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The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) has released an additional $800,000 in funds to assist Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
CNEWA has given more than $1.86 million in funding to help Ukrainians this year. The emergency aid will ensure CNEWA partners and other church-related initiatives can continue their work with those displaced within Ukraine and to those seeking refuge in Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has provoked the worst humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the U.N. Refugee Agency, has estimated more than 7 million people are displaced within Ukraine and nearly 5 million people have sought refuge in neighboring countries, with about half of the displaced being children.
The $1.86 million in funding was released in four disbursements dating to late January. The disbursements are as follows: $197,500 in late January to CNEWA’s partners Caritas Ukraine, the Curia of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Catholic University, for their programmatic activities; $217,000 on March 11 for aid in Ukraine; $650,000 on March 20 to assist the efforts of local churches in their outreach work caring for Ukrainian refugees in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova; and $800,000 on April 20 for the care of the displaced and refugees in the nations mentioned and in Ukraine.
CNEWA, an agency of the Holy See, is present in the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe. The agency works for, through and with the Eastern churches, rushing aid to displaced families; providing maternity and health care for the most vulnerable; assisting efforts for the marginalized, especially children, elderly and the disabled; and offering support for the formation of seminarians, religious novices and the laity.
Donations: www.cnewa.org; 800-442-6392; or by mail, CNEWA, 1011 First Ave., New York, NY 10022.
