Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, evaluated by specialists as the fastest evolution of a humanitarian crisis after the Second World War, extensive support actions were started in the countries bordering the conflict: Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Poland and Georgia. One of the largest deployments of forces took place in Romania, through the financing of the CARE global confederation and the local coordination of the SERA Romania Foundation with the support of CARE France and FONPC (Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations for Children).
Romania became one of the areas of maximum geopolitical interest with the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. One of the rapid, large-scale humanitarian interventions came through CARE – a global confederation that has been fighting poverty and social injustice for over 75 years. Coordination at the national level was done through the SERA Romania Foundation – a non-governmental, non-profit, private organization that has been active for 26 years in the field of child protection and the promotion of children’s rights in Romania.
This humanitarian catastrophe has so far affected 6.4 million people, who have had to leave their country. Another 8 million were uprooted and dispersed to safer areas in Ukraine. The most affected categories are women and children, over 90% of refugees are from this category. Since the beginning of the humanitarian crisis, more than 1,150,000 refugees have entered Romania. The SERA Foundation coordinated with its partners more than 35 different direct aid projects, from the infrastructure necessary to receive refugees at the border to the coordination of food and medicine convoys to Ukraine, but also the management of refugees settled in Romania with concrete support related to food, shelter , psychological, legal and medical assistance, courses and facilities dedicated to children, social inclusion, etc.
The SERA Foundation, together with the strategic partners CARE France and FONPC, have developed a plan for 12 months of financial, procedural and logistical support for NGOs that carry out activities dedicated to the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis, the needs of refugees being constantly evolving. “The biggest challenge was the speed of reaction. Practically, we had to mobilize hundreds of people overnight, social protection specialists, psychologists, translators, doctors. Then we had to provide coordination to the thousands of volunteers who wanted to get involved but didn’t have the necessary framework. CARE made a fabulous effort, gathering funding from 75 national centers of CARE network members, which it then redirected to critical areas in refugee management, one of the most important being Romania. We now coordinate and oversee the work of 35 organizations running support programs as well as our own support actions.” – Bogdan Simion, executive director of SERA Romania.
The organizations and projects supported by CARE and implemented at the national level by the SERA Romania Foundation with the support of CARE France and FONPC are: YouHub Association, FARA Foundation, ESTUAR Foundation, CARUSEL Association, ESPERANDO Association, Parada Foundation, AMURTEL Aid Association Romania, Baia Autism Association Mare, Create Yourself Association, ECLER, The International Foundation for Child and Family, Q-ARTS Association, The Social Incubator Association, Buna Ziua Copii Association, ANAIS Association, Social Assistance Teachers Association ASSOC, Radauti Civic Association, Hand across Romania Association, Children’s Heart Foundation, Romanian Scouts National Organization, ALLIAT MH, Society for Children and Parents, Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations for Social Services, Federation of Non-Governmental Organizations for Children, Snagov Olympic Sports Club Association, Bethany Social Services Foundation, Medical Prophylaxis Aid Foundation, Star of Hope Romania, ELIB Foundation ERARE, DGASPC Sector 1, DGASMB, DGASPC Sector 3, DGASPC Tulcea, DGASPC Suceava, DGASPC Maramureș, DGASPC Brașov.
