2022 Ukraine border needs assessment

In March 2022, Crisis Management Association (CMA) was invited to conduct a rapid needs assessment at the Ukrainian borders in Poland and Slovakia, as displacement from Ukraine was increasing rapidly. The mission aimed to assess reception conditions, identify urgent needs, and understand how local systems were responding. Across the sites visited, CMA observed a fast and largely effective response by local authorities, civil society organisations, and grassroots volunteers. Reception structures had been established quickly, with a strong focus on providing immediate support and facilitating onward movement away from border areas.

The assessment found that there was no immediate need for additional international actors to intervene directly. Urgent needs were largely being met, and the response was being led effectively by local stakeholders with the necessary language skills, networks, and contextual knowledge needed to respond quickly and appropriately.

These findings reaffirm CMA’s approach of carrying out targeted needs assessments before launching operations: identifying where support can add value, and where restraint is equally important to avoid duplicating existing efforts. At the same time, the assessment highlighted the importance of continued monitoring, as evolving needs and longer-term challenges may require different forms of support over time.