Nataliya*, 19, and her mother Daryna* are Ukrainian refugees from Odessa. The first day of the war, they fled to Mykolaiv thinking it would be safer than Odessa, but it was heavily bombed by Russia.
Now, they have fled to Moldova and are volunteering at Moldova for Peace to help other refugees settle.
“We feel safe in Moldova physically,” Nataliya says. “But our psychology is still bad. In this respect, we don’t feel safe at all. My house, my friends, my family, my dad are in Ukraine. The other day we had a walk with my mom here in Chisinau and a car started to make a noise and we were so scared, my mom started to cry. That was a hard moment in which we realised that we are now afraid of loud sounds.
“People here are very friendly and make us feel like we are at home, but we are not. Still, we cannot believe that this is happening. We are here now, we see the photos, the videos but still I don’t believe that in the 21st century, this is happening - a war and people are dying. Soldiers are killing kids and women; I really cannot believe it.”
“We weren’t aware of how happily we were living before,” Daryna says. “Our house was beautiful. We were there with Nataliya and our dog. We really can't wait for the moment when we can go back.
“We hope but we can see how the situation is right now and we don’t know what will happen next, but we all want to go back. We are really waiting for this. We need to rebuild our country, it is our duty.
“We often cry. We never expected that the war would touch us. My grandfather had fought in Kursk and was telling me that the war is hell on earth. I don’t understand how Russia is repeating it, I don’t. Now our life is divided into before and after the war.”
*Names changed to protect identity
#ukrainewar#helpukraine#moldova#ukrainerefugees#helprefugees#moldova_today#igmoldova
#ThrowBackThursday to @latitudefest in 2019, the last time we were at the festival! 🌞
We can't wait to come back once again this July, as we bring our #MyBodyIsMine message to the festival, supported as ever by amazing artists and performers.
You can see a small selection of some of the stars who showed their support for our message in 2019 - look out for loads more this year.
And, if you're going to this year's festival, be sure to stop by the AAUK tent as ever for fun, empowering activities for festival-goers of all ages!
#Latitude#LatitudeFestival#ActionAid#ActionAidUK#WomensRights#EndVAWG
Mikhaila, 23, is a Roma Ukrainian refugee staying in a shelter in Moldova. She and her family walked to the border when the war began – even though Mikhaila recently gave birth.
“I am here with my husband, our five children and my mother-in-law,” she says. “My youngest baby is just two months old. I gave birth in Odessa just before the war started.”
“It was very difficult there. My mom is still there. I called her to come here to be safe. I feel safe here but as soon as the war is over, I want to go home and start from the beginning.”
We’re still working round-the-clock to support refugees fleeing Ukraine, like Mikhaila and her family. Please donate now by tapping the link in bio.
#ukrainewar#ukrainewomen#helpukraine#moldova#helprefugees#ukrainelatest#ukrainestories
This coming planting season, the major disruptions to harvests and exports in Ukraine (known as “the breadbasket of the world”) won’t just affect Ukrainians. They’ll affect much of the world.
The #HornofAfrica is facing one of its worst droughts on record, with up to 14 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia facing severe hunger and water shortages.
The reasons for this are myriad: like everywhere, the pandemic and energy costs have impacted these countries, but climate-related disasters are becoming both more frequent and more severe.
Please share.
#DroughtinSomalia#DroughtinSomaliland#HornofAfrica#climatechange#ukrainewar#ukrainelatest
Anowara is a mother of five, who lives in the Rohingya camp and makes masks as part of ActionAids Covid-19 response.
Anowara along her husband have also planted a vegetable garden in their shelter's front yard with the seeds provided from ActionAid.
"We are all well-trained on how to keep ourselves safe during...coronavirus. It's hard for us because for buying soap we need money. Also getting clean water in the camp is difficult. But every time we are coming in the centre, we are cleaning ourselves. I am wearing the mask I made and everyone in my family is wearing masks that I made. Also, when I sell masks in my community, I realised I am helping them too. We are not safe if all of us do not maintain hygiene and distance. It's difficult to keep a distance in our camp which is very cramped and overpopulated. But we are trying our best so that we can stay healthy."
Anowara has also raised awareness among her neighbours about how to protect against Covid-19 through hand-washing, sanitation and keeping distance.
Our 50 years of experience have shown us that disaster response and prevention is most effective when women are at the heart of it.
At ActionAid, we don’t just provide cash and emergency supplies to women at the frontline of crises. We train women to help them spot early signs of disasters, lead evacuations, set up safe spaces, and distribute essential supplies themselves.
In the long term, we also help women to recreate their livelihoods, develop new income sources and help them fight for their rights at local and national government levels.
With your support, we can ensure more women can effectively help their communities respond to the crises they are forced to face. Tap the link in bio to find out more.
Horn of Africa drought: Sagal Mohamed Shaheed, 40, is a mother-of-two who lives in the Giro-Sumo displacement camp. She is eight months pregnant with her third child.
She told us her family were forced to leave their village after they lost all of their livestock to the drought.
“Our previous life was good. I had 100 livestock and got milk from the livestock to drink, feed the children or sell to buy other needed food items,” she said.
We had a prosperous life. Now all our livestock is gone. Every morning about 5 or 10 of the livestock died, until all of them died.”
“Every mother is feeling sorrow when her children are eating only once a day and don't eat the other two times. I feel sorrow every day. I ask myself, ‘when will we be out of this suffering?’ and many other difficult questions.
“Our needs are great, and we can't afford more than one meal a day and our shelter doesn’t protect us from the sun or the cold.”
Please share.
#DroughtinSomalia#DroughtinSomaliland#HornofAfrica#climatechange#ukrainewar#ukrainelatest
Noel, 47, is part of a group of women leaders and farmers in Haiti.
When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit Haiti, Noel worked with ActionAid to use WhatsApp to spread awareness about coronavirus.
“As a member, we gathered the members of the women leaders group and went door-to-door to inform the community members and tell them how to prevent being contaminated. Even if they had already heard about it in the news, we gave them all the information to prevent the disease: hand-washing, avoiding gatherings, practicing social distancing, etc.
“[On the WhatsApp group we] mostly share information about coronavirus. We also use it to inform the others if one of us has a problem."
When disasters strike around the world, women and girls are often hit the hardest. Women understand the risks to all women and girls during an emergency, and they know what their families and communities need most. They know who is in need, where they live, and how to get to them fast.
By donating today, you can help women and their communities become more resilient in times of crisis. Tap the link in bio to find out more.
Horn of Africa drought: 90-year-old Amina, from Somaliland, has survived 12 droughts in her life. But says the current situation is the worst she’s ever experienced.
“The drought has hit us hard,” she told us.
We have no water. Fuel is very expensive. We used to eat sorghum, rice, pasta and macaroni. But now we do not have the money to buy these foods. We are starving.”
“It used to be nice in the past, but now the world is ending.”
Please share to help raise awareness.
#DroughtinSomalia#DroughtinSomaliland#HornofAfrica#climatechange#ukrainewar#ukrainelatest
Hawa, 17 from Bangladesh is a local climate activist.
ActionAid trained Hawa and other local women in disaster prevention so they can help save lives during future floods in the region.
Hawa has seen the climate changing and becoming less predictable.
"I think more and more women should get involved to do something in an emergency like floods. We can minimise losses and lives can saved if women come forward and respond fast."
Our 50 years of experience have shown us that disaster response and prevention is most effective when women are at the heart of it.
Women understand the risks to women and girls during an emergency, and they know what their families and communities need most. They know who is in need, where they live, and how to get to them fast.
“I want to see change. I want to bring change in my village and in my community. We do not want any more disasters. We are losing everything each year. Where will we go? I want to work to save ourselves", says Hawa.
At ActionAid, we don’t just provide cash and emergency supplies to women at the frontline of crises. We train women to help them spot early signs of disasters, lead evacuations, set up safe spaces, and distribute essential supplies themselves.
In the long term, we also help women to recreate their livelihoods, develop new income sources and help them fight for their rights at local and national government levels.
With your support, we can ensure more women can effectively help their communities respond to the crises they are forced to face.
By donating today, you can help women and their communities become more resilient in times of crisis. Tap the link in bio to find out more.
Every day is #EarthDay! Climate change is intrinsically linked to poverty, affecting the lives of the world’s poorest people the most. It is also linked to gender, as we know from our work that women and girls are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the climate catastrophe, and all over the world, women and girls are losing their homes and livelihoods as a result.
For women and girls living in poverty, climate change hasn’t simply resulted in warmer summers. It means more extreme and less predictable weather patterns, less food, decreasing access to safe water and unstable living conditions – culminating in new threats to their rights.
Swipe through to see how you can take small steps to help fight climate change and make a difference to the planet and its people with some simple lifestyle hacks.
It’s an inconvenient truth: more than a quarter of the world’s wheat exports come from Russia and Ukraine.
The #WarInUkraine is already sending shockwaves around the world - including in the Horn of Africa, which is facing one of its worst droughts on record.
Thanks to a perfect storm of disruptions to harvests and exports in Ukraine, as well as climate change-related disasters and rising fuel prices, up to 14 million are facing hunger and food shortages across the Horn of Africa.
Hibo Aden, women’s rights officer at ActionAid Somaliland, said the situation has become so desperate for some families that girls are being forced to marry in exchange for food and water.
Figures show a 24% increase in gender-based violence.
Please share to your stories to help raise awareness.
#drought#droughtinsomalia#ramadan#somaliland#climatechange#hornofafrica#somalilanders
“I have always wanted to go to places, reach communities and raise awareness – especially about issues related to women and girls.”
Nabina, 21, works for ActionAid Nepal’s local partner, Homenet Nepal, as a volunteer. Previously, she worked as a volunteer with an organisation called Women for Human Rights (WHR) for 10 months, where she focused on teaching women to write and worked with single women.
Nabina has been volunteering with ActionAid Nepal and Homenet Nepal for a year now. She has supported with child sponsorship activities, including child sponsorship message collection.
When the Covid-19 pandemic began, Nabina began supporting with the distribution of essential items for daily wage workers, single women and those in financial difficulty.
Nabina and the other volunteers would also distribute items like rice, lentils, sanitary pads, soap, toothpaste and oil. Nabina would also demonstrate hand washing techniques and teach about the importance of wearing a mask.
Our 50 years of experience have shown us that disaster response and prevention is most effective when women are at the heart of it.
At ActionAid, we don’t just provide cash and emergency supplies to women at the frontline of crises. We train women to help them spot early signs of disasters, lead evacuations, set up safe spaces, and distribute essential supplies themselves.
Tap the link in bio to find out more.