“2023 proved to be a turbulent year in the global community, marking the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, renewed conflicts in Armenia and Gaza, earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, and a steady increase in the number of displaced people worldwide,” said Eero Janson, the Director of ERC, in the foreword of the annual report. This context highlights how ERC enhanced its operational capacity and grew to become the largest humanitarian organisation in the Baltics. Last year, over 100 people worked at ERC, and the organisation's annual turnover exceeded 22.6 million euros.

The Refugee Forum, launched in April, started work on 20 June, World Refugee Day. Initiated by the Estonian Refugee Council, this representative body for international protection recipients supports individuals with refugee backgrounds in advocating for their communities and addressing their concerns.

We are helping job seekers with a refugee background enter the labour market or move to more suitable positions through a new employability programme in Estonia. In Ukraine we have provided multi-purpose cash assistance to more than 284,000 people totaling over 51 million euros. In Georgia we continue to empower and support internally displaced people and refugees through community councils. In May, we raised 5325 euros in donations. Thank you!

The Estonian Refugee Council will celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20th from 12 to 4pm at Telliskivi Creative City as a community festival, supporting all refugees who have had to leave their homes.

In April 2024, ERC provided multi-purpose cash assistance to 8,600 conflict-affected individuals in front-line and hard-to-reach areas in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhia oblasts. In April, the Empowering Women entrepreneurship programme in Estonia was concluded, during which 15 teams received support to refine their business ideas. In Ukraine, we continued to support the 50 women-led businesses that participated in the Empowering Women group last year through mentoring and asset-based grants. In Estonia, nearly 1000 people have already participated in our community activities this year. We presented our experience with the entrepreneurship program for women with refugee backgrounds at the International Knowledge Platform conference in the Netherlands. In April, we collected over 13 000 euros in donations. Thank you!

We opened a portrait exhibition titled "Voices from Crises: Stories of Displaced People" on Monday, April 15th at Kolme puu gallery in Telliskivi Creative City.We opened an Estonian Refugee Council office in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

This season we provided winterization support to nearly 16,000 vulnerable households in Ukraine. We carried out a shelter programme in Ukraine, supporting the light repairs of a total of 200 war-torn residential houses.