Background:
Feb. 2023: It has now been one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of today there are an estimated 6 million internally displaced people in Ukraine. Nearly 8 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded in neighboring countries and across Europe. Approximately 17.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in 2023.
From the initial Russian invasion and throughout 2022, NATAN provided medical and psychological aid to Ukrainian refugees in Poland. March 1: NATAN’s Team 1 flew to the Poland-Ukraine border. NATAN was chosen by the Polish Red Cross to manage the medical clinic at an abandoned Tesco shopping mall which was repurposed and renamed: Przemysl Humanitarian Aid Center. This location became one of the largest refugee transit centers in Poland in 2022. From March through the end of August, NATAN took charge of 24/7 staffing, sharing shifts with partner organizations. NATAN provided both primary medical care and psychosocial/trauma intervention. In all 15 delegations of NATAN volunteers participated: 54 social workers, 41 doctors, 35 nurses, and 16 logistics experts from Israel and abroad – 200 professionals in all. More than 30,000 refugees received direct care, while many others benefited from our support. NATAN also trained Ukrainian frontline caregivers and ran a summer camp for Ukrainian children in July-August. NATAN received official recognition from the Polish Red Cross and local authorities for its swift, consistent and professional management of refugee needs in Przemysl.
