Continued shelter support Transcarpathia and Chernihiv Oblast This project will focus on Transcarpathia Oblast located in the South West of Ukraine and Chernihiv Oblast located in the North of Ukraine. In both locations this project addresses the most urgent Shelter needs among the most vulnerable IDPs in Transcarpathia and the most vulnerable of the non-displaced in Chernihiv. 

Transcarpathia Oblast has a total population of 1.2 million. Since the invasion of Russia in February 2022, many people have fled their homes and found refuge in Transcarpathia. In the beginning, fighting and attacks were seen throughout many regions of the country and within the first week already more than 600,000 people had fled the country. Transcarpathia was one of the few regions where there had been no attacks and with a significantly reduced threat of fighting compared to the rest of the country. It, therefore, became a safe haven for many Ukrainians. According to the Oblast government the latest number of IDPs, shared on August 22nd,  is 410,000 people. For the Transcarpathian population, this is an increase of more than 30 percent and this number is still increasing. The oblast government is also expecting a large increase of IDPs during the winter months, as temperatures will drop and many people live in bad conditions. Transcarpathia is known as one of Ukraine’s warmer regions, and the heating systems have not been damaged by the war. Therefore it is expected that more people will arrive in this oblast in the coming weeks. 

In Transcarpathia, this project will focus specifically on IDPs with a disability and elderly IDPs. These two groups are among the most vulnerable and highly dependent on aid. Among thousands of other IDPs, the disabled and the elderly were from the beginning hosted in collective centers, such as schools, kindergartens, and sports halls. These places are not suitable for PWD. In Transcarpathia there are rehabilitation centers and elderly homes willing to host specifically these IDPs, however, they lack the capacity. This project will focus on increasing the capacity of these types of locations to create suitable homes for disabled IDPs and elderly IDPs. 

Chernihiv Oblast has a total population of 976.000. During the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Chernihiv Oblast was one of the first regions where Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed. Heavy fighting occurred around the city of Chernihiv, which is the major route connecting West Russia and Belarus to the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, which is 105 km south of the border. The Russians completed a blockade around the city and essentially cut it off from the outside world. However, the Russians could not break the defenses and suffered heavy losses in material and morale. 
The intense fighting resulted in widespread destruction of infrastructure, public buildings, and private properties, as well as large scale displacement of the affected population. According to the Chernihiv Oblast government, it is not yet known how many people have damaged houses, but an estimated 3.500 people lost their homes completely, and a much larger number suffered light to medium damage to their properties. 

Currently, the situation in Chernihiv is calm with only sporadic attacks on targeted facilities. However, with the ongoing hostilities in the east and the close proximity to the Russian border, this could change in the future. However, shelter support for the population in Chernihiv is needed as the winters in this area are cold, bitter, and harsh, with temperatures occasionally dropping to below -20°C . December and January are generally the coldest months of the year.

The proposed Shelter intervention aims to provide relief to disabled IDPs currently living in locations that are not fit for disabled people, by rehabilitating and refurbishing collective centers by increasing the hosting capacity and simultaneously respond to the urgent winterization needs in Chernihiv by providing them the ability to stay in their rebuilt homes.