Volunteer hub helps 400,000 Ukrainians make a difference

An online volunteer platform is connecting 400,000 Ukrainians with voluntary opportunities, as war continues to cause displacement and suffering across the country.  

The Volunteer Platform, which was first launched back in March 2021, helps volunteers to search from over 1,150 volunteer opportunities. The platform currently unites more than 400,000 users with over 500 organisations and local initiatives. 

The platform was launched by the Ukrainian Volunteer Service, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the IT company SoftServe, with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. 

“Since the war began, the Volunteer Platform has played an important role in volunteer mobilisation, with user numbers increasing three times in the first months of the hostilities,” says UNICEF Ukraine Representative Murat Sahin. “Thanks to this platform, it has been possible to link those who were in need of assistance and those who could help.”

Our priorities include psychological support for youth – particularly volunteers – provision of financial resources including mentorship , skills for resilience and burnout prevention.”

According to U-Report, a social messaging tool and data collection system developed by UNICEF, 38 per cent per cent of young people surveyed in Ukraine indicated that they volunteer. Half of them say they started volunteering after the war escalated on 24^th February and dedicate more time to volunteering than before.

During the first few days of the war, the Ukrainian Volunteer Service improved the platform so that volunteers could easily see the types of aid that were urgently needed. Helping displaced people, finding medicines and products, assisting with transportation and connectivity are the main areas in which young people are involved.

“Our task as one of the representatives of the public sector is to create conditions in Ukraine for young people to have the opportunity both for self-fulfilment and for the development of their country,” says Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Maryna Popatenko. “It is volunteering that contributes to this. The National Volunteer Platform showed how much Ukrainians are ready to support each other through volunteering.”

“In over one hundred days of full-scale war, Ukrainians have proved that we know how to mobilise and act quickly, even in the most difficult situations,” says Anna Bondarenko, head of Ukrainian Volunteer Service. “In one night, the entire country united around the common goal of saving as many lives as possible. Teenagers, entrepreneurs, artists, civil servants – everybody has found their place in the aid ecosystem.”

Getting started with volunteering is easy and anyone can do it. Just follow the link and find your next opportunity: https://platforma.volunteer.country