Right now, Humanity & Inclusion teams—including emergency response, rehabilitation and logistics specialists—are in Ukraine and surrounding countries responding to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Weapons experts are available for media interviews. Please contact [email protected].

Ukraine Crisis - HI Operational Update (May 2022)

Read the latest updates

Send emergency aid to Ukraine

Humanity & Inclusion in Ukraine 

Since the start of a new large-scale conflict in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, intensive bombing of the country’s major cities has resulted in multiple civilian casualties. Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing violence inside the country or taking refuge in neighboring countries.

Humanity & Inclusion's emergency response is underway. Teams in Ukraine & Moldova include experts in rehabilitation, logistics, mental health and psychosocial support, basic needs, and the inclusion of persons with disabilities and older people. 

In addition to providing specialized rehabilitation services, psychosocial support and cash distribution, among other initiatives, Humanity & Inclusion is distributing assistive mobility devices such as wheelchairs, canes and walkers. A mobile mental health team is visiting centers housing displaced people. Humanity & Inclusion is working alongside fellow actors responding to the emergency to help implement inclusive humanitarian aid and ensure that populations experiencing the most vulnerability can access vital resources. In Lviv, our rehabilitation specialists are caring burn victims and patients requiring amputations, as well as training physical therapists on treating conflict-related injuries. In eastern Ukraine, where the needs are greatest, our teams are distributing mobility devices and hygiene supplies.

Humanity & Inclusion previously worked in Ukraine from 2015 through 2017, offering rehabilitation care and promoting access to care for those constrained by conflict.

Prior conflict between government forces and independence movements starting in 2014 in Ukraine resulted in chronic insecurity in several of the country’s regions. The conflict was triggered by mass demonstrations in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities in late 2013, leading to the fall of President Yanukovych in February 2014. Fighting made it difficult for people with disabilities and others to access critical services. Parts of the country are heavily contaminated by landmines.

Our Past Work

Humanity & Inclusion had operations in Ukraine from 2015 through 2017, fostering a culture of dignity, access, and inclusion for ALL people with disabilities.

Read on to learn more about our past work in Ukraine, and consider investing in our future.

Rehabilitation

Humanity & Inclusion provided at-home rehabilitation care to limit the onset of complications from injuries or the functional limitations of older people or people with reduced mobility who had a difficult time accessing care services as a result of the conflict. We also built the capacities of health facilities and care staff and supplies rehabilitation equipment and mobility aids.

Inclusion

The organization worked with other agencies to make sure that people with disabilities and individuals living in situations of extreme hardship could access emergency health services.

Mine risk education

Between October 2015 and February 2016, with the support of UNICEF, Humanity & Inclusion provided risk education on mines and explosive remnants of war to children and teenagers living along the contact line between government forces and independence movements. 

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Humanity & Inclusion has been working alongside children and adults with disabilities, as well as survivors of conflict and natural disaster, day in and day out, for almost 40 years.  

Every day, thousands of our global neighbors set out on their paths toward an independent future. You can help them prepare for whatever comes next: Clear the next minefield. Brace for the next storm. Open the next inclusive classroom. Invest in the next entrepreneur. Advance the next life-changing technology.

$1,000 can help the next budding entrepreneur open their own business
$500 can remove explosive weapons from nearly 2 square miles of land
$300 can shelter a family displaced by disaster or conflict
$150 can gift a custom-fit prosthetic limb to a person in need
$50 can provide a one-month supply of hygiene kits to 10 people

If you would like to make a single gift of less than $10, please contact us by phone at (301) 891-2138 or via email at [email protected]. 

Photo caption: Smiling children run through a refugee settlement in Burkina Faso, pushing one of their friends who uses a wheelchair. Copyright: Olivier Czar Katona/HI

Every gift, whatever the amount, makes a real difference to the lives of people with disabilities around the world. Your gift will be used wherever the need is greatest. Thank you.

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There’s another way to support Humanity & Inclusion for generations to come, without paying a dime now: planning a gift in your will. Through our partnership with FreeWill, it’s easier than ever to join our visionary legacy supporters by creating your legal will and legacy gift for free.

Humanity & Inclusion

Co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, Humanity & Inclusion (the new name of Handicap International) is a 39-year-old independent and impartial aid organization working in situations of poverty, exclusion, conflict and disaster. We work alongside people with disabilities and vulnerable populations, taking action and bearing witness in order to respond to their essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights.

"I never imagined I would be able to walk for more than a mile! I can go to the hospital on my own. I participate in community meetings and my voice is heard."
— Hakim, Uganda

3D printing technology makes artificial limbs and braces more accessible.

Advance technology

"I earn an income from my sewing skills, which helps my family."
— Srey Nuch, Cambodia

Through inclusive livelihood projects, people with disabilities learn new skills and start their own businesses.

Invest in small business owners

"I didn’t know what it was. It was an accident. I picked it up with my right hand, then my left hand, and it exploded."
— Jemerson, Colombia

More than half of the world's countries are contaminated by explosive remnants of war, including landmines and cluster munitions.

Support mine action

"Many people with disabilities in our community are still deprived of their rights and the support they need to gain their independence. They need access to education, which can be life-changing for them."
— Rabina, Nepal

32 million children with disabilities are not enrolled in school worldwide.

Promote inclusive education

"The walls swayed back and forth and I started to run. I knew immediately that it was an earthquake."
— Oscar, Haiti

The rate of natural disaster occurrence is five times higher today than it was 50 years ago.

Bolster emergency response

Help us prepare for what comes next

Humanity & Inclusion has been working alongside children and adults with disabilities, as well as survivors of conflict and natural disaster, day in and day out, for almost 40 years.  

Every day, thousands of our global neighbors set out on their paths toward an independent future. You can help them prepare for whatever comes next: Clear the next minefield. Brace for the next storm. Open the next inclusive classroom.  

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti on August 14, 2021. More than 2,200 people died and at least 12,700 were injured. The quake damaged at least 137,000 homes, as well as churches, bridges, piers, and other infrastructure. Humanity & Inclusion's emergency team is delivering critical aid, providing rehabilitation care and helping communities rebuild.

As Humanity & Inclusion teams respond to the disaster, we’ll share key updates here:

Haiti Updates Intro
Posted by ron smith · August 12, 2025 12:39 PM

Haiti | Earthquake survivor receives rehabilitation, psychosocial support
Posted by Elizabeth Johnson Sellers · November 17, 2022 11:19 AM

Haiti | One year after the earthquake, HI continues to support survivors
Posted by Elizabeth Johnson Sellers · August 11, 2022 12:00 AM

USAID: Haiti Earthquake Emergency: How you can help

Image: People search the rubble of a destroyed hotel after the August 14, 2021, earthquake in Haiti. Copyright: Stanley Louis/AFP

Blog: After 7.2-magnitude earthquake, Humanity & Inclusion mobilizes emergency teams

CNN Impact: Haiti earthquake relief help list

Update from HI Program Director: 

"Access is a major concern at this point for our team and Atlas logistics. The departmental road #7, which connects the Grand Anse to the South has been completely blocked by landslides following the earthquake. Any roadway movement between the two departments is essentially impossible until it's been cleared, delaying important aid to the most affected areas." - Agathe Lo Presti, Humanity & Inclusion Program Director, Haiti

Salam was injured by a cluster munition in Syria in 2015. Booby traps, improvised landmines and explosive remnants heavily contaminate Syria. Children are particularly exposed.

One day in October 2015, 5-year-old Salam was in the field with her family picking ripe olives when she noticed a strange piece of metal on the ground. She thought she might be able to use it to carve pictures on rocks. It was a bomb.

The cluster munition had been thrown from an aircraft during the Syria conflict and, by design, had not exploded on impact but would when touched. It was the kind of bomblet that tends to explode diagonally.

The explosion killed Salam’s little brother, who was carrying water back from the well, instantly. Salam, her parent, and four other siblings were also injured. 

The Red Cross rushed Salam to a medical facility in Jordan for emergency surgery. Her left leg and a toe on her right foot were amputated.

A long path to recovery 

Salam was first assessed by Humanity & Inclusion in 2015 in the Za’atri refugee camp in Jordan, near the Syrian border. Separated from her parents in Syria, the young girl spent months alone until relatives living in Jordan were found. 

After surgery, Salam worked closely with a Humanity & Inclusion physical therapist and a psychosocial support worker. To strengthen her injured right leg, Salam began to walk with the help of a frame. Then, she learned to walk with an artificial limb. Five years later, Salam’s prosthetic leg is routinely replaced as she continues to grow.

Salam experienced significant psychological trauma, becoming extremely timid and self-conscious after the blast. She refused to play with other children. Through occupational therapy and psychosocial support, Humanity & Inclusion helped Salam rebuild her confidence and encouraged her to interact with others.

Her new life in Jordan

Salam’s Jordanian relatives welcomed her and continue to take care of her. She now lives in Irbid with an extended family of 10 adopted brothers and sisters. She attends school, where she works hard and is frequently top of her class. She loves drawing princesses. Her adoptive father is grateful for Humanity & Inclusion’s support.

“We used to carry her to school before receiving the prosthetic leg and now she can easily walk to go to school,” he says. He has also seen a big difference in Salam’s confidence and happiness when playing with friends.

Salam dreams of becoming a doctor when she grows up and says she would love to make artificial limbs for other children.

Back in Syria 

Too traumatized by what happened, Salam does not want to return to Syria, even to reunite with her parents and siblings. Her birth family believes she has better access to treatment and education in Jordan.

March 15 marks 10 years in conflict in Syria. Over the last decade, explosive weapons have been massively used in populated areas contaminating land across the country. Major cities like Raqqa, Aleppo and Homs have been destroyed by large-scale and intense bombing. Many of these weapons leave dangerous remnants or fail to explode on impact, remaining dangerous years after combat. 

Today, 11.5 million people in Syria live in areas contaminated by explosive hazards.

Between 2011 and 2018 there were 79,206 recorded casualties from explosive weapons, 87% of which were civilians. While all population groups are at risk, children - especially boys, agricultural workers and people on the move are particularly vulnerable to being injured or killed by an anti-personnel landmine or explosive remnant of war.

Humanity & Inclusion and the Syria crisis

Since the organization began its response to the Syria crisis in 2012, Humanity & Inclusion has helped 1.8 million Syrians in six countries through emergency rehabilitation, psychological support, and supplying prosthetics and other assistive devices. As of December 2020, Humanity & Inclusion provided 14,000 prosthetics or orthotics to Syrians and conducted rehabilitation sessions with 180,000 people. Learn more about our work and the Syria crisis.

Header image: A young girl named Salam smiles at her home in Jordan. Her leg is amputated. She is a Syrian refugee.

Inline image: Salam sits on a table while a physical therapist fits her with a new prosthetic leg at a rehabilitation center in Jordan.

Imagine the joy of a child who stands up on their own for the first time!

$55 can provide a pair of crutches to a child in need.

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