our Humanitarian response to the war
Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) has had a permanent presence in Ukraine for more than 25 years. Since February 2022 Hungarian Interchurch Aid has doubled down on its efforts to provide help to those in need – both in Hungary and Ukraine. From tangible, in-kind food aid to cash assistance, humanitarian development, community-based relief and psychosocial help, HIA’s response to this crisis is multisectoral and flexible. Supported by other members from ACT Alliance, HIA is present on both sides of the border and is providing assistance to those in need, wherever they are seeking help.
6.0M
refugees fled Ukraine
3.7M
internally displaced people
513,400
assisted people
2302
tonnes of aid delivered
300+
shelters supported
Two years of assistance - Read our 2-year-report
Committed towards helping the war-affected people of Ukraine, HIA is implementing the largest aid programme of its history. In our 2-year report below, we aim to present the achievments of the response, while explaining each of HIA’s modalities of assistance, accompanying them with the voices of our beneficiaries.
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On the two-year-mark
NEWS
Displaced helping displaced: supporting grassroot resilience through SCLR
Located in the safer western part of the country, Ivano-Frankivsk provides refuge for a flood of displaced people from the...
Read MoreGovernor of Zakarpattia visits Support Centre for Ukrainian Refugees in Budapest
Viktor Mikita, Governor of Transcarpathia visited Budapest on 12 April at the invitation of László Lehel, President-Director of Hungarian Interchurch...
Read MoreEmpowering refugees through art: finding community in Budapest
Apart from Hungarian Interchurch Aid’s own Support Centre, HIA also supports several other faith-based organisations and initiatives through ACT Alliance’s...
Read MoreSECTORIAL ASSISTANCE IN UKRAINE
HIA is officially registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine as a nation-wide organisation. With its Ukrainian HQ in Kyiv and regional offices in L’viv, Dnipro and Berehove, the organisation carries out nationwide humanitarian and development programmes in 22 oblasts of Ukraine, from Zakarpattia in the west to Kramatorsk in the east and Kherson in the south. It was among the first international aid organisation to bring aid to Bucha after its liberation, and thanks to its presence in Kherson, was able to help evacuees on the day of the Kakhovka dam explosion. HIA continues to support people in need living near the frontlines where other INGOs rarely venture.
Emergency aid in ukraine
Protection & psychosocial Support
Cash - a dignified way of helping
Community-based grants
HUMANITARIAN DEVELOPMENT WORK
Following the deoccupation of Northern Ukraine, HIA has set out to renovate critical infrastructure. Partnered with the Government of Hungary, the complete renovation of a school in Zahal’tsi near Borodyanka commenced alongside the establishment of a container kindergarten and an ambulance station in Bucha. In Synyak, a healthcare facility with added post and local government functions is under construction. Another goal is the winterisation and equipment of shelters for IDPs, the renovation of educational institutions to facilitate the return of students to on-site education. Reconstruction efforts of the past two years were not limited to essential infrastructure – HIA has also conducted light & medium repairs on homes in Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
SECTORIAL ASSISTANCE IN HUNGARY
Emergency response in Hungary
adjusting to life in hungary
a community of helpers
On February 24th, the world woke up to the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While many just watched in horror, Hungarian civilians, charitable organisations, businesses, corporations and government bodies immediately started organising themselves. It seemed as if everyone and every business had something to give to the refugees. HIA volunteers have worked countless hours sorting and classifying donations, preparing and handing out food & hygiene kits at the transit hub for refugees, on the border or anywhere where they were needed. Without their dedication, HIA staff wouldn’t have been able to provide help to those in need like they did. Complementing the unprecedented amount of durable food, hygiene items, clothes, childcare products and lots more that the organisation has collected from businesses and common people, HIA also started a domestic fundraising campaign to finance its activities in the humanitarian crisis caused by the war. The campaign proved how the power of community is able to make a difference if a community acts together for a common cause.
About Hungarian Interchurch Aid
Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) was founded in 1991 by Hungarian historical Protestant and Orthodox churches. The founding churches are now working together as a growing community of professionals, volunteers, donors and responsible corporate partners to help those in need.
As one of the largest, internationally recognized charity organisations in Hungary, HIA has carried out humanitarian and development work in over 40 countries, providing assistance to those in need in many countries around the world regardless of nationality, religion or world view, meeting the highest professional and transparency requirements.HIA has its Headquarters in Budapest, Hungary, and operates Regional Offices in Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Ethiopia.
Hungarian Interchurch Aid has had a permanent presence in Ukraine for more than 25 years. We have opened an office in Berehove in 1998, which is still operating. We are officially registered in Kyiv as an aid organisation with nation-wide operations.
In addition to humanitarian aid provided after disasters, the aim of our activity is to deliver long-term sustainable development model programmes and to provide capacity building for our local partners.
Since 2014 – following an international request – we have been involved in the care of internally displaced persons in several locations, providing tangible support for the internally displaced in 20 regions of Ukraine. In the first years of the crisis, we opened 2 more offices in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia. In addition to distributing aid packages containing food, hygiene and household items, we have renovated community accommodation units, delivered hundreds of tons of fuel, and provided psychosocial assistance to those who lived through the traumas of war.
Before the 2022 war, we have carried out significant humanitarian and development work in 20 regions and 543 settlements of Ukraine, directly benefiting over 578,000 people.
In the first days of the coronavirus epidemic, we started to support institutions in Ukraine in their efforts to combat COVID-19. Several shipments of COVID-19 health protection equipment (masks, hygiene products, and 220 respirators) were delivered to Ukraine by HIA as a donation of the Hungarian Government.
Reports
Two years of assistance on report: HIA’s response in Ukraine & Hungary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxW8P5zCfWg Committed towards helping the war-affected people of Ukraine, HIA is implementing the largest aid programme of its history. In...
Read MoreSituation Report – 15 January 2024
HIA has reached 502,267 people so far, providing access to basic humanitarian aid, protection activities and other life-saving services in...
Read MoreSITUATION REPORT – 8 December 2023
HIA has reached 489,453 people so far (see *part, below the summary table on page 5), providing access to basic...
Read More