children supports community-based organizations in the cities in Ukraine, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Serbia shown above. For their safety, GFC is naming its partner organizations in Ukraine only when they have asked to be publicly identified.

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Global Fund for Children (GFC) UK Trust, created in 2006, is a UK registered charity (UK charity number 1119544). We work to generate vital income, create new fundraising opportunities, and raise awareness of the invaluable work of GFC’s grassroots grantees. Our aim is to extend the reach of GFC in the United Kingdom, Europe, and beyond.

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