Help LGBTIQ people and groups in Ukraine

Context. The war in Ukraine has created a massive humanitarian crisis impacting all Ukrainians; accessing safe shelter, food, water, medication, mental health services, and other essentials has been a major challenge for both Ukrainian refugees in neighboring countries and for the millions of internally displaced Ukrainian citizens within the country. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) Ukrainians, accessing these resources and services is even more challenging due to bias and discrimination. Further, many humanitarian organizations lack an understanding of LGBTIQ people’s unique needs and often have limited experience or actively resist serving them, thereby excluding LGBTIQ people from receiving life-saving assistance.

LGBTIQ Ukraine Emergency Fund. LGBTIQ organizations are best suited to meet the needs of their constituents, including and especially during a crisis. To ensure LGBTIQ organizations can continue to support their community members during the war, Outright has distributed over $3.6 million in grants to 45 national and community-based LGBTIQ-led organizations in Ukraine and its border countries through its LGBTIQ Ukraine Emergency Fund. The Fund has provided a critical lifeline to organizations, enabling them to stay afloat and scale up direct humanitarian support to their communities. These organizations are known and trusted by communities and can render support quickly and effectively. Further, they will remain long after large international organizations have left, ensuring sustainability of assistance.

Since the start of our LGBTIQ Ukraine Emergency Fund, our three main objectives have been to:

1. Equip national and local community-based LGBTIQ civil society organizations (CSOs) to provide essential humanitarian support to their crisis-affected constituents throughout Ukraine
2. Provide capacity-strengthening assistance to LGBTIQ CSOs so that they are better positioned to access other humanitarian resources for both emergency support and longer-term recovery
3. Raise the visibility of LGBTIQ communities’ needs and priorities within the humanitarian sector in Ukraine

Our ongoing support to national and community-based LGBTIQ organizations in Ukraine has prioritized rapid response for immediate humanitarian needs as well as investments in ensuring that these organizations are able to survive the war and continue to serve as vital lifelines to their crisis-affected constituents and as a source of support during recovery. Examples of intermediate and ongoing preparedness work include supporting national and community-based organizations to:

• Provide vouchers for food, hygiene, and other essential supplies
• Secure access to gender-affirming care and other essential medical care for transgender and intersex Ukrainians, as well as those with other chronic and acute healthcare needs
• Enable safe transport from conflict areas
• Provide safe temporary housing

In terms of longer-term preparedness work and recovery, our emergency fund has also provided support to national and community-based LGBTIQ organizations to:

• Organize re-skilling and job training courses for internally displaced LGBTIQ Ukrainians who have lost employment due to the full-scale invasion
• Repair and equip community center spaces to help retain social cohesion and allow for peer support, training, or other activities
• Invest in safety and security of offices and community spaces
• Develop longer-term strategic plans to ensure their organizational survival

The focus on intermediate versus longer-term recovery work is usually based on the location of the requesting organization. For example, the groups we support in Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhya, which are both under constant bombardment, will differ from those we support in Lviv or Uzhhorod, which focus more on the needs of internally displaced LGBTIQ Ukrainians.

Links:

• LGBTIQ Ukraine Humanitarian Response - Outright International