Phase 1

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Protection and Assistance to Vulnerable Migrants

Project completed
The project aims to reduce vulnerabilities of forcibly displaced populations from Ukraine in Moldova. It focuses on strengthening protection services with regard to counter-trafficking at central and local levels and aims at enhancing system-wide protection response capacities and ensuring community-level integration. Further, it enhances social cohesion at local level by mitigating vulnerabilities and reducing protection risks, thus, contributing to a strengthened triple nexus in line with the priorities of Switzerland.

Country/region	Topic	Period	Budget
Moldova	Emergency Relief and Protection Protection, access & security	15.11.2022 - 14.11.2023	CHF 900’000

The project in brief

Background	Since 24 February 2022, following the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, a large number of refugees from Ukraine came in a rapid wave to the neighbouring countries. In April 2022, the amplitude of the refugee movement dimished, but the inflow of refugees continued at a stable rate. Since the start of the conflict, it is now estimated that 608’806 persons entered Moldova from Ukraine (556’701 Ukrainians and 52,105 third-country nationals (TCNs)). Of those, almost 100’000 persons, including some 40’000 children, currently remain in Moldova. The majority of refugees - 96%, stay within the hosting community, while around 4% are placed in accommodation centres. The potential for violence, exploitation and abuse – including trafficking in persons (TiP), sexual and genderbased violence (SGBV), violence against or neglect of children and violence against persons with disabilities – is high among those who fled Ukraine. There have been few cases of TiP identified at borders since the start of the war (in Romania and Poland), and dozens more suspected cases that are being investigated. Instances of SGBV and women going missing have been reported, while trafficking was already a phenomenon in Ukraine and surrounding countries before the war. The majority of those fleeing Ukraine are women and children who experienced family separation. This has increased the vulnerability to violence, exploitation and abuse among female-headed households, which have often care responsibilities for children and elderly relatives and seek to meet urgent needs such as shelter, transport, and food.
Objectives	To reduce the vulnerability of Ukrainian refugees and Third Country Nationals (TCNs) in the Republic of Moldova and to diminish the division between refugees, TCNs and host communities.
Target groups	The project targets 13’640 Ukrainian refugees, TCNs, vulnerable host community residents in Balti, Comrat, Cahul, Chisinau, and the Transnistrian region.
Medium-term outcomes	Outcome 1: The refugees and TCNs profit from improved service delivery of the national protection systems. Outcome 2: The refugees, TCNs and host communities benefit from strengthened social cohesion.
Results	Expected results: Output 1.1: National protection authorities are provided with technical expertise in identifying and protecting victims of crime Output 1.2: Effective engagement of civil society in the delivery of protection response is facilitated Output 2.1: Community engagement opportunities for refugees, TCNs, and vulnerable local residents are provided
Directorate/federal office responsible	SDC
Project partners	Contract partner United Nations Organization (UNO) International Organisation for Migration
Coordination with other projects and actors	Coordination with interventions of the following organisations: UN Women, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Budget	Current phase Swiss budget CHF 900’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF 900’000 Budget inclusive project partner CHF 18’000’000 Total project since first phase Budget inclusive project partner CHF 900’000
Project phases	Phase 1 15.11.2022 - 14.11.2023 (Completed)

Further technical details

Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	Material relief assistance and services
Cross-cutting topics	Crisis prevention
Aid Type	Project and programme contribution
Project number	7F11059