Attachments
I. Background
Since the onset of military hostilities in neighboring Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the world has witnessed the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II1 , with Poland receiving a significant proportion of newly-arriving refugees within the region. As of 17 March, over 2.323 million refugees have arrived from Ukraine to Poland. Nearly all arrivals are women, children, and older persons, as men aged 18-60 are required by Ukraine authorities to remain in Ukraine. It is expected that overall flows will continue. Daily arrivals varying based on dynamics in Ukraine.
The overwhelming majority of refugees are women and children, often separated from husbands and fathers who remained in Ukraine, and elderly people (including unaccompanied elderly people). High levels of trauma associated with conflict and family separation are exacerbated by protection risks facing new arrivals which are inordinately high. The government of the Republic of Poland, civil society and the host community have displayed an overwhelming level of support during this mass influx. Nevertheless, the lack of registration of new arrivals and onward movements, vetting of volunteers, and basic services, have heightened GBV risks. Disclosures of GBV incidents which have occurred in Ukraine (country of origin), during flight and in Poland (country of asylum), are received by multiple humanitarian actors.
Existing mechanisms for safe referrals and GBV response services have been disrupted and/or close to a breaking point in some locations. Traditional GBV service providers within the local civil society are overstretched but trying to rapidly scale up staffing. In light of the foregoing, the prevention, risk mitigation of and response to gender-based violence (GBV), violence, abuse, neglect and/or the exploitation of children, require an immediate, well-coordinated and protection-oriented response building upon existing systems.