Scouts support over 800,000 children & families
Young people in Scouting have been volunteering for months to ensure that Ukrainian families have access to basic necessities such as food, water, shelter, clothes and protection after fleeing the war.
More than 7.8 million people have fled the escalating violence in Ukraine to find safety and refuge in neighbouring countries, while over 6.5 million have been displaced from their homes within Ukraine.
Scout volunteers have supported over 800,000 displaced Ukrainian children and families in Ukraine and neighbouring countries — in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania— to address urgent needs, arranging accommodation, translation, essential items and psychological first aid. In addition, they have established day care centres and Scout volunteers have been working closely with refugee children and adolescents at refugee and transit centres, offering educational and skills-building activities including by integrating refugee children into local Scout groups.
This action and resulting impact is possible thanks to your invaluable contributions to our earlier Ukraine appeal, Scout values of selfless action and a common promise to help others, and thanks to the support of a strong regional partnership with UNICEF, launched in April 2022 to enable both organisations to scale-up their responses and reach those most in need.
“Despite the difficulties and circumstances on the ground, we are incredibly proud of the work of our member organisations in recent months, providing much-needed support to those affected by the war in Ukraine. Through the significant partnership with UNICEF, we have been able to scale up our activities and we are working to ensure that no child or young person is left behind." Abir Koubaa, Regional Director, European Scout Region
The heart-warming results of this partnership’s mid-term report are in, providing an overview of the wealth of youth-led humanitarian response activities in Ukraine and in each neighbouring country. It's a great reminder of the impact of Scouting and the power of partnership.
“The collaboration between UNICEF and the Scout Movement is living proof of how effective it is to engage with young people in responding to humanitarian crises. As many times in the past, young people were amongst the first to not only respond to the Ukrainian refugee crisis but also to help build solidarity and support between refugees and host communities.” Philippe Cori, Deputy Regional Director, UNICEF Europe and Central Asia.
Scout volunteers are continuing to protect and engage Ukrainian children and young people in youth-friendly programmes by integrating them into local Scout groups in host countries, Scout summer camps and Scouting activities to provide a sense of normality.
Scouts organised 500 summer camps and summer activities this year, which engaged over 8,000 Ukrainian children and adolescents to continue their learning process through non-formal education approaches while easing their integration into their new communities.
Through their partnership, UNICEF and the Scout Movement are addressing the short-term needs of Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) while also focusing on long-term objectives, such as equipping Scouts with the competencies to act as peer-support volunteers for refugee children and adolescents anywhere.
Moving forward, Scouts will continue to actively engage Ukrainian children and young people in Scouting’s educational activities and camps while also ensuring that Ukrainian families affected by the crisis are prepared for the harsh winter ahead.
For Scouting. For Good. Together.
As we enter the season of giving in many cultures around the world, please donate to our appeal so we can ensure that more Scouts around the world are prepared to act when disaster strikes.
We need your support — we can only do it together!