Hunger is a brutal weapon – wars in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza significantly undermine global food security
Food should not be used as a tool of war, yet conflicts affect people’s access to sufficient and nutritious food. In recent years, alongside local challenges, the world has witnessed a unique phenomenon: the war in Ukraine, now in its third year, has affected food security worldwide.
Text: Ulriikka Myöhänen
Critical food aid lifelines into northern Gazasevered Starvation in war-hit Sudan ‘almost everywhere’. Russian missiles hit two grain ships in the Black Sea.
THESE HEADS ARE EXCERPTS from the international media and UN agencies in September-October 2024. A quick glance at the news will tell you a few important things:
Firstly, war always affects the food supply of ordinary people. Secondly, even in today’s wars, the control of food and its associated resources is the weapon which affects civilians the most.
The actions behind the headlines – such as bombing, destruction of farmland and water resources, and sabotage of food shipments – are horrific acts not only from the perspective of civilians struggling in the midst of conflicts, but also because they strongly undermine the international rules-based order.
International humanitarian law is a set of rules that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict. It clearly states that starvation of civilians is absolutely prohibited as a method of warfare. It is also forbidden to attack objects that are essential to the survival of the civilian population. These may include food, grain fields, crops, livestock, water supplies and irrigation systems.
The rules of war are constantly being violated. In 2024, we still live in a world where children are starving to death, missiles and rockets are destroying food supplies, and food aid is not reaching civilians living in the midst of devastating conflict.
In developing regions, wars are often fought in areas that already suffer from a lack of adequate food and livelihoods, such as limited pasture and cropland. Food and disputes over food can therefore be both a tool of warfare and a cause of conflict.
Food is a human right
THE RIGHT TO FOOD is a right of every human being.
According to the World Food Summit held in 1996, food security is achieved when “all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and preferences for an active and healthy life.”
There are four main dimensions to food security. Food must be available: it must grow in fields and be stored. To achieve food security, people must also have access to food. In other words, they must be able to buy or produce food for themselves and their families.
In addition to being available, food must be nutritious and varied so thatpeople’s energy and nutrient needs are met. The fourth dimension is the stability or permanence offoodsecurity. Good quality and nutritious food must be available from day to day and people must have access to it for an individual to be considered food secure. Political instability, extreme weather conditions, rising prices and unemployment can all affect stability around food security.
Up to a third of the world’s food ends up as waste
TODAY, FOOD SECURITY is not achieved for everyone, even to the extent that food is available at all. According to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), one in 11 people in the world and one in five on the African continent will go hungry in 2023 – this despite the fact that the world produces more food than people can eat.
It is estimated that at least a fifth or even a third of the food produced goes to waste. In rich countries, too much food is bought and then left uneaten. In the poorest countries, food is wasted already at harvest time due to inadequate storage facilities and markets.
The past few years have been exceptional in terms of the deterioration of global food security. This is due to the Covid pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.
Coronavirus began spreading around the world from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. The viral disease, which became a pandemic in the spring of 2020, closed borders and significantly limited people’s interactions and daily life.
The pandemic had an impact on nutrition, food security and food systems, i.e. the whole that consists of food production, processing, distribution and consumption.
Covid also had a significant impact on food chains, i.e. how raw materials end up on people’s tables through processing, handling, distribution and sale. The effects were global due to the lockdowns and restrictions during the pandemic and the sickening of those working in the sector.
Additionally, the pandemic also forced people to change their eating habits, as informal markets that often sold cheap vegetables to families, especially in developing countries, were closed due to restrictions on gatherings. Social programs that helped the poor could no longer provide food assistance in the same way as before.
Many lost their livelihoods, which meant that families had less money to buy food. At the same time, as the pandemic progressed, food prices rose significantly.
In Ukraine, the war has turned fields into minefields
In 2022, the world was hit by a new global crisis, this time starting on the European continent. Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has proven how interconnected the world we live in is.
Ukraine is a major European breadbasket, with agricultural products reaching tables around the world in recent years. The country is located on the Black Sea, through which significant amounts of grain, cooking oil and fertilizers are transported to the world.
When the war began, Russian warships in the Black Sea blockaded Ukrainian ports, thus closing trade routes. Energy and fuel prices rose. Food exports from Ukraine to the world suffered significantly before transport across the Black Sea was restored, at least partially, and alternative routes were found for Ukrainian agricultural products through European countries.
Ukrainians have lost their fertile farmland to invading forces, and the fields have become minefields. The fields themselves and the crops they grow have been completely destroyed in some places. Those who still farm are struggling to grow crops in the midst of war. There is a shortage of electricity due to ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure.
Transporting food from farms to international consumers has become significantly more difficult due to closed trade routes, ongoing security threats, and increased transportation costs.
The war in Ukraine and its impact on food security have been felt across the world, from Central America to the Middle East and Asia. The war caused global food prices to reach record highs in March 2022, but have since fallen to pre-pandemic levels.
The Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine have been visible on family dinner tables around the world. But think about this: many people in the developed world buy a bag of highly processed bread from a store, the price of which consists of the shares received by the producer, the food industry and the store, as well as VAT. The share of raw materials – and the price change that has occurred due to the global market – is ultimately just a small everyday expense in our breakfast rolls.
In poorer countries, instead of buying ready-made rolls, people buy a big bag of raw materials, grain, from which they grind flour at home, for example, for a month’s needs. The price of wheat on the world market is reflected more painfully in the monthly expenses of a low-income family and also in the price of breakfast bread than in richer families.
Attacks on grain ships and food production continue in Ukraine
Despite the rules of war, Russia has used food as a weapon of war in Ukraine repeatedly, forcefully, and for a long time.
The war in Ukraine has been going on for almost three years, and yet attacks on grain ships, grain warehouses and food production continue. Although markets have managed to at least partially compensate for the lack of Ukrainian products on world markets, the war is already having, and will continue to have, long-term effects on food security.
The effects have already hit those who were already most hungry. As prices have risen, organizations have also had fewer food aid resources at their disposal. This means that fewer and fewer families dependent on food aid in crises around the world are getting enough food on their plates.
FAO predicts that up to 600 million people will be chronically malnourished in 2030. If the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine had not happened, there would be up to 119 million fewer people undernourished in 2030. The war in Ukraine alone affects the forecast by 23 million people. Chronic malnutrition is hitting Africa hard, where people are already living in famine.
Hunger is being used as a weapon against civilians in Gaza and Sudan
THE LAST few years have brought turbulence to the big picture of food security, but there are also many regional and local crises in the world today that are significantly undermining food security.
Of all of them, the most difficult has received the least attention. More than half of Sudan’s population – 25 million people – will be acutely food insecure when the country enters civil war in 2023.
A famine has already been declared in the North Darfur region, which is also home to a camp for 500 000 internally displaced people. International organisations agree that hunger is currently the main cause of suffering among Sudanese civilians.
The warring factions in Sudan are also using hunger as a weapon of war. According to reports, the conflict parties are severely destabilising food systems, causing mass displacement and systematically destroying livelihoods. The parties are alsoblocking food aid from reaching the opposing territories.
The situation is also very serious in Gaza, where civilians are not getting enough food due to continuous airstrikes. Israel is also severely restricting the adequate access of food aid to Gaza.
There are also reports that food aid reaching the Gaza Strip has been looted. Israel blames the looting on Hamas, the Islamist extremist organization that controls Gaza. Organising food aid is currently difficult, also because Gaza is under constant bombardment and evacuation orders, and it is not possible to organize food storage and distribution safely.
It has long been known that Gaza is in a food security emergency that could soon turn into an outright famine. In October 2024, three-quarters of the population of the Gaza Strip is completely dependent on food aid, the limited farmland has been destroyed by bombing, and food supplies on the market are scarce and, as a result, very expensive.
How will food security be restored?
THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMMEestimates that there are now as many as 71 countries facing acute hunger. The situation is most serious in Sudan and Gaza, but hunger is also seen in countries such as South Sudan and Mali. The hunger crisis has also been prolonged in Somalia, which first suffered from a historically long drought and then from rains that have caused devastating floods in the country.
In addition to conflicts and economic shocks, climate change is a significant factor increasing food insecurity. Conflicts, lack of livelihoods and climate change, in turn, force people to leave their homes. The cycle repeats, as displacement also significantly increases human food insecurity.
So what can be done to ensure that everyone has bread on their plate in the future? The most informed guesses emphasise cooperation; in which governments, financial institutions, the private sector, and sectors responsible for humanitarian work and development cooperation improve food security.
The importance of politics and diplomacy is key in order to end wars that have a devastating impact on the lives of civilians. The various parties must commit to complying with international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacks on food and civilians.
And finally, as the dust settles on the battlefields, it will be time to look to the future and think about how people will be able to return to their farms to produce food and earn a living.
The article uses as sources numerous press releases and web articles from the World Food Programme and OHCHR, the FAO’s The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024 report, regional IPC reports on food security and the Impacts of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition report. In addition, Kaisa Karttun, a working life professor at the University of Helsinki who specialises in food security, was interviewed for the article.
Aid workers at the core of crises – where to find the courage to help?
FCA staff in Ukraine, South Sudan and Syria face seemingly insurmountable challenges every day.
Text: Ruth Owen
WORKING IN CRISIS CONDITIONS means frequent threats to your safety and a constant challenge to your mental well-being. In this story, three FCA Country Directors share the unique challenges they face in their work amid conflict and humanitarian crises. They also reveal what inspires and motivates them to continue their work despite the challenges.
“Every time I come to work, I know that what I do has a direct impact on other people”
Seme Nelson studied peace, conflict and development studies at universities on three different continents. However, he decided to return to his native South Sudan, where he now heads the FCA’s Country Office.
“The challenges in South Sudan are manifold. The country is unstable and its economy is fragile. Many live in poverty, exacerbated by conflict, refugees and war in neighbouring Sudan.
South Sudan was basically founded on a background and legacy of violent conflict and internal civil wars. It’s continued to affect the entire stability of the state. We have also faced threats to our security at FCA. Our Pibor office was ransacked by local people in 2016 amongst widespread attacks on NGOs. And in 2022 our Fangak office destroyed fighting between armed groups, but our staff remain, as do I.
In 2020, I considered remaining in Japan, where I did my master’s degree. But I considered whether what I do would make a significant difference to people’s lives or not. When I remain here in South Sudan, every time I come to work, there is a very direct connection between what I do and how it impacts people.
What has continued to push our staff to continue to work despite the difficulties and challenges is the impact that our programme makes on the people. Every time you see these beautiful stories of change. From young people, mothers, kids who are able to go to school. You feel like our work is contributing to transforming societies, improving people’s access to livelihoods and helping citizens demand their rights.
When the Sudanese conflict broke out in 2022, a lot of Sudanese fled to South Sudan along with former South Sudanese refugees who decided to return to their country. At present, I think only five per cent of these refugees from Sudan are living in refugee camps or settlements inside South Sudan. Probably 80 per cent of them are housed by South Sudanese – people who have decided to open their homes to welcome Sudanese refugees to share the little that they have. The media always wants to document stories of suffering, of desperations, but for me I think we should highlight positive stories like these more.
Yes, my country is founded on a story of conflict and desperation – the process of state building has almost started from zero. But if we look at the infrastructural transformation of the country from 2005 when the second civil war ended, there has been a tremendous growth process. The country has a city called Juba that we’re proud of today, that never even existed before! Regardless the situation of desperation in this country, the generosity, strength and courage of people is something worth acknowledging.
“It is important to distinguish between political problems and solidarity with people who are suffering”
Mazen Khzouz’s home is in Jordan, but his work requires him to spend long periods away from his family. As FCA Country Director for Syria, he believes it is important for him to be close to the communities he works with.
“I’m not the kind of person who’s satisfied with only doing the basic in my life. I need to do more. I need to be closer to people who I serve.
Syria is suffering the effects of a long conflict, economic collapse and a devastating earthquake. The country is under severe sanctions, which are contributing to the impoverishment of the population and increasing suffering. Sanctions have led to a lack of access to all basic necessities and a lack of money. Prices have skyrocketed, purchasing power has been eroded and unemployment is very high. An estimated 90% of Syrians now live below the poverty line. The cost of living has more than doubled since 2023, as measured by the Minimum Expenditure Basket.
The security situation in Syria has improved in relative terms compared to the most difficult years of the conflict. Humanitarian actors are now in a better position to reach vulnerable groups. However, the security situation remains volatile and new outbreaks of violence are possible. Sporadic attacks, inter-group clashes and multiple checkpoints between population centres can also slow down progress in the areas where the FCA’s work is taking place. Journeys to schools and communities can take as long as three or four hours.
Social tensions increase during disasters. It gets frustrating when some people get help and others don’t, even though many need it. Tensions are also a risk for our employees. To mitigate them and ensure staff safety, we build strong relationships with community leaders and local actors.
When we understand that people are struggling to meet their basic needs – to feed and clothe their children – it is easy to understand their strong reactions. We at FCA Syria wish we could do more and reach even more of those in need.
All our employees are Syrian. Staff members have lost loved ones in war, earthquake and even cholera. It is common for one of our staff to help at least two or three other relatives or households with their income.
My family back in Jordan are wondering how much I can endure from the situation, but the proximity to the country helps a lot. I explain to my family we have a strong evacuation plan and I give them assurance that we are safe.
The media constructs a certain image of Syria, which influences the perceptions and opinions about the people and that’s a very big mistake. We need to differentiate between people who are suffering and whatever problems there may be in the political domain.
The Syrian people do not deserve to be mistreated. They are human beings. They have children. They deserve to live a decent life as much as you and I do.”
“I miss my family, but I want to see Ukraine prosper and be free”
Patricia Maruschak is the granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants to Canada and grew up in the Ukrainian diaspora. She lived and worked in Ukraine from 2006 to 2010, before returning in 2022 to head up the FCA Ukraine office.
Ukraine has been at full since its neighbour Russia invaded in 2022. Frequent air alarms across the country, when there is a threat of attack, lead to constant disruptions to daily life. This impacts greatly on children’s education and their psychological wellbeing, as well of that of their teachers.
Recently in Chernihiv, one of the schools where we have done repairs was damaged because there was a bombing very close to the school. The alarm went off, everyone went downstairs, and were standing for the daily moment of silence for the fallen. During that moment there were three huge explosions close by. Everyone had to immediately lie on the ground, the children were very scared. It’s the teachers’ job to keep them calm in a situation that’s uncertain for everyone. In the meantime, people from the street were also trying to get into the shelter.
All over the country, when an air alarm goes off, everyone has to go into the shelter. Teachers have to try and continue with learning where sometimes there’s no separation for classes. Imagine trying to continue a lesson with 7 or 8 year olds when there are now another 100 children in the room!
We train teachers in ‘psychological first aid’ to help children in the moment. Then we also train them in ongoing mental health support for kids, who have had trauma experiences, or have family members who are away fighting or have returned severely injured and have their own traumas. And then we also help teachers take care of themselves with coping strategies.
Many of our staff never worked in NGOs previously, coming mainly from the business community, but now they’re proud to be helping fellow Ukrainains.
Our procurement officer was an IDP (Internally Displaced Person) at the beginning of the war, because her community was occupied by Russian troops for a while. Meanwhile, our head psychologist has been displaced twice, firstly from Donetsk due to Russian occupation in 2014 and then from the south-east of the country when the fullscale war began in 2021. It’s not just a job for our people, it’s also their life.
I miss my family a lot. But there are clear needs here and the ability to make an impact in Ukraine is very high. We work with capable and experienced Ukrainian education experts. It’s a pleasure and a good challenge to work alongside them and personally, I want to see Ukraine succeed and be free and capable of making its own choices.”
Seme, Mazen and Patricia will speak at the World Village Festival in Helsinki on 25 May 2024.
An average of 42 civilian casualties each day during two years of war in Ukraine
NGO members of the Humanitarian Platform in Ukraine, which includes FCA, call for the immediate protection of civilians in Ukraine and for promises made by states to address humanitarian needs to be fulfilled.
KYIV, 24 February 2024 – Two years since the escalation of war in Ukraine, more than 10,500 civilians have been killed, including 587 children, as constant bombardments, mines, and drone attacks have left a generation traumatised, displaced and fearful for their lives, said 51 members of the Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine.
With an average of 42 civilians killed and wounded per day, and recent months being particularly deadly, the group, made up of local and international organisations working in the country, is calling for the immediate protection of civilians, and reminds member states of promises made to tackle dire humanitarian needs of people in Ukraine.
Explosive weapons cause life-changing injuries
More than 87% of the people killed or injured, or 9,241 people, are casualties of explosive weapons, with many of the injuries life-changing in nature, including the loss of limbs or eyesight. The number is understood to be a vast undercount, as the UN continues to corroborate the figures. At the same time, people across Ukraine far from the frontlines also need support to rebuild their lives and recover.
“My daughter is growing up in the basement now,” says Sviatlana. “She and her 7-year-old daughter decided to stay in Kherson, an area that comes under heavy bombardment… “The longest time we had in the dark without electricity was 1.5 months, so now when there is a blackout I try to joke with my daughter, ‘what is one day, we already had way worse’. …Now there is only waiting and surviving. She is just a kid and wants to play outside on the playground, but she cannot leave the basement.”
Two years of renewed fighting has destroyed lives, homes and livelihoods, leaving 14.6 million people, including nearly 3 million children, in desperate need of humanitarian assistance across Ukraine. Nearly 80% of those in need of aid also require mental health support. The poverty level in Ukraine increased five-fold – 24 percent up from 5 percent – in 2022 alone.
Most displaced people wish to return home
Because of ongoing violence, about 4 million people are still displaced within Ukraine and more than 5.9 million were forced to flee to neighboring countries. Even though 67% of those internally displaced say they want to return home someday, many are unable to return to their homes as the war has shattered their communities, and livelihoods.
Many displaced people struggle to integrate in their new communities, where it is difficult to find jobs and housing. Women make up 58% of the internally displaced, and are more likely than men to experience unemployment and dependency on humanitarian aid.
Vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected by the ongoing war. Existing inequalities, including those facing children, Roma people, LGBTQIA+ people, older people and people with disabilities, are only increasing as the long-term, as compounding effects of the crisis drive specific needs.
“Life is far from normal”
Joanna Garbalinska, Director of the Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine, said:
“As the war continues, life is far from normal. Civilians are living day-to-day under the threat of missiles and shells, which continue to hit populated civilian areas, inflicting death and destruction to areas near and far from the frontlines.
“The Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine calls for all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure to cease immediately, particularly in dense urban areas, as they may amount to grave violations of international humanitarian law. Civilians must always be protected from violence.
Today marks a grim milestone of the war in Ukraine. As the fighting heads into its third year since the escalation, humanitarian agencies in Ukraine remind member states of promises made to tackle this crisis. Today, humanitarian support is more needed than ever. Long-term funding commitments for humanitarian and recovery efforts – with Ukrainian civil society in the lead – are critical for the safety of civilians and for Ukraine’s future.”
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The Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine is an independent coordination body with 78 Ukrainian and international NGO members who are operational and delivering humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. The NGO Platform is dedicated to serving and facilitating the work of its members to efficiently and effectively address the humanitarian needs of conflict affected people.
Finn Church Aid’s work in Ukraine focuses on education, psychosocial support and rehabilitation of school structures. The war that started in February 2022 has damaged thousands of schools, of which hundreds are entirely destroyed.
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NGO Signatories:
“БО “”МБФ “”Руки друзів””// Friends’ Hands
ACTED
Action Against Hunger (ACF)
ActionAid
ГО “АЛЬЯНС.ГЛОБАЛ” // ALLIANCE.GLOBAL, Public Organization
arche noVa
CARE
Caritas Ukraine
Caritas Zaporizhzhia
Corus International
CUAMM – Doctors with Africa
Danish Refugee Council
Estonian Refugee Council
ГРОМАДСЬКА ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯ “ЕДКЕМП УКРАЇНА” // Public Organization “EDCAMP UKRAINE”
FHI 360
Fida International Ukraine
Finn Church Aid
Help-Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe
Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation
Humanity & Inclusion – Handicap International (HI)
humedica e.V.
International Rescue Committee
INTERSOS
La Chaîne de L’espoir
Lutheran World Federation
MAG (Mines Advisory Group)
Medair
Médecins du Monde International Network
Medical Teams International
Mercy Corps
Nonviolent Peaceforce
Norwegian Refugee Council
Oxfam
People in Need
Plan International
Premiere Urgence Internationale
Right to Protection
Save the Children
Solidarités international
Stichting Vluchteling (The Netherlands Refugee Foundation)
Terre des Hommes
Паросток// Parostok
UK-Med Ukraine
Ukrainian Red Cross Society
Українська фундація громадського здоров‘я // Ukrainian Foundation for Public Health
Welthungerhilfe
World Vision International
ZDOROVI
ГО “Дівчата”// NGO “Girls”
ГО «ГІ Допоможемо Разом» //NGO “Will Help Together”
Deadly missile attack in Chernihiv, Ukraine near FCA office
On Saturday August 19, a Russian missile strike struck the city centre of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine. Seven people were killed and 156 injured, among them children. FCA works in the city and wider oblast rehabilitating schools and supporting the education sector.
THE DAY was a religious holiday and many people were outside on the way to and from churches. Families with children were sheltering in the shade within the city’s park during the hot summer day.
Irina Kudina is an FCA Project Manager based in Chernihiv, which is her native town. As it was a Saturday, she had a day off and was not at the FCA office, which is near to where the missile struck.
“I saw from the window that there was an explosion in the city centre, and smoke started rising from there. I was in a shop about seven kilometres from the center, but the sound of the explosion was clearly heard. The houses and the theatre the missile damaged can be rebuilt, but we can’t get our people back”.
During the clean-up, missile fragments were found in Irina’s office.
Nataliia Koroliuk, FCA Ukraine’s Communications Coordinator, spent several anxious moments finding out whether her colleagues were unharmed.
“On Friday evening I returned from Chernihiv after a business trip, on Saturday morning I read the news about the missile attack which hit the historical and crowded city centre. It hit exactly the area my colleague and I were walking through, the same buildings I had passed by. Those were hard moments to wait until it was confirmed that all our people from Chernihiv office are alive.”
The missile hit Chernihiv City centre very soon after the air raid alert. It is one of the most dangerous amongst the many weapons used to attack Ukrainian cities and towns since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine and the war began.
Particularly in the regions that border Russia, some missiles hit so fast there is no time for air defense to destroy them.
Continues Nataliia, “it was Saturday, so the office was empty, but the day before many people had been there inside, going upstairs and downstairs. Some windows were broken and one of them just inside the stairwell where people often pass through. The explosion blast is not predictable. FCA’s office in Chernihiv is only several hundred meters from where the missile hit”.
This is the reality people live and work with in Ukraine – for children and adults. FCA staff must be permanently cautious and vigilant during their work. That means continuous risk assessments and working under constant stress. Frequent and unpredictable air raid alerts ruin plans and staff must always be thinking of the quickest route to a bomb shelter and balancing their work with safety measures. The threat of drone attacks also means it’s not uncommon to work several days from a shelter.
Chernihiv City was badly damaged in the first months of the war, many people were killed or injured. The fighting came very close to the city with missile and artillery attacks, making it extremely difficult to stay in the city. Since then, much has been done to rebuild the city to bring back people and everyday life. August 19th is now another tragic date.
There is hope even amid multiple crises – our latest report shows over 1 million people were supported through our work
2022 WAS A YEAR OF CRISES that shook and challenged our worldview and affected us on many levels, perhaps more deeply than anything else ever before.
Crises always lead to a great deal of suffering, and no matter the causes, and no matter where in the world we are, we all feel the impact.
People are starting to question the rules we play by. Long-simmering discontent is boiling over. The world is changing; but listening to discussions – not only between experts, but also ordinary Finns – I believe it is changing for good.
For Finn Church Aid, 2022 was a year of changes. Just a few years earlier, we had discontinued our European operations, thinking our work there was done. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 changed everything overnight, and for much longer than we anticipated.
Thanks to unprecedented support from Finnish people, Finn Church Aid was able to quickly mobilise programme work in the country. In no time at all, a country office and one of our organisation’s biggest aid programmes were up and running.
Despite their own sense of shock and disbelief, people wanted to help. Individuals, businesses, churches and public authorities were ready and willing to give money and their time to support people in Ukraine.
By the end of February 2023, our partner Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) reached 275,860 people in the humanitarian response supported by FCA. Our country office’s work focused mainly on education and reached 18,400 people in Ukraine already in 2022.
What happens in Ukraine also has repercussions for our activities elsewhere, including in Africa. The Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in decades and our local employees, particularly in Kenya and Somalia, are fighting it on a daily basis.
Cereals from Ukraine used to be a major part of the region’s food security, but the war stopped grain shipments, causing an acute food crisis and rapid inflation in a region suffering from various challenges.
Meanwhile, our efforts to build long-term development cooperation are hampered by the ruling military junta in Myanmar, the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, and the impacts of the climate crisis.
What this shows us above all, is that the work of Finn Church Aid is still needed. We can alleviate suffering and offer a ray of hope for many in times of despair.
In addition to the very tangible crises caused by war and disasters, we are facing a global political crisis. In times of crises, it is easy to withdraw mentally and physically; this is a natural protective mechanism and how we instinctively react to danger.
But in today’s world, no one can make it alone – this is what the crises mentioned above have shown us. We need others. We must learn to work together.
At its essence, this involves recognising the needs of others and acting for the common good – within and beyond Finland’s borders.
It is fair to ask if there is hope left in this world? To answer that, I want to bring your attention to things we can do with your support.
We can help children and youth go to school and learn, we can provide water to those who are thirsty and food to those who are hungry, we can offer asylum for refugees and strive for those who have no livelihood.
In all crises, human response is of key importance. With the support of our donors, we supported over one million beneficiaries in 2022. We have been able to empower people living amidst crises to take action to improve their lives.
Across the world, FCA’s local workers come face to face with catastrophes both in their work and in their personal lives
Karam woke up when the earth started to shake. Marianna fled a war. Susan skips workdays to fetch water. These FCA workers now tell us what it’s like to live in the middle of a catastrophe.
DID YOU KNOW that Finn Church Aid employs over 3 000 people? Or that 95 % of them are locally hired experts? Our local workers are the most crucial part of our relief work. For many people, catastrophes are a remote affair – for them, they’re a part of everyday life.
In this article we meet some FCA experts who have lived through the war in Ukraine, the drought in East Africa and a devastating earthquake in Syria. They don’t see their work as just a job. What is at stake for them is the future – for their families and for their countries.
Karam Sharouf from Syria has lived through a variety of catastrophes for his entire adult life. Still, he sees light at the end of the tunnel.
“It started with a bomb-like sound, just like what we have been hearing throughout the war. I thought we were under attack again. Eventually, I realized that the earth was shaking.
It was the morning of February 6, 2023. I was asleep in our home, on the fourth floor of a building, in the Syrian capital Damascus. In a state of shock, I grabbed my wife and child. Things were falling and breaking apart around us, but fortunately there were no injuries.
I am Syrian. I am 33 years old. I have lived my entire adult life surrounded by catastrophes: a decade of war, then the pandemic, now a devastating earthquake. Our country is going from a crisis to crisis, and many Syrians are just waiting for a chance to get out.
I have been working with FCA since 2019, when I became FCA’s first local worker in Syria. Even before that, however, I had ten years of experience in the organization. The earthquake has kept us extremely busy. In Syria, we have not had the opportunity to prepare for catastrophes like the earthquake and the pandemic, since we have dealing with bombs and attacks for the last decade. How to deal with something like an earthquake? We have had no idea.
Just before the quake, Finn Church Aid had expanded its reach to Aleppo, as well as Raqqa, often remembered as the capital of ISIS. People in these cities have been living under enormous pressure and, after all the bad things that have happened, all they have wanted is a moment of calm. What they did not need was another catastrophe, like this earthquake – causing many to lose their homes or families.
So, all things considered, it’s all very difficult, but I still see light at the end of the tunnel for us Syrians. That’s what keeps me going. After all, our mission is making people feel empowered.
The future of Syria depends first on us, the locals, even if the international community’s help is also necessary. When people work hard for their country, this creates a sense of togetherness and unity. What annoys me is how white people treat us Middle-Easterners. I’ve seen none of that while at FCA, even though we are in constant contact with Finland and our other countries of operation. Almost all of the staff at FCA’s Syria office are Syrian. That is quite exceptional and gets us a lot of positive feedback.
Marianna Zhurbenko, who has fled the war in Ukraine, would not hesitate to open her home to other refugees.
“I remember staring incredulously at the sky from the window of my home in Gostomel, west of Kiev. It was 24 February 2022, helicopters were flying overhead, and my phone kept ringing incessantly as my friends called in distress, telling me and my family to flee. All the sudden the war had started, and the front line was only 500 metres from our home. It felt like they were playing a movie just outside our window.
The artillery fire started in the evening. That’s when my husband and I decided to flee. We packed our 9-year-old son, our six-month-old baby, and our dog into the car. We fled first to Kyiv and then to western Ukraine.
I and my sons lived there for the next few months. I stayed awake, listened to my 9-year-old crying. Fortunately, the baby didn’t understand anything about the situation.
Unknown families took us in to live with them. We tried to offer them payment for water and electricity, and they refused to accept it. The war has united us Ukrainians like never before. I, too, would open the door to other families if they were facing such a situation.
My own values have also been changed by the war. Material goods no longer matter to me, while life, health, family, and love are vastly more important than before.
We were able to return home in May 2022. Kyiv was empty and our yard was full of mines and ammo fragments. The mines were cleared, and now our children can play there safely again.
Before the war, I was a supervisor in a sewing company. After we returned home, it soon became clear that this couldn’t continue. Although my workplace had not been destroyed in the fighting, all the workers had fled elsewhere and had no intention of returning.
I started in June as a planning coordinator at the Finn Church Aid. I’m in charge of obtaining aid and making sure that all aid going to FCA’s schools, for example, finds its way there.
I was an internally displaced person and I know how that makes people feel. It’s great to be able to help children, and I like what I’m doing here.”
Susan Abuba Jackson, living in a Kenyan refugee camp, is a teacher. Sometimes, however, she must spend a whole working day just fetching water.
“I am a teacher. The ongoing drought makes life hard for my students, but also for me. I have five children at home. Some days, instead of going to work, I must fetch water to keep my children from suffering. If I can’t feed myself, I don’t have the energy to teach. There are four of us teachers in the school. The class sizes are so huge that teaching while hungry and thirsty becomes impossible.
I came to Kenya from South Sudan in 2017, fleeing the war. I remember seeing one person shot I fled with my children here to Kenya while my husband stayed in South Sudan as a soldier.
I worked as a teacher in South Sudan for 12 years. Upon arrival here, I started as a primary school teacher. For the last two years, I have been working as a kindergarten teacher in a school run by Finn Church Aid in the Kalobeyei refugee camp.
I like working with children. They are flexible, they learn quickly and are very outspoken. Early education is also especially important for children. It is foundational to all sorts of learning.
The drought is currently our biggest problem. Normally we have 500 pupils, but many are dropping out of school because there is no water in the school, either. We can’t even offer them food if there is no water.
The children here have a lot of special needs. Many have seen war, have been traumatized. Their parents may have died, and they may be living alone with older siblings. It is up to us to look after these children and make sure they get a good education, but in a situation like this, that is very difficult.”
Ukraine: One year of a war that shattered lives and put millions in need
All photos unless indicated: Antti Yrjönen
On 24 February 2022 the world changed for Ukrainians. After Russia’s invasion, millions of people became refugees, displaced within and without the borders of their country. Children were especially affected with schooling interrupted and families often split up.
SINCE THE very start of the war, FCA has supported Ukrainians with humanitarian aid, working with our partners. Now, we are heading a multi-million euro project to make sure children can continue to access quality education safely, whether in Ukraine or elsewhere. This is the story of Ukraine and FCA in the past year.
Phase 1 – people on the move
After Russia invades Ukraine, many people are forced to flee their homes leaving most of their belongings behind. Most are women and children. Not knowing where they are going or for how long, and often forced to leave fathers, brothers and grandfathers behind, the stress on people is huge.
FCA WORKS with partner organisation, Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) to provide food, warm clothes, hygiene items and places to rest along the way.
Alina, 10, holds 3-year-old Emilia in her arms at a refugee aid post in the village of Barabás, close to the Ukrainian-Hungarian border.
Escaping with nine children
A kindness of a friend meant Masha & her nine children could flee Zaporizhzhia, near the Crimean Peninsula.
The car they owned only had five seats, so her husband asked his friend for a minivan. His friend handed over the keys, no questions asked.
“As I was travelling I was crying. I was very upset. I was scared and afraid that something would happen on the way,” says Masha.
They packed pillows, blankets, documents & warm clothes as well as 3 violins for some of the musical children. One child had to leave their beloved piano behind.
When they finally arrived in Hungary Masha’s daughter, Alina (10) met a friend Emilia (3) at the aid post in Barabás where FCA’s partner, Hungarian Interchurch Aid distributed aid.
Alina brought one toy, her clothes and a colouring book with her. She gave the colouring book to another girl as they were on the journey, because the girl had no toys with her.
Fundraising begins
1 million euros within 4 days
Millions of Ukrainians are fleeing, often with nothing more than a small bag. FCA launches a fundraising campaign, raising 1 million euros within 4 days to provide refugees with emergency aid.
People give generously to help Ukrainian refugees during the first days of the war. Photo: Saara Mansikkamäki
Families fleeing
In the first few days of the war, the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, estimates that over half a million people cross borders into countries neighbouring Ukraine.
The first wave of refugees are mostly women with children. Exhausted and scared, the first stage is to give them urgent items, like food, warm clothing and shelter and, in many cases, psychosocial support.
Fleeing Kyiv wasn’t Kristina’s first experience of escaping fighting. She had left the place of her birth, Luhansk, in 2014 for the safety of Ukraine’s capital. Now that was no longer safe.
“It wasn’t so simple to leave. It was so crowded, people couldn’t get into the train.”
Kristina & her cat, Lisa, managed to squeeze onto a train to the border with Hungary, where she received assistance.
“My husband, his family, my brother, my aunt, my uncle, they stay in Kyiv. Most of my friends are in Kyiv too. It’s terrible. We have just emotion and crying.”
Nadiya was at home when the first bombs hit near her house in Kharkiv, which is located near an army base. The attacks were loud & frightening. She doesn’t remember leaving.
“My kids just took me with them.”
Her family managed to reach the Chop railway station in western Ukraine. Now they’re waiting to cross into Hungary.
Nadiya’s biggest hope is that things will change for the better and the war will end. “Many children are suffering because of the war.”
Refugee points
FCA’s partner, HIA, sets up refugee points wherever there is a high concentration of people.
In Budapest airport, parents can take a rest, while children play in specially constructed play areas.
3 million refugees
flee to the surrounding countries during the first month of war, 1.5 million of them children.
Yelizaveta (5) hugs a soft toy. She and her sister Maryanna (10), mother Vironika, and grandmother Svetlana left their hometown of Odessa soon after Russia invaded Ukraine. At Budapest airport, they are thinking of heading to Bulgaria.
“I had a lot of friends in Odessa, but now my best friend is in Germany. But it’s a good idea to go to Bulgaria, because our Black Sea is there. There we’ll be close to Ukraine,” says Maryanna.
Eugene, Vitaly and their children were at hospital in Kharkiv when the bombings started. They were in the hospital because 10-month-old Ivor needs a heart operation. Now Ivor is in his father’s arms and cries out frequently.
Forced to leave the hospital in Kharkiv due to the increasingly intense bombings, their journey to Lviv took more than 24 hours. They came by train; children were sleeping at railway stations and on the floor of the train, they did not have anything to eat.
Phase 2 – sheltering
With fighting ongoing in the east with no sign of an end, Ukrainians often opt to shelter in the relative peace of the west. Locals open their homes and schools to their fellow countrymen, many volunteering long hours to welcome people, feed them, and make sure they have a safe, warm place to stay.
FCA SUPPORTS operations in Berehove and Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine, providing temporary shelters for those who want to stay as well as continuing to help people on their onward journeys. Meanwhile, children are still not attending school, although some teachers are trying to provide remote learning opportunities.
The IOM estimates that there are around 8 million displaced people within Ukraine with humanitarian needs.
Larysa, her husband, daughter and the cat Bella escaped from Kharkiv on March 1, 2022. Before fleeing, they spent four nights in the basement to escape the bombing raids.
“Everyone wanted to travel out of Kharkiv. There were a lot of people at the train station. The train ride was free of charge, but getting on the train was difficult because of the crowds,” Larysa says.
Larysa has cancer. She received treatment in Kharkiv, but the hospital was destroyed in the bombings. She hopes to get treatment for her illness in Hungary. Now Larysa and her family are staying in a refugee shelter in Berehove, western Ukraine.
“We are happy to have a place to sleep where it’s warm. We get food three times a day, we can wash and do our laundry, because there is also a washing machine here.”
Two weeks later FCA visited the same shelter and heard that Larysa was finally getting treatment in a Ukrainian hospital in the west of the country.
When Russia attacked Ukraine, English teacher Erika Pavliuksent her students home and started volunteering at the refugee shelter set up at the school.
She also provides her students with online lessons. Some of them stay at home, as their school is full of refugees, but some have also fled. Erika is visibly moved when talking about her students.
“They’re teenagers. We have our ups and downs, but we can always find a solution to our difficulties. I love them.”
Erika takes a deep breath and looks around in her own empty classroom, as we ask about her hopes for the future.
“To be able to teach normal classes. I want to write on that blackboard and…,” she hesitates for a moment and starts laughing tiredly, “…yell at my students for not having done their homework.”
Ivonna Kobypyavska manages a kitchen at a refugee shelter set up in a school. She’s worked in the same kitchen for 27 years already, but now she’s feeding refugees instead of school children.
Ivonna’s son went to fight in Kyiv, so she wanted to do something useful; hence, she continued to work in the kitchen without pay.
Ivonna volunteers from 6am to 11pm in the shelter in Berehove, western Ukraine, cooking 400 meals a day in a school kitchen designed for 40 kids.
“It’s not a big deal,” she shrugs. “Routine, routine…”
A warm welcome
In the outskirts of Lviv, Viktoria (14), Maria (9) and Ivan (3) have just arrived at a shelter with mother Katerina and grandmother Svetlana.
Maria will have her 9th birthday in two days. The family left their hometown of Malyn because of the war. When the war started, the family waited, thinking it might finish soon. But when they started to hear bombs, they packed their bags and left their home.
The family was told that there were buses that could take them to Lviv and Poland. However, they did not want to cross the border to Poland and decided to stay in Lviv instead.
“We are incredibly happy and thankful to be here. We were welcomed in the shelter,” says Katerina.
They left the rest of the family behind, so they want to get back to their home as soon as possible. Both Katerina’s and Svetlana’s husbands are fighting in the war.
8 million displaced people
within Ukraine with humanitarian needs.
676 metric tons
of assistance delivered by summer 2022.
100,000 people
reached by our operations.
A sports hall serves as a temporary community shelter for displaced people in Lviv, Ukraine. Photo: Melany Markham/FCA
Phase 3 – coming back
While fighting continues in the south and east of the country, some places are safe enough to return. Many buildings are destroyed and electricity is unstable. The threat of air raids still looms. FCA’s operations evolve into the next stage – bringing teachers and children back to school and restoring a sense of normality after a long period of upheaval and trauma. With EU funding, we lead a €14 million consortium to restore formal education to 45,299 children.
“I see there’s a gap in understanding how to approach certain categories of people and provide them with qualified psychosocial support.
Now, a large number of citizens from other regions are coming to stay in Chernihiv, while at the same time, the city is doing its best to get back to the normal state of things.”
Oleh Halepa, Psychologist-Volunteer at Chernihiv Joint Volunteer Center. Photo: Iryna Dasiuk / FCA
Oleh participated in FCA supported psychosocial support training to be able to support traumatised children.
“The coach impressed me a lot. He’s a very active, vivid person. The amount, structure and style of presentation of the information that we’ve learned during the training is something worth learning to apply in our future work.”
A taste of normality
In the summer of 2022, FCA organises several summer clubs for children, where they could play together and take part in activities. For kids and parents, it’s a small taste of normality.
Tanya Slautina and her husband Andzey are from Chernihiv where 60 per cent of the city’s 285,000 inhabitants fled to other parts of Ukraine.
“War has touched every aspect of our lives. The worst months in Chernihiv we were isolated in our home. Fear, explosions and panic were our daily companions. Fortunately our children did not see anyone dying, but they were quiet and sullen. All we could think about was survival.
Our home is OK, but others were not so lucky. We organised a collection of clothes and other necessary items to help other families. Before the attack I worked as a bank clerk, but I left my job to be able to help my children and our community. The stress and fear brought us closer together.
We all need help with our children, and the summer clubs are a huge relief for us parents, too. Our children Anastasiya, 6, Valeziya, 10, and Maksim, 12, have been going to FCA’s summer clubs for six weeks.”
“The best thing about summer clubs was seeing my classmates and friends. Nothing has been completely normal for a long time. First we had to study at home a lot because of the coronavirus pandemic, and then the war began.”
“During the attacks, we just wanted to go somewhere and hide. I’ve noticed that I feel much better now that we do things together. Working together and talking with others about how we feel and what we think has been extremely helpful.”
Sophia (14), FCA summer club participant.
Teachers play an important role
FCA’s education response for Ukraine emphasises teacher training and support. Without quality teachers, there is no quality education.
In a context like Ukraine, where war is ongoing, teachers need special training and mentoring to be able to assist their students, but also to cope with their own needs.
“Many have lost trust in the world”
Zhanna Kudina is a psychologist and teacher in Chernihiv.
“The war has caused a great deal of stress in children and young people. Some have had to endure exhausting journeys to escape, others have lost loved ones or seen things children should never have to see. The most typical symptoms include lack of appetite, sleep disorders and difficulty concentrating.
In summer clubs, we have used various therapeutic tools, such as arts and crafts. At first, drawings were very dark-coloured, with soldiers, guns and missiles. Over the weeks, more colour, sunshine and flowers began to appear. Many have lost trust in the world, and with the clubs we try to provide them with a place where they can feel safe.
As a psychologist, I know that support should be offered urgently after a traumatic event. The longer children and young people have to wait, the more difficult it becomes to deal with the mental scars. But I am hopeful, because I am here now, doing something for them, and because we have received a huge amount of support from Finn Church Aid. We are deeply grateful for that.”
Psychosocial support to 4,590 children
FCA leads a project to provide children with psychosocial support services.
Training for 905 teachers
to provide specialist support to children suffering from trauma.
5,872 students
participated and benefitted from FCA’s summer club activities.
Phase 4 – preparing for the winter
The war enters a new phase, where attacks on critical infrastructure are common. The lack of heating makes learning in schools already difficult, and that’s coupled with the almost daily air raid alerts.
THE FREQUENT power cuts also make it hard for students to learn remotely, either at home or in different cities. FCA and partners respond by providing winterisation kits to families and starting work to make mandatory bomb shelters in schools suitable to continue learning in, even during an air raid alert.
We went back to see Ruslana, a teacher in Chernihiv, Ukraine who received psychosocial training from us during the summer.
“Everyday is a challenge. The war has had an influence on every aspect of our lives, our daily routines. Now we are planning how we could organize the teaching in shelters as we spend quite a lot of time there depending on the week.”
Children seem to be quite flexible when it comes to psychosocial wellbeing. However, you never know what triggers them. It might be an air raid, the sound of a siren. Some of them start crying. Some of them just stay still. Of course, some of the students stay positive, but some of them are really pessimistic and in despair.
The new methods and psychosocial support skills we learnt have supported us during this autumn. Many of our teachers are using those methods on a regular basis here at school.”
“This has been a life lesson”
We also revisit Zhanna, who explains that, after so many months of war, she and her colleagues are doing their best to overcome the anxiety syndrome and stress many children are currently experiencing.
According to Zhanna, approximately 30 % of students show signs of stress syndrome. They show symptoms like anxiety, loss of appetite, bad sleeping, and screaming while having nightmares.
She explains that during the Russian military presence in the region, three students of her school lost their lives. Some students experienced violence and oppression.
One of the school shelters has been organized as a psychosocial hub for children. It is a safe place where children participate for example in art therapy and learn relaxing breathing techniques.
When asked about her thoughts on the future, Kudina says that she hopes for the best and peace. “This all has been a kind of a lesson to us by life. It has developed our survival skills, the skills with which we can live this over. We should somehow try to program ourselves for the best. Positive thinking will bring a positive future.”
Power outages or “blackouts” are frequent in Chernihiv and across Ukraine. Sometimes cities only have a few hours of electricity a day.
FCA supports the installation of generators in schools to cope with the loss of electricity.
Children spend Christmas without their fathers
Many families will spend this year with fathers, brothers and uncles at the frontline or never coming back from the war. FCA supports 71 children in Chernihiv with Christmas gifts and activities.
Oleh (11) and Polina (13) both lost their fathers in the war. Both students are learning online, despite power cuts.
Says Polina, “I love drawing and have been doing arts for eight years. I like online learning, because it’s safer and the teacher can give you specific attention.”
“My family is the best family in the world. We have some Christmas traditions, such as decorating the Christmas tree on the 24th of December. This year it will just be me, my mother, grandmother and my brother.”
Schools destroyed
Schools, as well as hospitals and critical infrastructure have all suffered intense damage. For Ukraine’s young people, it’s been a disorientating and distressing year.
Since September 2022, the 1,200 students of Lyceum Number 25 in Zhytomyr have been studying in temporary learning spaces.
Kateryna Tkachenko is a 9th grader at Lyceum Number 25 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. The school was destroyed by a missile strike on March 4, 2022.
“In spring 2022, we had to take a two-month study break, and then we continued with online lessons. I felt so lucky when I was able to start my 9th grade offline. I prefer offline learning because of better communication.”
“The war has caused a lot of problems in Ukraine. Thanks to my parents, friends and teacher, I have coped with all challenges. I miss everything in my destroyed school: the building, classrooms and atmosphere. It was very important to me.
I want to finish school with excellent grades and go to university. I want to travel the world and have a good life.”
3,098 education institutions
have suffered bombing, FCA will support the rehabilitation of 147 schools.
71 children
in Chernihiv supported by FCA in 2022 with Christmas gifts and activities.
31,100 learner kits
will be distributed to children in need in the project locations.
Phase 5 – looking to the future
As the country reaches one year at war, Ukraine’s children must return to school. FCA leads a multi-million euro set of programmes to make sure teachers and students have everything they need to learn safely, in comfort and flexibly.
The New Year’s celebrations at this family’s house are a moment of joy. Mother Oksana was injured in a rocket attack at the start of the war and daughter, Maria, is still shaken by witnessing her mother’s plight.
15 year old Kyryl plays chess with his father, Mykola, who is home from the war during New Year.
In Ukraine, the new year is celebrated by children going door to door and singing for candy.
The New Year brings families back together
In Ukraine, the New Year is celebrated between the 13th and 14th of January. Many families celebrate, with some male family members being able to return for a few days to join their families.
The event provides a moment of reflection on the year’s events with hope for the future.
Children return to schools
After months of online learning, often interrupted by power outages, children have the chance to come back to the classroom.
With EU-funded FCA support, schools are rehabilitated with improved facilities, like reinforced windows and specially equipped bomb shelters, where kids can continue learning even during air raid alerts.
FCA also works to develop school curriculums, in order to make learning as flexible as possible, so that children can have access to education wherever they are.
School number 21 was completely demolished during the fighting in Chernihiv, Ukraine in spring 2022.
FCA works with rehabilitating schools and arranging temporary learning spaces.
”I do not like to learn from home. The best thing at school is to spend time with my friends”, says Daryna Khomenko.
Daryna is now excited to return to the classroom after the rehabilitation of her school has been finalised in early 2023. She’s also received learning materials through the project funded by EU Humanitarian Aid (ECHO).
Ukrainians join FCA Staff
There are now over 20 professionals working in FCA’s Ukraine country office and most of them are locals like Marianna Zhurbenko.
Marianna remembers how on February 24, 2022 she stared in disbelief at the sky from the window of her own home in Gostomel, west of Kyiv.
Helicopters buzzed in the sky and the phone rang non-stop. Friends called in distress and told Marianna and her family to flee. The war had started suddenly, and the front line was only 500 meters from Marianna’s home.
In the evening, the uproar of artillery fire began, and that’s when Marianna and her husband decided to leave. They packed the family’s 9-year-old son, a six-month-old baby and a dog into the car and set off first for Kiev and then for western Ukraine. Marianna and the boys lived there for the next months.
Marianna stayed awake a lot and listened to her elder son’s crying at night. Fortunately, the youngest didn’t understand anything about the situation.
“Random families took us in to live with them. We tried to offer them payment for the water and electricity we used, but they refused to accept it,” says Marianna and describes how the war has united Ukrainians. She would also open the door to foreign families if such a situation came up again.
“The war has changed my own values. I realized that material don’t matter. Life, health, family relationships and love became important values for me.”
In May, it became clear that although her former workplace had not been destroyed in the war, all the workers had fled elsewhere and were not going to return.
In June 2022, Marianna started as a logistics coordinator at Finn Church Aid. She is responsible for procurement and that supplies going to FCA-supported schools find their destination.
“I was an IDP, and I know how people feel. I love being able to help children. I like myself doing this job,” says Marianna.
3 oblasts
Kyiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr.
21 staff
Programs, finance,
operations and support.
2 offices
Head office in Kyiv, field office in Chernihiv.
Learning continues in bomb shelters
Nowadays, a functioning Ukrainian school must have a functioning bomb shelter, because there can sometimes be several air raid alerts per day.
FCA equips school bomb shelters so that everyday life can continue in them as normally as possible even during an air raid alert.
FCA will stay in Ukraine, providing quality education for all through curriculum development, training and reconstruction.
“There are a lot of challenges in Ukraine, but FCA with its Ukrainian partners sees that education is a real investment in the future. It’s not always something that you can see immediately. You know, if somebody is hungry and you give them food, you can see immediately that the need is satisfied, but education is more of a long-term investment.”
“We have students who need some hope for the future. And without the ability to learn and to create opportunities for themselves in terms of future learning, future employment, all those other basic needs are not enough.”
FCA Ukraine Country Director, Patricia Maruschak
The future of children and youth cannot be put on hold
Although fighting continues, children can’t wait to go back to school.
FCA leads a €14 million EU funded consortium with Save The Children, People in Need and War Child Holland to repair and upgrade schools, provide children with learning kits and train teachers in a new more flexible curriculum.
Schools will be equipped with learning spaces that also act as bomb shelters, special reinforced windows and flexible learning spaces.
Children will be supported with psychosocial services and teachers will be trained and mentored to provide these.
FCA also works with local partners savED, GoGlobal and DOCCU to assess damage and work with local authorities.
Mother was injured in a rocket attack, father has spent a year in the army, and the children are missing the carefree life. A year of war has put an emotional strain on the Starodub family, just like many Ukrainian famillies. This year, they’re wishing for ordinary life without the sound of air-raid sirens.
MARIA, 10, concentrates on the image in the mirror, spreading violet eyeshadow on her eyelids. Mother Oksana sit next to her, watching her daughter with a horrified expression on her face.
In mid-January in Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, the Starodub family is celebrating New Year according to the Julian calendar. The children of the neighbourhood go from door to door singing, and they’re rewarded with sweets and small coins.
Maria gives her mother a grin and wonders how many sweets she’ll be able to collect tonight. The makeup has to be impressive, as children go singing dressed in colourful scarfs and flower headbands.
On the surface, everything seems normal; but in reality, nothing is. It’s lucky for Maria and her brother Kyryl to be able to enjoy both the presence of their father as well as their mother’s cooking today. The past year has been painful for the family.
Chernihiv was under heavy fire
Ominous. That’s the word Oksana uses to describe the morning of 6 March 2022. Russia’s attack on Ukraine had lasted for a couple of weeks, and Chernihiv was under heavy fire.
In the morning Oksana was volunteering at the school where she teaches Ukrainian. Her husband Mykola had a career in the food industry, and he had enlisted in the regional forces of the Ukrainian army.
Around 5pm, Oksana ordered the children to go to the windowless hallway, the safest place in their home, where she and the children had slept on the floor every night ever since the attack began. Oksana was suffering from fever and resting in the bedroom of the dark house. She was on the phone to her husband when the strike hit. The windows exploded, and objects were flying around.
“I realised something happened to my legs. I was in shock. I was throwing stuff off my legs and dragged myself to my children,” Oksana describes.
“I could instantly tell that mum wasn’t alright. There was a lot of blood. Her hip had fractured,” Kyryl, 15, relates and recalls how he and her little sister bandaged the wound with a pony-patterned jumper. Mykola, left on the phone, understood the situation immediately and started to organise transportation for his wife together with other soldiers.
The entire family still remembers how heartbreakingly Maria cried that night.
In January 2023, the school Oksana Starodub works as teacher in Chernihiv is in sub-zero degrees. Oksana is teaching her students remotely and all the books in from the school library have been stored in plastic bags to keep them dry. PHOTO: ANTTI YRJÖNEN / FCA
Children need special attention
In war, children see and hear things they never should have to experience at such a young age.
In the Starodub family, the events are discussed openly to ensure that the children aren’t left alone with their thoughts. Maria particularly has been reacting to the events afterwards. Oksana says that so far, the family hasn’t needed help from a psychologist, but it’s something they might in the future.
The adults haven’t been able to avoid trauma either. Oksana recalls how, after her injury she layin a hospital bed on the fifth floor listening to bombings.
“The nurses rushed to the bomb shelter and told us patients to pray. The windows of the hospital were clinking,” she remembers with agony in her eyes.
In the middle of a crisis, the human mind yearns for routines and the feeling of normality; and the Starodub family has tried to cherish those moments during the exceptional year. Last summer, daughter Maria took part in summer clubs organised by Finn Church Aid and its local partner organisation DOCCU.
“It was wonderful,” she exclaims. “We were watching videos and doing activities together. I liked boardgames the most. Whilst playing them I met a girl who’s since become a good friend.”
The clubs were organised in July and August, and the children were also offered psychosocial support. Maria liked the clubs so much she attended them the whole summer.
A rocket strike broke the windows
Russian forces withdrew from the Chernihiv area in late March and early April 2022. But in January 2023, bombed buildings, weekly air raid alerts and constant lack of electricity still remind people of the horrors of last spring.
Oksana’s school is now unheated. The windows, broken in a rocket strike, have already been fixed, but faults in the heating system keep the school in sub-zero temperatures. The walls have holes due to shelling. Oksana does her teaching remotely.
“I would love to get back to school, to my own blackboard, to see the children laughing,” she tells, wiping the corners of her eyes.
She says she returned to teaching in August after her legs had been operated on and she was able to start moving again.
“Then I met some of my students who’d graduated in the spring. I noticed that 9th-graders had become adults in just six months. War does that to children.”
According to Oksana, returning to teaching has been an empowering experience. She talks about the frontline of education and how important it is for the future of Ukrainians. She says that the war has increased the interest of children and adolescents in the history and cultural traditions of Ukraine. That warms the heart of a Ukrainian teacher.
“When the war ends, I want to be home raising my children”
On the evening of 13 January, there’s plenty going on in the Starodub family kitchen. In the old Orthodox tradition, the day is first and foremost the celebration of Saint Basil the Great. The saint protects communities and the most vulnerable.
Mykola has a four-day vacation from the army. Every now and then Maria receives kisses from her father, to whom she presents her haul of sweets while singing. Kyryl is planning a chess game between the men of the house andstrokes the family’s cat Lord, who’s found a spot in the warmth of the kitchen radiator.
Oksana is frying Ukrainian pancakes to be filled with cottage cheese and dried fruit. There are plenty of familiar things for Finns on the table: these are stuffed cabbage leaves, that resemble a rosolli, and a pie that tastes like liver casserole.
There’s also kutia, a traditional Ukrainian treat for Christmas and new year, made from barley groats, raisins, nuts, and honey. On the day of Saint Basil the Great, there must be pork on the table, as that is believed to bring prosperity to the family.
Mykola eyes his wife and children warmly, with a faint and mysterious smile on his face.
“What we wish from the new year is winning the war and prosperity for Ukraine. When the war ends, I want to be home raising my children. I want an ordinary life without air raid alerts,” he tells.
The children also bring up very normal dreams. Last summer they couldn’t go swimming, because the beach in their town was said to be mined. Maria also dreams of travelling within her home country and seeing all the places she’s read about.
The conversation pauses when the doorbell rings. Another group of children dressed up in traditional costume sings at the door. As they leave, the children wish the family all the best: health, peace, and good times together.
All the best is needed, indeed; Oksana and Mykola have heavy hearts knowing the war will rage on, and Mykola has been transferred closer to the frontline.
Text: Ulriikka Myöhänen Translation: Anne Salomäki Kuvat: Antti Yrjönen
FCA focuses on education and psychosocial support
The work of Finn Church Aid began in Ukraine in February 2022 as emergency aid, which was delivered in co-operation with the Hungarian partner organisation Hungarian Interchurch Aid. Later, Finn Church Aid established its own country office in Ukraine and started working on education in Chernihiv, northern Ukraine. In collaboration with partner organisations, aid is delivered to other parts of Ukraine as well.
Almost 6 000 children took part in Finn Church Aid’s summer clubs. On top of this, approximately 530 teachers have been provided with training, and 70 teachers and school psychologists have participated in psychosocial support training.
A joint 14-million project by FCA, international Save the Children, People in Need, and War Child, funded by the EU, is set to reach 45 000 children during 2023. As part of the project, schools damaged by the war are repaired, psychosocial support is provided, and teachers are trained.