Lessons Learned Report - Emergency Appeal for Ukraine and Impacted Countries: Croatian Red Cross (May 2026)

Countries: Croatia, Ukraine Sources: Croatian Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Please refer to the attached file. Context Following the escalation of the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine on 24 February 2022, many people were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in other parts of Ukraine or in other European countries, including Croatia. Displaced people from Ukraine began arriving in Croatia on 25 February 2022, with the number of arrivals steadily increasing thereafter. By 29 December 2025, a total of 32,605 displaced people from Ukraine had been registered by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Croatia and were granted temporary protection status. In line with its humanitarian mandate and as part of the civil protection system, the Croatian Red Cross (CRC) immediately began responding to the needs of displaced people from Ukraine. At the peak of the response, 105 local branches supported displaced people across 427 locations nationwide, including towns, municipalities, collective centres and private accommodation. This scale of assistance required the mobilisation of more than 400 local staff, over 700 volunteers and 20 personnel from the CRC headquarters. The CRC provided food and non-food items (NFI), hygiene items, cash and voucher assistance (CVA), mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), restoring family links (RFL) services, protection, gender and inclusion (PGI) activities, community engagement and accountability (CEA), water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support and information on available assistance in Croatia and referrals to relevant institutions when needed. During the initial phase of the response, CRC local branches organized and managed distributions and participated in the organiz...

Original source: Relief Web