Results of medium-term needs assessment of Ukrainian refugees with support from the Hungarian Interchurch Aid Organization
Anna Mária Bartal
Abstract
In addition to the state-run refugee organisations and the Civil Protection Service, non governement organizations (NGO) and faith baised and humanitarian organisations (FBOs, and the Red Cross) play a major role in the reception and the humanitarian assistance of Ukranian refugees in Hungary. These organizations are also involved in the implementation of the UNHCR Humanitarian Rapid Response Plan. One of them is the Hungarian Interchuch Aid Organisation, which stands out as an active player in the humanitarian assistance of refugees both inside and outside Ukraine due to its experience and position. The aim of the study is to monitor the perception of aid (reporting on support received) and to present the results of the needs assessment that provides the foundation for the Hungarian Interchuch Aid Organisation's medium-term support programme for Ukrainian refugees. 89 Ukrainian heads of households were included in the random sample, and their common characterisics was that the majority of them were women, mostly aged 30-49 and over 60, who were living without their spouses, mainly with their minor children in a temporary shelter in the capital and a county seat at the time of the survey (June-July 2022). Our results provided information on the perception of aid (reporting on support received) by the organisation, the (individual) needs, and the type of support. According to our data, two distinct structures of needs emerged from the responses given by the heads of households living in the capital city and in the county seats. An important finding is that the residence aspirations of refugees significantly influenced their reported needs. Our study and our results are novel because Hungarian social and applied sciences have so far failed to address the activities of humanitarian aid organisations, and the methodology of humanitarian aid have hardly been examined in meaningful studies.
Keywords: refugees from Ukraine, humanitarian aid, humanitarian needs assessment, perception of aid, Hungarian Interchuch Aid Organisation