Attachments
Key figures
- 172,475 refugees obtained temporary protection in Romania (as of 30 September 2024).
- 16,314 refugees enrolled for cash assistance in 2024.
- 20,658 refugees provided with protection counselling services and legal support since January 2024.
- 8,266 refugees supported with livelihood and employment services since January 2024.
Highlights
On 22 and 23 October, UNHCR together with partners hosted the visit of a large private sector delegation led by Adyen, which is a major UNHCR. During the two days 14 managers from Adyen, Adidas, Spotify, Sphera and Wolt got acquainted with UNHCR’s Romania operation around the topic of preduring-post emergency. They visited RomExpo, UNHCR’s service hub for refugees where they interacted with refugees from Ukraine around thematic groups, accompanied by partners such as World Vision, Jobs4Ukraine, Sensiblu, Romanian National Council for Refugees (CNRR) and Estuar Foundation. The delegation witnessed the strength and resilience of refugee women in Bucharest that benefit from the refugee-led organization Malva and learned about UNHCR’s protection programmes for the most vulnerable refugees, including through Terre des Hommes.
On 24 October, UNHCR Representative, Pablo Zapata visited the Nicolina centre in Iași to hold a discussion with elderly and vulnerable refugees hosted there by partner FONSS, met with the Mayor of Iasi, Mr Mihai Chirica and attended the opening of the Trilateral Economic Forum for Business and the reconstruction of Ukraine event. During the visit, UNHCR Representative learned the difficulties faced by these Ukrainian refugees at Nicolina centre and discussed about UNHCR’s programmes for 2024 and 2025. During the meeting with the Mayor, talks included topics such as the inclusion of refugees in hist communities, and UNHCR’s support for winter.
Response
On 22 October, UNHCR, in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) and CNRR, held a networking event for elderly Ukrainian refugees in Galati. Some 15 participants took part in an awareness session on access to medical services and on the different services and types of assistance available in the area for them. Moreover, to contribute to the social cohesion of the participants, the event ended with a movie screening.
On 25 October, UNHCR and Sensiblu Foundation hosted an event in light of the Orange Day campaign, highlighting issues relevant to preventing and ending violence against women and girls in Constanta. The event counted with the presence of 15 refugee women to express their thoughts, emotions, and experiences through painting.
This week, UNHCR, together with World Vision and Project Voyager, organised a focus group discussion with refugees from Ukraine on livelihoods and economic inclusion at RomExpo. During the session, refugees from Ukraine, discussed about the challenges of finding employment in Romania. Among those present, some refugees benefitted of UNHCR’s entrepreneurship grants (on education, beauty industry and constructions) and shared their experiences in opening a business in the country.