ShelterBox, the disaster project partner of Rotary International, has launched a major response to the crisis in Ukraine, working to establish three programs inside and outside the country.
Since its founding by a Rotary Club in the U.K. more than 20 years ago, ShelterBox has provided shelter and other essential items to the most vulnerable forced from their homes by disaster and conflict. One of the world’s leading humanitarian relief organizations, ShelterBox has provided emergency shelter and living essentials to more than 2 million people, responding to more than 300 disasters in 100 counties.
Przemysl station, eight miles from the Polish border with Ukraine. 20,000 refugees are arriving here daily.
Now, ShelterBox is working as fast as possible to help establish three programs to provide relief to the more than 3.2 million refugees who have fled Ukraine, and the millions who have left their homes but remain within the country’s borders. Here is a breakdown of those programs:
- Working with a partner, ShelterBox is providing thousands of mattresses to “collective centres” like schools and churches in Lviv, Ukraine, where many are seeking shelter and safety.
- ShelterBox is preparing to send into Ukraine Shelter Kits, customized aid packages with rope, tools, thermal blankets, solar lights, and hygiene kits to those whose homes have been damaged by the conflict.
- Outside Ukraine, ShelterBox will support refugees with items they can carry, such as hygiene items and warm winter coats.
The United Nations has called the crisis in Ukraine the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The humanitarian need is massive. As many as 12 million may need lifesaving assistance.
At the same time, ShelterBox is responding to other disasters and conflicts around the world. ShelterBox launched one of its largest responses to date last December when Typhoon Rai barreled into the Philippines. With the support of the Rotary Club of Cebu, ShelterBox has provided shelter and living essentials to more than 5,000 households, and it plans to reach more than 20,000 households.
The organization also recently established its first program in Yemen, what home to what the United Nations has previously labeled the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. About 4 million people have been forced from their homes since the war began in 2014. And last year marked the tenth year ShelterBox has been working in Syria, where an estimated more than 12 million people have been displaced, often forced to face the country's cold winters without a home. ShelterBox has provided emergency shelter and household essentials to at least 400,000 people involved in the region’s conflict.
ShelterBox can’t do this work without the support of Rotary Clubs. To learn more, please visit www.ShelterBoxUSA.org or www.ShelterBoxCanada.org