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Description
The project covers a great need for protection services and social inclusion of people fleeing the war in Ukraine and located in
Romania, in 5 locations from 3 regions. These people in situations of maximum vulnerability (traumatized by the war, without
resources, with many children in their care or in poor health, with disabilities, victims of sexual abuse and violence) need legal
assistance, protection services, as well as direct support for resilience and rebuilding a dignified life in the country that hosts them
temporarily. In most cases, they do not have ID papers and documents proving their socio-economic status, which creates
difficulties for the access of benefits and social services in Romania. Even when the displaced persons obtain the status of
temporary protection, their rights are violated, and their access to social, medical and educational services remains extremely
limited. The local authorities fail to offer them services that are sufficiently diversified and adapted to their needs. The project aims
to develop support activities, legal assistance and social/economic inclusion for these people, and in parallel to implement advocacy
activities and development/promotion of 2 integrated models of intervention in social and humanitarian emergencies. The two
proposed models operationalize the concept of social emergency, recently introduced in the revised draft law on social assistance.
The concept of social emergency was proposed in 2021 by the members of the Social Platform in Romania and, currently, the same
members have the opportunity to propose a set of precise regulations, derived from the practice of the two successive crises, for
the generalization of integrated, multisectoral intervention in such situations. The project is carried out in the spirit of social
cohesion and social justice, and the vulnerable population in Romania has access to some of the support activities.
Summary of project results
The project addressed
The project facilitated the formalization of two support models for emergency situations ( previously appreciated as good practices in humanitarian intervention, by the European Commission, national and international partners): the Centre for social emergencies and the Social shop. Direct services for refugees were provided mainly in Iasi and Bucharest, but also for Suceava, Botoșani, Galați, Constanța, Târgu Mureș, Călărași and Baia Mare. They included activities of: social, administrative, psychological counseling, social assistance, referral and accompaniment for medical services, support for accessing social protection services, rehabilitation, mediation and facilitating access to the labor market, legal counseling, financial counseling and support for the use of banking instruments in Romania, translation and interpretation, peer support activities (for parents of disabled children from the Ukrainian community). The project gave the opportunity of project partners to collaborate with over 100 representatives of public institutions from the counties of Iași, Galați and the Municipality of Bucharest, representatives of the municipal, county and national authorities, to improve the legislative framework and support services for refugees
The project enabled the support of more than 900 refugees and accelerated the process of their integration into the Romanian communities where they temporarily resided, during the war in Ukraine. Workshops were organized with Romanian professionals involved in humanitarian assistance, future measures for a more effective approach to social emergencies were promoted.