The Humanitarian Center: performance results in 2016. The accounts of eyewitnesses

On April 19 Kyiv hosted a report meeting of the Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center dedicated to its performance results for 2016. The witnesses of the Center's work told how civilian population survives in the armed conflict areas and what role is played by humanitarian mission of Rinat Akhmetov. The report included testimonies of volunteers, the Humanitarian Center's employees, journalists, injured children and their relatives, sociologists and other direct eyewitnesses of the tragedy in Donbas.

"The Humanitarian Center is a personal initiative of Rinat Akhmetov. He decided to help his compatriots to survive under the war conditions. Over the entire conflict period the Center became the largest humanitarian mission working in the East of Ukraine. This is a unique case in history, we have no evidence of similar facts, of such a large scale of assistance. We called our report for 2016 "The accounts of eyewitnesses". These are hundreds of thousands stories of people, who survive in war conditions, the stories of volunteers and everyone who went through this or doing it right now", – Rimma Fil, the Center's Coordinator, shared.

Performance results for 2016  

• The total number of issued food packages is 4,287,759, including deliveries by mobile volunteers – 185,379 packages, individual delivery of food to lonely and ill elderly and disabled people – 23,402 packages. The number of issued children packages is 368,211.
• Targeted assistance was provided to 16,651 people: including complex treatment and surgeries – 2,666 people, rehabilitation of injured children – 58, medications for children – 1,525 sets.  
• "Peaceful Summer for Donbas Children" – 360 children rested and improved their health in summer camps.

Helping children is the unconditional priority of the Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center's operation. In 2016 the Center provided children under 35 months old and orphans with food products, rendered targeted assistance for urgent operations and medical treatment. Thanks to "Medications for Children" project, hundreds of severely ill children got medicine that actually saved their lives.

In March 2016 the Center launched a project called "Rehabilitation of Injured Children". 58 boys and girls, who were injured due to Donbas war, went through rehabilitation in specialized health centres and received rehabilitation equipment. Rehabilitation helps children to start their life anew.

Work in 2017

The key direction of the Center's operation in 2017 remains humanitarian aid – providing survival kits to Donbas civilians. In 2017, in spite of the blocked operation in non-government-controlled areas of Donbas, Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center keeps on providing humanitarian aid to the "grey zone" residents and internally displaced persons on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Food packages for the most vulnerable categories of population are issued in 24 fixed issuing points in government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Mobile teams of volunteers deliver food packages to dozens of villages on the contact line.

Also in 2017 the Center continues helping children, who struggle for their life and health.

For instance, assistance for emergency treatment of children as part of "Medications for Children" project.

Since April Donbas children, who got injuries and need further assistance, start new rehabilitation courses in health centres of Ukraine as part of "Rehabilitation of Injured Children" project.

In 2017 the Humanitarian Center launched a new project called "Healthy Heart". It provides children, who have heart diseases, with endovascular prostheses (occluders), which allows to avoid abdominal surgery on a child's heart. Оccluder gives a child a healthy heart for life, the procedure lasts no more than an hour and leaves no scars on a child's body. As of today, nine kids have already been operated under the project. In 2017 as part of this program the Center is planning to help 40 children, who are diagnosed an open arterial duct and a secondary defect of the interatrial septum, and who come from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kharkiv regions.

"Helping people to survive in war conditions. Helping those, who couldn't cope on their own – this has always been and remains the main goal set by Rinat Akhmetov to the Humanitarian Center. The effectiveness of charitable organization can be understood and measured in different ways. The main thing is being able to do it on time. See people's need on time and help them. Bear responsibility for the assistance provided. Feel people's pain, empathize and come to the rescue. And these are the principles of Rinat Akhmetov. He provides consistent help to Donbas civilians for more than 2.5 years. Day by day, to the places where people need it", – Oleksandr Vyshniakov, Director of the Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center, shares.

Over 2.5 years of its operation Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Center became the largest humanitarian mission helping people in the East of Ukraine. More than 11.7 million food packages were issued on both sides of the contact line. The Center saved more than 1,139,000 human lives.