Update on our response to the crisis in Ukraine

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February, we have been in constant contact with our grantees in the country and others directly affected. Our Chair wrote to all grantees directly affected, and made additional funds available for emergency grants.

To date we have made ten emergency grants, totaling £905,000. We continue to explore needs for additional support and expect to make further emergency grants in the coming days.

Our response to date has prioritized support to current grantees, including for emergency relocation. We have done this through providing additional funds, or through bringing forward planned payments, and extended some grants by a further year. We have also supported additional organisations playing an important role in different aspects of the response such as refugee rights, documentation and investigation of war crimes, rehabilitation of victims, and protection of human rights defenders.

SRT Ukraine emergency fund grants made to date:

Truth, Justice and Memory
Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Ukraine: £75,000 to support the organisation to continue to play a leading role in efforts to document war crimes in Ukraine and advance accountability.

Detention, Torture and the Death Penalty
International Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture, Denmark: £160,000 to assist national groups in Hungary, Moldova, Romania and Poland to step up and sustain their provision of psychosocial and medical support, humanitarian assistance, and care for care-givers. Also to support some remote provision directly by IRCT.

Women’s Rights
Urgent Action Fund, USA: £120,000 to support Ukrainian women human rights defenders and their families, including through relocation.

Ukrainian Women’s Fund, Ukraine: £100,000 to support women’s rights groups provide humanitarian assistance.

LGBTI Rights
Insight, Ukraine: £48,000 to help LGBTI people escape from the frontlines and also provide food, shelter and other forms of support in various parts of the country. Supporting hotlines offering psychological support, legal aid and consultations, relocation to Western Ukraine and relocation to bordering countries and for dedicated shelters for LGBT IDPs and refugees.

Migration and Inclusion
Association for Legal Intervention, Poland: £70,000 to provide direct legal assistance to Ukrainians, expand legal training for activists and non-asylum lawyers who are assisting Ukrainians, and further develop an online tool.

Organisation for Aid to Refugees, Czechia: £100,000 to establish regional professional support teams in each of their five regions. These teams would focus on assistance with visa applications, health care access, registration in schools, and the training and coordination of the many volunteers who have come forward.

Human Rights League, Slovakia: £90,000 to support national and local efforts to assist people arriving from Ukraine, including providing legal information and accommodation referrals, advocacy for particularly vulnerable groups, as well as re-opening the organisation’s Kosice office.

Law Center of Advocates, Moldova: £75,000 to support legal advice and information; legal assistance and counselling with access to documentation, education, and social and medical services; training for smaller local NGOs with capacity to provide legal advice; and addressing hate speech.

Foundation for Access to Rights, Bulgaria: £67,000 to support provision of legal information in person and through their comprehensive online platform; scale up legal aid services; and advocate for changes to laws and practices; and refugee law trainings for non-expert lawyers providing assistance.