Shelter: A safe space for IDPs opened in Zaporizhzhia

Cooperation between the City council, donor organizations and volunteers results in new housing solutions for internally displaced people and citizens who lost their homes because of Russian military aggression.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Zaporizhzhia City Council signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with the NGO “Protection of Women of Ukraine”. Within this partnership, the NGO was permitted to use communal premises to create a shelter for internally displaced families. 

The volunteers initially arranged two rooms for displaced people but continued searching for partners. Thanks to support from regional and international organizations, several more rooms were refurbished and equipped with household appliances and furniture. Today, the place has everything required to provide a temporary home to 40 people.

Among the partners who contributed to the project are UNHCR, People in Need, NGO “Zaporizka Skelia”, charitable foundations “Caritas Zaporizhzhia”, “SpivDiia”, “Spodivannia”, “Svitanok-2022” and “Right to Protection”.

While this is a truly successful case of intersectoral cooperation to create new homes, the actual need for housing is much greater in Zaporizhzhia, which hosts thousands of internally displaced people today. We hope that more intersectoral initiatives and social housing projects will appear in the nearest future. Together, we will definitely win and make our city a comfortable place for all its residents.