The Estonian Refugee Council launched today a fundraising campaign 'Three Years Too Many,' which will run throughout February and March to raise donations for providing essential aid to vulnerable people in frontline areas.

A new season of the entrepreneurship programme Boost will launch in Estonia at the end of February.In January, more than 400 refugees participated in adaptation support training sessions in Estonia, with over half of them – 224 – attending legal-themed training.With the help of EU funding, we are soon launching four community councils in Armenia to enable people with refugee backgrounds to express their concerns, advocate for solutions to their problems, and participate in decision-making processes that affect them. Additionally, we will form self-help groups for vulnerable refugees.

In 2024, the Estonian Refugee Council operated in Ukraine, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Jordan, and Lebanon, providing immediate assistance in emergencies and supporting more than 69,000 crisis-affected people in rebuilding their lives.

This winter, the Estonian Refugee Council is providing heating assistance to over 5,600 Ukrainian families living near the front lines. The support is directed towards people living in the regions most affected by the war, where ongoing attacks have continuously disrupted access to essential services.

In Estonia, we have relaunched the "Boost" entrepreneurship programme, which helps participants develop or restart their existing businesses. Registration is open on the Estonian Refugee Council platform.In Ukraine we have provided cash-based assistance to nearly 296,000 people. In Ukraine, we continue to distribute winter support to cover heating costs for 5000 households during the upcoming winter season. Assistance will be provided in cash, or alternatively, firewood or coal will be delivered directly to those in need.We are launching four community councils in Armenia to enable people with refugee backgrounds to express their concerns, advocate for solutions to their problems, and participate in decision-making processes that affect them.We will also continue working with community councils in Georgia to amplify the voices of refugees and internally displaced persons there.

Entrepreneurship is one way to rebuild one’s life in a new environment and create a stable income for oneself and one’s family.

Oksana, along with her husband and daughter, left her hometown of Kharkiv due to the war in March 2022. This is how the family ended up in Cherkasy. Before the full-scale invasion, Oksana sold kimchi – a popular Korean snack – through an online store on Instagram. At one time, her daughter became interested in K-pop culture, and Oksana not only supported this hobby, but also began to study the Korean language and culture, including cuisine.

This morning, another Russian missile strike hit Kyiv, causing extensive damage to civilian infrastructure. Hundreds of residential buildings, as well as dozens of schools, kindergartens, and healthcare facilities, were left without heating as a result. One of the missiles exploded just a couple of kilometres from the Estonian Refugee Council's Kyiv office, highlighting the extreme conditions in which our team continues its work.

Valerii and his wife live in the village in Donetsk region. Their children are already grown up and live separately. Valerii is a pensioner now but before he worked for 40 years at a local mine. Shortly before the start of the full-scale invasion, the family moved into a new house, which they built for a long time themselves.

On 7 December, a pre-Christmas Ukrainian-Estonian family celebration was held in Võru in cooperation with the local Red Cross office, bringing together around 120 participants. The event featured a concert performance introducing Ukrainian Christmas traditions, with singing, dancing, and acting.