One of the projects of ADRA Ukraine – “WMT Ukraine” – was launched on August 15, 2024. Its full name in English is “Pure water, mental peace and social transport for Ukrainians affected by conflict” – Kateryna Kanuntseva, project manager, tells about the activities and results of the project.

— What are the components of the “WMT Ukraine” project?

— The project consists of five main components:
Psychological and legal assistance – implemented in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv regions.
Humanitarian transportation – operate in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.
WASH – water supply, which is currently implementing in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
CCM Food Provision – providing food to IDPs protection centers in Dnipropetrovsk and Lviv regions.
Winterization – purchase and delivery of fuel briquettes to IDPs protection centers in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

— Who are the project donors?

— The main funding is provided by Aktion Deutschland Hilft, ADRA Czech Republic and AWW Deutschland. In the WASH sector, an additional donor is Atlas Copco, in the Winterization sector – Max Brose Foundation. We cooperate directly with representatives of donors – ADRA Germany and ADRA Czech Republic.

— Tell us more about psychological assistance. What results were achieved?

— Two mobile teams of psychologists and lawyers work within the project. One of them is based in Dnipro city and provides assistance in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, the other – in Kyiv city, covering Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv regions.

Specialists conduct individual and group sessions with vulnerable categories of people, are engaged in advocacy and prevention of gender-based violence (GBV), conduct trainings for people who work with GBV victims, provide online counseling, as well as legal advice on various legal issues.
From August 2024:
862 people received individual psychological counseling;
985 people took part in group sessions;
181 people received prevention training GBV;
145 employees who work with vulnerable people, was trained;
821 beneficiaries received free legal assistance.

— How does humanitarian transportation work?

— Within the framework of the project, there is a humanitarian transport network for elderly people and vulnerable categories of the population living in remote villages of Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Thanks to transportation, they get access to important services – medical institutions, banks, markets, administrations, mail, etc.

The project involves 6 minibuses, 5 of which are designed to carry 19 passengers, and one – for 25 people. Buses run on more than 20 routes. Each transportation begins in remote settlements and goes to district centers.

Since September 2024, 10,550 people have received transport services, of which 865 are people with disabilities.

— What work is carried out in the field of water supply?

— The WASH sector implements the following initiatives:
Reconstruction of the water tower in the village Sofiyivka of Kryvyi Rih district. It will provide uninterrupted water supply for the hospital and nearby houses.
Installation of 7 water purification systems in Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro districts of Dnipropetrovsk region.
Drilling of 5 wells in Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro districts.
Installation of 3 biological wastewater treatment systems (bioseptics).

The main emphasis is on providing schools, kindergartens, hospitals and IDPs centers with clean drinking water. All the necessary tenders have already been held, and in February 2025, the installation of a new water tower in Sofiyivka began, as well as drilling a well for a protection center in Dnipro and the installation of the BioSeptik wastewater treatment system for a kindergarten in Elizavetivka village of Petrikivska community.

After the completion of all work on the WASH sector, more than 5,000 people – residents of the Dnipropetrovsk region will be provided with access to pure, drinking water.

— How does the food security sector work?

— Within CCM Food Provision, ADRA Ukraine supports two protection centers for IDPs:
Center “Harmony” (Dnipropetrovsk region, Hashcheve village) – 95 inhabitants, most of whom are elderly.
Center “Barvinok” (Lviv region, Novyi Rozdil village) – 18 inhabitants.

Since October 2024, meat, fish, vegetable canned food, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, groceries, cookies, tea, sugar and other products have been purchased monthly for these centers to ensure three meals a day.

— Who is covered by Winterization sector assistance?

— We carry out the purchase and delivery of fuel briquettes to 18 IDPs protection centers in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the total number of beneficiaries is 1053 people.

— How many people are involved in the project team?

— Currently, 19 specialists work in the project. The ADRA team makes every effort to implement all activities on time, despite numerous challenges. Each of the team members has clearly defined tasks, and we try to coordinate all effectively. Thanks to the coordinated work and support of partners, the project continues to serve for communities.

— What are the main difficulties?

— The situation is constantly changing, especially security. For example, in the Donetsk region there were interruptions in the supply of fuel for our buses. This forces us to be flexible and make decisions much quickly.
Some difficulties are in the WASH sector. Since there are not enough contractors in the Dnipropetrovsk region to perform complex work, we had to continue tenders several times, which took longer than we expected. Also, due to frost and freezing of the soil, work on installing a water tower began later than the plan.

Also, due to the security situation, we are sometimes forced to cancel humanitarian transport. At the same time, our regular MEAL assessments show that the beneficiaries are very satisfied with the project and ask to continue it in the future.

Despite all the difficulties, we work, adapt and do our best to support people in need!