To provide psycho-social care for people affected by the war in Ukraine, Malteser International, the humanitarian arm of the Order of Malta, will run mobile support units in Western Ukraine.
Particularly vulnerable groups, such as children and young people, single mothers and people living with disabilities, will be cared for by a team of psychologists at various locations.
Three vans will be converted into social mobiles for children and equipped with support material. In addition, social workers will support the existing Malteser International staff to improve psycho-social care for people affected by the war, and to strengthen social cohesion in the host communities in Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv.
The project was designed by the Order of Malta and the Johanniterorden in Germany, and will be implemented by Malteser International with financial support from all other Johannine Orders. Malteser International have been active in Ukraine since 1990, and local Malteser organisations were founded in several locations. Ongoing activities, some of them have been running for more than 20 years, include soup kitchens, care for people with disabilities, youth work, first aid training and care for children and rehabilitation of injured people. In response to the massive influx of refugees from Easter Ukraine since the Russian invasion, Malteser International has launched various emergency relief activities.
The Orders met in Rome
This and other collaborative projects of the five Orders of St John have been discussed at a recent meeting in Rome, their triennial conference. Our Lord Prior Prof Mark Compton represented St John, together with Chancellor Dr Gillian Willmore and Secretary General Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque.
The next meeting of all mutually recognised Order will take place in London in 2025, hosted by the Most Venerable Order of St John. In the interim, the joint committees will continue to work and meet.
