REACT - together for Ukrainian refugees

<< Background >>We applied for this project to address the urgent needs created by the Ukrainian refugee crisis, which brought unprecedented challenges to our regions. Since the start of the war, millions of refugees, mostly women, children, and vulnerable groups, fled to neighboring countries, including Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland, putting immense pressure on local systems. Our partner organizations, traditionally working with disadvantaged groups like Roma communities and homeless people, needed to adapt quickly to support refugees. This included helping them integrate socially and economically, providing mental health support, and addressing language barriers. Refugees required linguistic skills to navigate their new environments and specialized mental health care due to the trauma of war and displacement. Also, the project aimed to build our capacity as partner NGOs to assist refugees by developing innovative tools, training staff, and creating effective methods for social inclusion, mental health care, and employment support, ensuring high-quality assistance while easing integration challenges.<< Objectives >>The project successfully equipped civic society employees in Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland with the skills and tools needed to address the linguistic and mental health needs of Ukrainian adult refugees facing social, educational, and economic challenges after fleeing the war. Also, through non-formal methods, the project improved the linguistic abilities and mental well-being of 45 Ukrainian refugees in Bucharest RO, Sofia BG, and the Spisz region PL, enabling their social inclusion and participation as engaged citizens. Specifically, the project: (1) enhanced the capacity of 15 NGO workers from Romania, Bulgaria and Poland to support refugees with language and mental health needs; (2) improved NGO activities and capacities to work with refugees by developing an innovative toolkit for refugee support;(3) promoted linguistic and mental health improvement among refugees through local pilot activities targeting 45 individuals from each partner country. By fostering learning opportunities and common values, the project effectively addressed refugee integration, well-being, and key skill development.<< Implementation >>The project implemented several key activities to support Ukrainian refugees and build the capacity of social/NGO workers. A 6-day training (plus 2 travel days) was held in Poland from May 7-12, 2024, where 15 participants (5 from each partner country) enhanced their skills in working with Ukrainian refugees. Following this, we developed a 50-page toolkit featuring innovative methods and tools for language learning and mental health support, translated into Romanian, Bulgarian, Polish and Ukrainian. Toolkit development included two online meetings, task delegation, and contributions from coordinators and experts in each country. Locally, we organized in each partner country 20 workshops (with 15 refugees per country) to improve linguistic skills and mental well-being over two months. Dissemination efforts included a shared strategy, project updates on websites and social media, a dedicated Facebook page, and a logo. We held a press conference during the kick-off meeting in Romania with representatives from the Ukrainian Embassy and local authorities and engaged local press to promote the project’s impact.<< Results >>The project delivered impactful results by enhancing the skills of 15 NGO/social workers from Romania, Bulgaria, and Poland through a comprehensive 6-day training in Poland. These participants, who work directly with Ukrainian adult refugees, gained advanced competencies in supporting linguistic literacy and mental health. A major output was a 50-page toolkit containing innovative tools and methods for refugee support, developed collaboratively by project partners, drawing on best practices. The toolkit was translated into Romanian, Bulgarian, and Polish, ensuring its accessibility for use across civil society to benefit refugees in diverse settings.Additionally, the project directly improved the linguistic skills and mental health of 45 Ukrainian adult refugees (15 in each country) through 20 local workshops. These activities not only empowered refugees to navigate daily life, access education, and integrate into the labor market but also provided critical mental health support to address trauma and anxiety resulting from the war and displacementBy equipping NGOs with new tools and expertise and supporting refugees’ integration and well-being, the project created sustainable outcomes, fostering greater inclusion and resilience