HOW WE HELPED: WATER, SANITATION AND HYGIENE

DEC member charities provided water, sanitation and hygiene support in locations across Ukraine during the reporting period. This includes providing families, particularly those in collective centres, with clean drinking water, hygiene kits (including toiletries and sanitary items) and additional hygiene support such as showers and clothes washing facilities. Assistance was targeted at the most vulnerable people: one DEC member charity, for example, in partnership with a local organisation which supports women and LGBTQIA+ people distributed 11,721 hygiene kits and 3,000 medicine and first aid kits across six regions of Ukraine.

Older people and people with disabilities often need specific support with meeting their hygiene needs. An assessment for a DEC member charity identified seven care homes for older people or people with disabilities which were struggling to access safe drinking water and hygiene materials for their residents. The member charity and its partner organisation provided a package of support to the institutions including bottled water or water trucking, provision of cleaning and laundry equipment (including washing machines and dryers), and distribution of hygiene kits.