Country
statistics

74 out of 189 in Human Development Index Rating
(UNDP, 2019)

$3,570 average annual salary per person (World Bank, 2020)

7.7 million Ukrainians Displaced across Europe (UNHCR, 2022)

Located in eastern Europe, Ukraine has a population of 43.1 million (Worldometers, 2022). With population concentrations in and around major urban areas of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donets’k Dnipropetrovs’k, and Odesa, 69.8% of individuals live in urban areas, and the population of the capital city, Kyiv, is 3 million.

Ukraine is located in a strategic position at the crossroads between Europe and Asia and is the second largest country in Europe after Russia (CIA Factbook, 2021). 

There are currently more than 7.7 million Ukrainian refugees displaced across Europe, almost 5 million have fled the country since the outbreak of war with Russia in February 2022. 1.4 million are living in Poland. The EU has granted Ukrainians the right to stay and work throughout its 27 member nations for up to three years (UNHCR, 2022).

Ukrainian refugees are entitled to social welfare payments and access to housing, medical treatment and schools (BBC, 2022).

Before the conflict, total homelessness numbers in Ukraine were unknown, as the government only counted those who qualified for aid as homeless (Borgen Project, 2021). 

A persisting problem before the war was the legacy of the “propiska” (registration) system from the Soviet period – if a person loses their place of residence, they are left without any civil, economic, and social rights.

A lack of “propiska” which is both a residency permit and a migration tool (often known as an “internal passport”), results in a person having no entitlement to healthcare, education, employment, and other basic services. Often known as “invisible people,” those without “propiska” are practically non-existent for municipal and state authorities (OCF Way Home).