Assistance for almost 400,000 Ukrainians: Saving Lives presents its annual report
SCM businesses launched the Saving Lives humanitarian project in March 2022, right after the Russian Federation started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The initiative sought to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the front-line areas. Over the year, the project has grown, gaining the support of hundreds of businesses from all over the globe. Please read the annual report of the project.
Over the year since the project's inception, more than 4,000 tonnes of essentials have been delivered to nearly 400,000 people in the frontline areas. Two big humanitarian aid hubs in Poland and four hubs in Ukraine (based in Zaporizhia, Kamianske, Kryvyi Rih, and Dnipro) sort out and form food packages, with 400 Metinvest volunteers involved in their operations. The food sets are given out to the most vulnerable, including the war victims, single parents, the disabled, retirees, etc.
In addition, the project focuses on providing medicines and equipment to the hospitals based in the frontline areas, having spent nearly €250,000 on this assistance over the year. This support helped the hospitals in Zaporizhia, Kryvyi Rih, Avdiivka, and Kamianske operate more efficiently as accommodation centres for refugees and war victims who had to flee from the flashpoints.
The Saving Lives project also teamed up with Masha Yefrosinina Fund's Unbreakable Mom programme to provide psychological support and social rehabilitation. The programme is designed to improve the psychological and emotional well-being of participants, prevent the development of PTSD, develop the ability to adapt and self-actualize, and form new social connections. The partnership helped dozens of women and children recover and improve their emotional well-being. The project also provides assistance to children and young people in their development and education. Supported by Saving Lives, journalism students took part in a short film festival in Italy, where they presented their videos about Mariupol.
Having partnered with the Protez Hub project, Saving Lives launched a prosthetic treatment and rehabilitation programme for civilians and soldiers injured in war. With an average cost of the prosthetic treatment under the initiative being €10,000-30,000, nearly 30 wounded people benefited from it over the year. An online training platform is another area of work. Launched this spring, the platform is available in Ukrainian language and is developed to help specialists in limb prosthetics and related rehabilitation. Its video lectures, advice, and expert recommendations will stand in good stead for thousands of specialists and patients across the country.
In 2023, Saving Lives plans to scale up and intensify its efforts to help Ukraine and Ukrainians. This includes new areas such as recreation for children, psychological support centres, rehabilitation programmes for war veterans, etc.