Welcome to issue 44 of the Call to Comms!

This week, we’re bringing you the latest news from TSF’s Information Diffusion project in Poland. With project advancements and new figures, you’ll be updated on what’s going on for Ukrainian refugees in the Polish centers TSF partners with.

Also this week: UNHCR monitoring report on Ukraine, the 2023 World Refugee Forum and the humanitarian crisis in the DRC.

Providing information for refugees

The situation in the field

Between February and October 2023, 1,700,600 refugees registered for temporary protection in Poland. The majority of them are women, aged between 18 and 59 (39%). As they are forced to leave their homes, many of them lack reliable information: what are their rights and responsibilities as refugees in Poland? Where can they find help?

The project in a few words

The goal of the project is to meet the need for relevant and reliable information for forcibly displaced people. TSF diffuses essential information across accommodation centers in Poland, in which Ukrainians refugees have found temporary shelter. The information includes services and assistance, the rights and responsibilities of Ukrainian citizens in Poland, education in Poland, and more.

The latest advancements to better answer people’s needs

• In Wrocław and Lublin, the centers benefiting from the project have begun to provide content specific to their locations and cities.
• To ensure that people have access to the information and can read it wherever they go, our team has added QR codes to the presentations displayed in shelters. These QR codes lead to the information and even to more extensive presentations.

The mission’s latest figures

Between 5,050 and 7,380 people access essential information every month. In October:

• 58,9% of the population benefiting from the project were girls and women
• 59,8% of people who accessed essential information made an important decision based on this information.
• 61,5% felt safer after accessing the information

“We're just here for a month [in Poland], we're frequently reading information from the screen, and then ask additionally about job opportunities from the personnel.”

- A refugee in Poland.

Listen to our TSF team in Poland explain the project in this short video:

This week’s reads

1- Ukrainian refugees in Europe

• The latest UNHCR monitoring report on Ukraine reveals that almost two years after the start of the war, Ukrainian refugees are still facing difficulties in terms of inclusion and access to national services.
• People with special needs, such as the elderly and people with disabilities, are particularly affected.

2- The Global Refugee Forum 2023

• The current global number of refugees has reached a record number of 36,4 million.
• In this respect, the Global Refugee Forum 2023 will take place mid-December in Geneva, where humanitarian organizations, stakeholders, and other actors, will discuss and commit to common objectives for the upcoming year.
• Several topics are on the agenda, including connectivity, which is a lifeline for displaced communities, helping them to contact their families, access health services and much more.

3- Humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo

• The UNHCR and UNICEF are expressing grave concern over the humanitarian situation in DRC.
• In the last six weeks, fighting has forced over 450,000 people to flee their homes.
• The disruption of roads is hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid and increasing the vulnerability of displaced populations.

See you next week!