With the ongoing war in Ukraine, the need for humanitarian care, particularly gendered humanitarian care, remains strong. In 2023, Project Kesher Ukraine has, with its partners, Purchased and distributed such items as:
600 food kits for pregnant and new moms x $30/each - $18,000;
300 kits for newborns (including diapers, formula and clothing) x $40/each - $12,000;
800 food packages for Mykolaiv - a city impacted by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam - $10,000;
1,000 medical kits with painkillers, fever relievers, disinfectants and wound healing agents- $27,000;
10,000 5L bottles of water @ $1.55 each for vulnerable families, women with children and Internationally Displaces Persons (IDPs) of Kryvyi Rih. - $15,550; and
3,000 menstrual cups - $30,000.
Project Kesher Ukraine has also continued to purchase equipment based on the needs expressed by women in our network. Items include:
13 motor-pumps at a total cost of $19,000 to pump water out of flooded basements in the Ukrainian city of Kherson;
10 generators (in addition to the 200 previously purchased with our partners) at $1,750/each - $17,500. These have been placed in IDP camps, Jewish communal institutions and food distribution centers;
1 compressor for the new anesthesia system in the Kharkiv regional neurosurgery department - $4,500; and
24 Ukrainian made e-bikes to alleviate the physical toll on nurses making house calls to pregnant, sick, elderly and otherwise homebound patients in recently liberated regions of Ukraine 24 x $900 = $21,600
In addition to the items purchased, Project Kesher Ukraine and its Women’s Opportunity Fund continuously provide information through digital channels in response to women’s current and anticipated needs. For example, Project Kesher Ukraine has been emailing instructions for boiling or chemically purifying water in the event there is a cholera outbreak. It has also disseminated instructional, culturally appropriate content on the use of menstrual cups as a follow up to its distribution of these critical supplies. In addition, the organization maintains a Telegram channel, staffed by healthcare professionals, specifically for pregnant people and new mothers.
As the war continues, Project Kesher and Project Kesher Ukraine communicate daily with our partners to discuss locations and areas of greatest need. We constantly adapt our joint purchases and distribution plans based on the insights of our trusted on-the-ground network. With funds on hand, we can make real-time commitments to meet the country’s most urgent needs.
