This is the report of the “Vostok-SOS” initiative on 8 month of its work done in 2014. Our team would cordially express our gratitude to everyone who helped us to lend a hand to those who need help. Without each of you some part of our work would not have been completed. Unfortunately, it was impossible to keep a record of every act of care and help. After collecting the available data the available data we can present a report, which includes all the fronts of the work.
Call-center
During 8 month of “Vostok-SOS” hotline more than 60 000 people asked are for help, 11 819 of who were registered in electronic database.
According to the statistics of our database, 7605 people moved, 1200 are currently moving, 1850 changed their mind due to different reasons or contact with those people was lost because of unstable situation in the conflict area. 5 250 people received humanitarian aid (financial aid as well).
The number of applications increases rapidly.
In May we have got 86 appeals, in June there were 1991 appeals, and in July – 2983 already.
Peak of the calls was in August: 3602 people asked us for help. After signing of so-called truce and after getting cold, the number of applications reduced, in September we had 1201 appeals, and in October, there were 800 people. During November, there were 500 people, and in December, there were 656 people, who passed the online registration.
Also, for the period of the conflict requests greatly changed.
During the first months of our work, when people had a possibitily to leave the area easily, the most urgent was dwelling problem; in the middle of summer the most actual were questions of evacuation, and during two first decades of autmn the emphasis shifted towards humanitarian aid.
Currently the number of calls is increasing again, but the requests from the appliers are getting more and more challenging. In November there was a great amount of calls concerning social benefits and legal assistance, support to the liberated towns from the anti-terroristic area. Requests for humanitarian aid are sufficiently frequent.
Humanitarian section and work with children
This section is responsible for:
- Work with immigrants outside the conflict zone
- Targeted assistance in the conflict area.
- Monitoring and protection on the rights of the child.
Since June to December 2014 2 198 families, including 950 children were provided with help. On the first place is Kyiv and Kyiv region, on the second place are families from liberated territories, on the third place are families from the uncontrolled territories.
Types of assistance:
- Tickets buy (provided mainly in the period of asset fighting, since June to August),
- Medicines buy (individually, since June to December)
- Providing of non-food items: cots, blankets, bedclothes, pillows, dishes, clothes etc.
- Food packages delivery (from June to November)
- Providing the household chemistry
- Help for newborns and infants (diapers and one-time food fee, in case of twins or big family – once a month)
- Social supervision – 150 families
- Delivery of target assistance to the liberated territories and occupied zone
- Leisure and healthcare of children
- August: providing of stationery sets for schoolchildren, December 2014 – January 2015 – 2 653 students-migrants in Kyiv region receive sets of settles, as well as students-migrants from Lugansk and Donetsk regions (USIAD project)
- Consultations concerning protection of children’s rights and representation of children’s interests in the government.
Humanitarian assistance for the liberated territories
The East-SOS team decided to expand our activities in humanitarian assistance to the inhabitants of the terretories liberated by Ukrainian army.
The main goals of the direction are:
The first one: we believe that the liberation of the city has strategical advantages: the possibility of recreating dialogue based on universal values, which means the unification of Ukraine.
The second: providing medicines to hospitals in such cities as: Schastya, Popasna, Lysychansk, Belovodsk, Artemovsk and other liberated cities.
The third: childcare means (food, diapers) and products for people affected by the war.
At the moment, our team has made eight trips to the area of ATO.
We bought medicines for hospitals of Schastya, Popasnaya, Lysychansk, Belovodsk, Artemovska, for IDP’s who live in the liberated cities and villages, the total amount is 102,246 UAH, and delivered about 20 boxes of various medicines that were aired from Canada, USA, Germany and Turkey .
Food packages for more than 1,300 families were delivered to the city Schastya, Popasnaya, Lysychansk, Dmitrovka Starobilsk, Krepy (Stanytsya-Luhansk region), Novoselovka (Krasnolimanskiy region), Kramatorsk, Nyzhnye and Svetlichnoye (Popasna region). The cost of products, which we have bought is f 381,593 USD, part of the products was provided for free by “Help InfoCenter”.
With each delivery, warm clothes were provided to local coordination centres of help for IDP’s to Popasna, Lisichansk, Schastya and Starobelsk.
Blankets and coverage for windows provided for Schastya hospital and Popasna costed 12,554 UAH
Childcare means (food, diapers and wipes) were bought and delivered in the total amount 74,673 UAH. Children’s Christmas gifts in the amount of 1924 UAH.
During humanitarian deliver we took 7,852 UAH for fuel.
Work of legal assistance and work with authority
Legal bureau provides assistance to residents from Lugansk and Donetsk regions and Crimea (to internally displaced persons).
In partnership with the Crimean Human Rights Center “Action” and Network of Legal bureau of Crimea, legal assistance is provided permanently for those who are in the zone of ATO, in the occupied territories and IDPs.
Information on legal support, as well as the schedule of legal bureaus can be found here.
There are 4 phones of legal bureaus:
+ 38 (050) 823 77 02
+ 38 (066) 686 65 12
+ 38 (093) 295 18 27
+ 38 (098) 808 81 93
During the 2014 legal bureaus of East-SOS helped more than 3,500 people. The most common problems are documents recover, as well as social payments and pensions.
Work with authorities
We are try to influence to the government policy on issues with IDPs during the aall period of work . One of the most important it was the adoption and signing of the Law on IDPs, by the President of Ukraine, it was developed and adopted with the active participation of Ukrainian civil society, including “East – SOS”.
Our volunteers meet regularly with government officials in an attempt to force the state to protect the interests of IDPs who lost their homes. We thank those of civil servants and politicians who go to an open dialogue with civil socity and we hope for more effective cooperation in the new year.
Work with ex-hostages
We have started to work in this direction in May 2014. More than 400 people asked for help. The work was conducted in close cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, the Security Service and voluntary organizations “Donbass-SOS», «Volyn-SOS» and other civic initiatives and volunteer organizations.
The initiative “East SOS» in this direction works together with the NGO “Donbass SOS» supported by the International “Renaissance” Foundation.
In our database today contains data on 103 civilians, missing or stolen by “DNR” militants , about 74 people missing or abducted by “LNR” militants and about 30 people missing or stolen in ATO area in the territory which controls by Ukrainian army.
There are a lot of incindents when relatives became victims of fraud, when someone was demanding from them money for information in the liberation or the assistance in liberation of their loved ones. We drew up recommendations on how to avoid becoming a victim of fraud and published, in particular, here.
Informator
Online edition informator.lg.ua was launched in May 2014. The project started as an initiative of social activists, as well as former employees of Luhansk media, for obvious reasons, deprived of the opportunity to tell the truth in their small motherland about what is happening. Initially, the task of “Informator” was to overcome the information vacuum. The team set a goal to give an objective picture of what is happening in the area of ATO, to support pro-Ukrainian forces.
Many publications of “Informator” caused a public outcry. Materials of the site quoted by Kiev’s media. Site co-operates with “24 channel”, “Hromadske TV”, “Radio News” and “Hromadske radio.” Since May the site was visited by more than 31 million times.
In the next year we plan several investigation. We also plan to change web design of the site and to provide new project “Radio Informator”.
IT-direction
Team of East-SOS started its development from the very beginning of work, that is why there was a need to develop technical direction. Throughout the time the work process is automated and supplemented with new tools.
Later were introduced new tools for managening projects and it is helped to automatise th work process. In parallel, developing of the web resource – site www.vostok-sos.org. There were involved IT-specialists in different directions, which on a voluntary basis helped to implement and run all the mechanisms of these projects.
In July and August attendance of “Informator” rose to 300-350 thousand users.
A special thanks goes to the community IT-Namet, which was formed from the IT-specialists in Euromaidan time, and experts from the organization Front Line Defenders, which during the whole time helped to support the work of the team.
We already supported by:
The European Commission (European Commission Directorate), People in Need, Front Line Defenders, the US Embassy in Ukraine, Visegrad Fund, NED, International “Renaissance” Foundation, CLOVEK V OHROZENI, PeopleіnPerilAssociation, LIBERECO-PARTNERSHIP FOR HUMAN RIGHT, UKRAINE CHARITY, MONDO, German-Russian-Exchange, Freedom House (USA), Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, USAID, UNDP, Infocnter “Maidan”, “MART” (Chernihiv), as well as SCRUMguides, Grammarly, Stanfy, company Samsung, TOV Leksіntelz, Creative International Children School, PP “Pacific Гnіversal Group Ukraine”, Timlar-Audit “, LLC “International center of economic and financial development of Ukraine” and many others.
