East SOS Held a Discussion Event Ahead of the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) in Brussels

On January 28, 2026, East SOS, together with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Stabilization Support Services, organized a discussion event ahead of the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) in Brussels.

Yevheniia Tkachuk, Board Member and Call Center and Evacuation Coordinator at East SOS, and Kseniia Lisna, Coordinator of the Partnerships and Fundraising Department at East SOS, took part in the SOM preparatory meeting. The discussion brought together Rigmor Elianne Skjeie Koti, Norwegian Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs in Ukraine; Marit Glad, Director of NRC Ukraine; and Joachim Giaminardi, Advocacy Manager at NRC Ukraine. The event was also attended by representatives of the embassies and ministries of foreign affairs of Norway, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the United States, as well as representatives of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO).

Yevheniia Tkachuk outlined four key messages:

• the support cycle must go beyond evacuation from danger and include sustained assistance in finding safe, long-term housing;
• there is a need for dedicated, systematic attention to the specific needs of people with limited mobility;
• it is essential to fund support programs in host communities where evacuees are resettled. Caring for people and supporting their integration into these communities is key to preventing returns to frontline areas;
• people from temporarily occupied territories (TOT) have no access to humanitarian services and can only receive information support on the evacuation route. After reaching government-controlled territory, they often still face limited access to humanitarian programs.

Since 2022, the East SOS team has built a comprehensive evacuation cycle. We receive requests through the Call Center, inform residents of frontline communities about evacuation procedures, and meet evacuees at transit centers, where they receive support from psychologists, lawyers, and social workers. Special attention is given to lonely older adults and people with disabilities. The Foundation helps them find temporary and long-term accommodation and repairs temporary housing and residential care facilities to ensure decent living conditions for those forced to leave their homes.

“Today, the need for evacuation remains consistently high: the enemy continues devastating shelling and active offensives in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia directions. Previously, areas within 20 kilometers of the frontline were considered relatively safe, and evacuation teams operated just 2–5 kilometers from active hostilities. Now, however, drone attacks are recorded at distances of up to 50 kilometers,” noted Yevheniia Tkachuk.

Lonely older adults often delay evacuation, refuse to leave, or even return to dangerous areas. They are afraid of uncertainty – where they will live, how they will support themselves, and whether they will be able to rebuild their lives in a new place.

Ukraine needs comprehensive support that combines humanitarian assistance with recovery and resilience-building programs. It is essential for donors to align on a shared approach to funding evacuation from frontline areas, including proper care and protection for humanitarian staff. Equally important is sustained funding for programs that offer long-term solutions for IDPs and provide adequate support to people from the TOT. This approach is key to their safe integration and to ensuring the social stability of Ukraine as a whole.

Recently, the Coalition of Human Rights Organizations presented the List of Support Programs for Internally Displaced Persons in Kyiv.