A top Irish charity has opened new support offices in Ukraine with Government grants.
GOAL has announced that they have invested in a staff to provide legal and psychological services operating out of the city of Lviv.
The charity recently received €500,000 in funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs, which enabled them to establish the new Ukrainian base.
The funding from the department’s Irish Aid division will provide “intervention focused on legal aid and mental health and psychological support services to internally displaced Ukrainians.”
GOAL’s Director of External Affairs, Mary Van Lieshout, added: "OCHA (UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) estimates that there are now eight million internally displaced people in Ukraine.
“Protection risks, including human trafficking and exploitation, have to now be at the fore of the humanitarian response.
“Family separation is a key concern and groups at heightened risk include unaccompanied and separated children, young girls, older persons and those with disabilities and with chronic health conditions.
"There is an overwhelming need to offer protection to these vulnerable groups, in this volatile and fast becoming an entrenched conflict and crisis in Ukraine.
“The legal and rights-based advice that GOAL will offer in partnership with Right to Protection, will ensure that internally displaced people are aware of their entitlements, protections and where to access critical services.
“Access to sexual and reproductive health services, and mental health and psychological support services in such settings is also critical.”
The new Ukraine Response Director is Khatuna Murgulia and she will now lead GOAL operations in Ukraine.
Ms Murgulia started in her new role last month and before joining GOAL, Khatuna (a Ukrainian who also speaks Russian, Georgian and English) was Country Director for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Office in Kyiv and before that again she was with OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe).
At OSCE, Khatuna worked in various operational and monitoring type roles in OSCE offices in Kyiv, and Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine and in Kharkiv and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine.
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
