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Description
At the moment, slightly less than 10,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in Croatia, about 90% of them are women and children. The project is designed to support the strengthening of CSOs within the CROSOL Platform (reinforced with several external affiliates) in the coordination of joint advocacy activities, timely sharing of information, planning of joint activities and other initiatives related to civil society response to the arrival and reception of refugees from Ukraine. The second part of the project is focused on concrete activities towards refugees who have just arrived. For this purpose, we have designed three info-workshops that will be held in reception centers. The aim of the workshops is to inform the refugees in a timely manner about their legal status, labor rights, and to provide them with information about the possibilities and forms of psychosocial support. These visits will allow us to make a mapping of needs in direct contact with refugees. Based on these data, CROSOL and collaborating organizations will be able to further design the continuation of activities in direct work with refugees. An important part of the activities of this project is the online webinar intended for volunteers and all citizens of Croatia who are in some way interested in or involved in working with refugees. We will educate them about the challenges of working with vulnerable groups, with an emphasis on refugees. We will also inform them on how to approach and communicate with people who have survived this type of stress. In order to contribute to better information sharing, we will educate volunteers about the legal status of refugees from Ukraine in Croatia. CROSOL Platform is the lead in this project. In the implementation of the planned activities we will cooperate with member organizations of the Platform, as well as with several CSOs that joined the initiative, to provide the most professional support related to issues covered by the project.
Summary of project results
The CROSOL Platform, recommended by the Office of the Ombudswoman for Persons with Disabilities, is one of the "umbrella" organizations involved in regular meetings of the Operational Headquarters for Aid to Ukraine coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior. In this capacity, CROSOL acts as a focal point for the transmission of information from its member organizations (around 30 CSOs) and some affiliated associations to the headquarters, and vice versa. Within the CROSOL Platform, approximately 30 organizations actively engage in various topics and provide support possibilities such as working with war victims, supporting victims of sexual violence, refugee integration, and various forms of psychosocial and legal support.
Over the next three months, we aim to strengthen collaboration and coordinated action among CROSOL members, affiliated organizations, and individuals to ensure mutual information sharing, coordinated activities, and adequate monitoring of the work of state institutions regarding the reception and integration of refugees from Ukraine. To achieve this goal, we plan to regularly monitor meetings and produce accompanying reports that can be used by all member organizations of CROSOL and affiliated organizations and individuals in their work. These meetings serve as a space for exchanging information between civil society representatives and institutions and also as a platform for addressing questions directly to these institutions. Through direct communication, we will advocate for the protection of refugees'' rights. In this forum, CROSOL will represent the views of its member organizations and affiliated associations and individuals.
Therefore, the main goal of the project is to strengthen the watchdog capacity of the CROSOL Platform for International Civil Solidarity of Croatia, with the purpose of monitoring the work and activities of institutions in Croatia related to the reception of refugees from Ukraine. The expected impact of the project is the timely development and launch of joint and coordinated advocacy initiatives, as well as direct activities related to work on the reception and integration of refugees, as well as the protection of their rights.
In cooperation with the Croatian Legal Center and the Society for Psychological Assistance, a webinar was held as part of the project aimed at empowering interested citizens and volunteers in the field of providing legal assistance and psychosocial support to refugees from Ukraine. The webinar had 72 participants directly through the online Zoom platform, and those interested could also watch the webinar recording later on Facebook and YouTube platforms.
3 information workshops were held for refugees located in reception centers in the areas of Gospić, Osijek, and Varaždinske Toplice. The workshops were held in cooperation with CROSOL member organizations (Center for Peace Studies, Center for Peace, Non-Violence, and Human Rights Osijek, and ADRA Croatia). In total, 126 displaced persons accommodated in these municipalities participated in the workshops. During the workshops, participants were introduced to models and information about basic rights they can access within the temporary protection system, as well as ways and channels through which they can seek psychosocial assistance, either through state institutions or civil society organizations active in this segment. The workshops also included a Q&A session where participants could ask direct questions. At the end of the workshops, informational materials were provided to participants, which were obtained from organizations that had them prepared and translated into Ukrainian (Croatian Legal Center).
The implementation of the project directly or indirectly involved member organizations of CROSOL (30 member organizations), as well as some external civil society organizations that showed interest in receiving reports from the meetings of the Operational Staff and exchanging information. Furthermore, in the implementation of the webinar, we collaborated with the Croatian Legal Center and the Society for Psychological Assistance to provide the most relevant information on legal protection and psychosocial support to interested citizens and volunteers with the help of their professional expertise.
The project enabled the CROSOL Platform to lead and coordinate activities and communication between its members (and affiliated external organizations) for the first time in a crisis situation. This experience alone is an important contribution that will help us to be more successful and better prepared in similar situations in the future. Based on the lessons learned from this experience, CROSOL will develop a basic communication model and recommended tools for future work. In collaboration with our members, we will also hold discussions on this topic to gather common experiences and impressions that will also be incorporated into the development of a future collaboration model.