The humanitarian crisis caused by the armed conflict that began on 24 February 2022 in Ukraine has triggered unprecedented response from non-governmental organisations seeking to cater as effectively as possible for refugee needs. The interventions of non-governmental organisations in Romania were diverse, so as to provide response to the needs of Ukrainian refugees in areas such as social protection, education, healthcare, employability, housing, etc. and pursued an integrated, family-centred approach. These types of emergency humanitarian interventions for refugees were a novelty for most NGOs, which tried, based on their expertise, to provide services as adapted as possible to the needs of the new beneficiaries. However, previous experience in working with vulnerable groups was not sufficient to meet the complex needs of refugees, therefore new skills were developed. Organisations learned not only how to provide emergency humanitarian assistance, but also how to develop new, integrated services, how to work in partnership with other public or private organisations and how to identify new resources for such activities. Consequently, the intervention to support Ukrainian refugees has had an impact not only on the beneficiaries, but also on the non-governmental organisations providing services.
The goal of this study entitled How has the crisis in Ukraine influenced NGOs in Romania? is to document the effects of the intervention in support of Ukrainian refugees on Romanian NGOs. The study was informed by exploratory research whose main goal was to identify the effects of the intervention for Ukrainian refugees both in terms of NGOs capacity and in terms of visibility and development of new partnerships. The main research dimensions considered were: 1) involvement in the Ukrainian refugee crisis, 2) changes produced in non-governmental organisations, 3) non-governmental organisations so as to provide the most varied and appropriate services to refugees, 4) challenges, barriers faced by NGOs in the implementation of interventions for Ukrainian refugees and missed opportunities.
The goal of this report is to document and analyse how non-governmental organisations in Romania have been transformed in the context of the Ukrainian refugee crisis, with a focus on identifying the effects of the intervention on the capacity of the organisations and the adaptation of their services to meet the needs of a new category of beneficiaries.
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