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The Study: Community organizations: resources for protecting refugees and asylum seekers in Ukraine

December 20, 2023

Community mapping is an important step in engaging with refugees and asylum seekers. It lays the groundwork for creating a communication plan, providing information, and gathering feedback. The objective of the mapping is to gain a better understanding of the community’s trusted structures and community leadership.

Right to Protection, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners NEEKA, Rokada, and Tenth of April conducted the first mapping of community organizations of refugees, complementary protection holders, and asylum seekers in Ukraine. 

It is based mostly on the information and analysis shared by refugees and asylum seekers living in major Ukrainian cities such as Kharkiv, Kyiv, Lviv, and Odesa after February 2022 and who agreed to participate in the survey.

The mapping of community organizations became more urgent as the war in Ukraine affected communication with a significant number of refugees and asylum seekers, due to their departure from the country, their displacement within Ukraine itself, or other circumstances.

The mapping focuses on groups or other forms of collective structures that bring together refugees and asylum seekers in Ukraine. The survey does not focus only on community organizations with formal legal status, such as registered NGOs, charitable organizations, or religious organizations or institutions. It also covered alternative forms of community life, including informal groups or groups on social media. 

The Study: Community organizations: resources for protecting refugees and asylum seekers in Ukraine

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The mapping also focused on community organizations which are not necessarily led by refugees and asylum seekers, but which offer spaces and support to them and other people sharing the same origins or backgrounds.