Humanitarian cash assistance

Multi-purpose cash assistance is provided to the most vulnerable categories of the population to cover basic needs, including food and hygiene. The amount of multi-purpose cash assistance is 3,600 UAH per month per 1 household member for 3 months. 

During this winter season, our organisation is providing cash for heating assistance (for the purchase of solid fuels such as coal, firewood, briquettes, or pellets or for the payment for heating utilities) to households living in rural and peri-urban areas facing difficulties to cover their winter heating needs. The amount of cash for heating assistance for solid fuels is 21,000 UAH per household for the whole season, and for heating utilities the amount will be based on government tariffs for each heating source. 

The programmes are aimed to assist low-income households in prioritised areas of Zaporizka, Donetska, Luhanska, Kharkivska and Khersonska oblasts who belong to vulnerable categories and are in these areas at the time of application. 

Step 1: Find out if you are eligible for Cash Assistance from the Estonian Refugee Council

The programmes are currently ongoing in prioritised areas of Zaporizka, Donetska, Luhanska, Kharkivska and Khersonska oblasts and targeting low-income households who belong to vulnerable categories and are in these areas at the time of application. Prioritised vulnerable groups:

• Single parent headed household
• Female-headed household
• Households with pregnant women
• Households with 3 or more children under 18 years of age
• Households with children under 2 years of age 
• Household whose members have a disability of the 1st or 2nd group
• Household whose members need expensive medical treatment or care
• Households of elderly people (60+)
• Household whose dwelling was partially or fully destroyed due to the conflict
• Household with members who were injured or died due to the conflict

Humanitarian cash assistance is provided on the basis of an individual assessment of households, taking into account various socioeconomic and vulnerability criteria. All vulnerabilities must be confirmed by relevant documents. The presence of a category is a prerequisite for participation in the programme, but is not a guarantee of receiving cash assistance. The decision on pre-approval is made on the basis of information provided by the primary applicant representing the household in communication with the Estonian Refugee Council team. The cash assistance is transferred to the bank account indicated by the primary applicant or by another method of your choice (cash collection at bank or post branches).

Rapid MPCA response: Households that have been displaced, mandatory evacuated or directly affected by shelling/rocket attack within the last month can reach out to their local authorities for information on humanitarian organisations working in the area and how to access their support. In this case, one of the above events must be confirmed by relevant documents.

Households receiving similar assistance from other humanitarian organisations will be excluded from the Estonian Refugee Council's assistance programmes. 

Eligible households can receive multi-purpose cash assistance from the Estonian Refugee Council once per year. Exceptions: It is possible to re-apply for multi-purpose cash assistance no earlier than six months after receiving the previous payment if the household has acquired a new vulnerability status at the time of the re-applying. These rules do not apply to highly vulnerable households belonging to categories of rapid MPCA response.

Note: Households can request and receive assistance from other humanitarian organisations after ending the assistance period of three months without the need to wait, subject to the eligibility and selection criteria of each organisation.

Step 2: Register for Cash Assistance