Safe Shelters in Times of War

A roof destroyed by rockets. Windows shattered and house walls shredded by cluster bombs. In one place the electricity has been cut. In another, it’s the water supply. Russia's war of aggression is depriving people in many areas in Ukraine of their homes, leaving behind distress, poverty and despair. Reconstruction is taking place, but people need safe shelter until they can move back into their homes.  

With the support of Swiss Solidarity, and in cooperation with the Ukrainian NGO DESPRO, Helvetas is converting buildings into collective emergency shelters so that they can be inhabited over the longer term. In the Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil regions in the west of the country, the infrastructure for cooking, washing and heating, water supply and sanitation is now available in 34 collective shelters – benefiting around 1950 internally displaced people.  

Building up and promoting reconstruction 

The war has also affected public infrastructure. Helvetas is working to ensure that interrupted water supply systems are repaired. Sewage systems are also being improved where necessary. DESPRO is implementing these activities with the technical support of the Swiss organization SKAT Consulting. More than 64 000 people have benefited from rehabilitated water, sanitation and energy systems. 

To enable people to repair their homes in the war zone and return home, DESPRO has supported almost 3200 vulneable people through cash ("Cash for Repair"), and in-kind support, as well as technical assistance. This program contains both individual houses and multistorey appartment buildings. It consists in repairing light and medium damage shelters and improving insulation infrastructure (including roof and walls). In the regions around Kiev and Kharkiv, 316 damaged houses and 19 apartment blocks with 765 households were repaired and made ready for winter, thanks to new windows, doors, roofs and radiators.

127 collective heating points and consolidating bomb shelter in educational institutions (schools, kindergarten) will be equipped with materials and generators. Hence, 19'000 people suffering from consequences of power and gas shortages will have access to collective heating points. In educational facilities, the points will serve both as educational spaces and as community heating centers for the local population. 

Repair hubs offer know-how, tools and grants

Communities in areas with major damage also lack tools, equipment and guidance on infrastructure repair. Helvetas works with communities through two repair hubs in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions (center and east of Ukraine). These centers provide advice, lend tools, promote the circular economy and help to use limited materials carefully. At the same time, these repair hubs provide grants to locally run organizations for projects in the areas of shelter and social safety nets projects. A total of over 50 such grants have already been awarded. Over 30,000 people have already benefited from the Repair Hubs and their grants.

Additionally, a pilot has been initiated in Ruska Luzova and Kharkiv city to promote social and market based circular construction initiatives. Until now value chains around reused bricks and windows are being promoted.

"Repair Ambulance"

Helvetas equipped Kharkiv with a mobile “repair ambulance”– an initiative in cooperation with volunteers, CSOs, and local authorities. If any destructive consequences are detected after Russia's attacks, the repair ambulance teams highly respond and go to the damaged area and provide quick assistance, such as installing temporary covers on destroyed structures such as windows, doors, and roofs. These emergency measures enable the protection of damaged objects from further destruction.