The hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, which began in 2014 and became widespread in 2022, have resulted in our country being considered the most contaminated with explosive ordnance and remnants of war in the world.  This has led to enormous risks, particularly for the civilian population. As of July 2023, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories reports more than 650 confirmed cases of people being victims of explosive ordnance. Given that these are exclusively official cases, the true number is many times higher. 

In addition, as a result of the criminal actions of the Russian Federation, thousands of people suffer mine-blast injuries as a result of constant shelling and rocket attacks that target the Ukrainian civilian population.

Our society was not fully prepared for the emergence of such a large number of people with mine-related injuries or damage. This has led to significant stigmatization and discrimination against this vulnerable group. This is especially true in recently liberated or frontline communities where the fighting is ongoing in close proximity.

In order to help remove barriers in the public consciousness regarding mine victims, FRIDA Ukraine is launching the project "Raising awareness of the acceptance and understanding of mine victims among volunteer doctors, members of local communities and the general public" with the support of the United Nations Development Program within the framework of the project "Promoting human security in Ukraine through a multidimensional response to the war-related crisis" with the financial support of the Government of Japan.

The objectives of the project are:

1. Raise awareness of FRIDA-UKRAINE volunteer doctors about the rules of work and interaction with mine victims.

2. Increase the institutional capacity of FRIDA-UKRAINE through the purchase of equipment

3. Raise awareness among members of the targeted territorial communities about understanding and proper acceptance of mine victims.

4. At the national level, to draw public attention to the problem of acceptance and proper understanding of mine victims.

As part of the project, it is planned to achieve the following indicators of beneficiary coverage:

1. At least 70 FRIDA-UKRAINE volunteer doctors will be trained. Gender disaggregation: 65% women, 35% men.

2. At least 300 members of the targeted territorial communities will participate in the trainings. Gender disaggregation: 60% women, 40% men.

3. At least 2.5 million people will be reached through an information campaign on the Internet. Gender disaggregation: 55% women, 45% men

The profile of beneficiaries is purely statistical, as the types of activities within the project do not allow for accurate prediction of such indicators.

This project will have a significant sustainability effect after its completion. This will be facilitated by our work directly with local governments, social services, and healthcare institutions in the respective communities. Working with these target groups will ensure that knowledge and practices regarding the awareness and understanding of people injured by mines and explosives will be shared with other community members after the project ends. This approach also makes it possible to further cascade the knowledge we have provided to other territorial communities.

Working with doctors also has a long-term effect. Our volunteer doctors see at least 1000 people a month in de-occupied and frontline communities. A large number of them are people with mine-blast injuries and traumas. Conducting training for volunteer doctors will help them to establish practices for the proper treatment and understanding of such people in our ongoing missions. The development of appropriate training materials will also allow us to conduct such training for new doctors in the future as part of institutional capacity building.