Impact to date

Since the start of the UAct project in April 2022 in collaboration with UNICEF, Scouts have reached over 1,151,142 Ukrainian refugees and IDPs. Of these, more than 529,111 are children and young people. It is a predominantly youth-led humanitarian response, spanning across the nine partner countries in Europe and Eurasia. 

Adela is a Romanian Scout working with Ukrainian children who come to the Scout centre for psychosocial fun activities, games.

Over 35,000 Scout volunteers are now actively supporting Ukrainian children and families, in Ukraine and the neighbouring countries. Their humanitarian efforts include providing accommodation, supporting on the borders, distributing essential items, running daycare centres, helping at refugee and transit centres, offering psychological first aid, and integrating over 9,000 young Ukrainians into local Scout groups and Scout camps.

At refugee shelters and youth centres, Scouts offer educational and skills-building activities that are part of Scouting's educational approach. National Scout Organizations in the nine countries have integrated hundreds of refugee children into local Scout groups. In addition, they have adapted their National Youth Programme to fit the needs of refugee children to ease their integration into local communities and strengthen their resilience. 

A Polish Scout wears the UNICEF blue vest.
Copyright
UNICEF/UN0685372/Korta

In Poland, Scouts have been supporting UNICEF teams at multiple Blue Dots, giving critical and practical information to refugee families. Meanwhile, Scouts in Hungary have been actively collaborating with the Ministry of Education and working in schools to support Ukrainian students in their studies, skills, and wellbeing. 

To ensure that Ukrainians arriving in neighbouring countries had access to relevant services and information, Scouts played an instrumental role in the promotion of UNICEF’s U-Report tool to nearly 10,000 Ukrainians. The U-Report is an interactive chatbot that can help people on the move and assist Ukrainians on their journey to neighbouring countries.

Moving forward, Scouts are continuing to actively engage Ukrainian children and young people in Scouting’s educational activities and camps while also focusing on the long-term objectives and ensuring Scouts everywhere have the capacity to lead an effective response to any humanitarian crisis. 

Resources

  • UAct six months situation report cover
    UAct six months situation report
    PDF download
  • Scouts Diary cover
    Scouts Diary
    PDF download
  • UAct Final Report cover
    UAct Final Report
    PDF download