AWO International e.V.

AWO International is the professional association of the Arbeiterwohlfahrt for humanitarian aid and development cooperation. Together with local partner organizations we carry out projects to strengthen disadvantaged people. Help for self-help is the concept, sustainable development the goal. AWO International e.V. has signed the self-commitment declaration of the “Transparent Civil Society Initiative”. In close cooperation with local non-governmental organizations, AWO International is working to ensure that disadvantaged people can sustainably improve their living conditions. AWO International supports people in developing their own perspectives on life. The aim is to strengthen the social structures in which people operate at various levels so that they can actively participate in political and social processes. In the event of disasters, the organisation provides humanitarian emergency aid and support reconstruction. Disaster preparedness programs are playing an increasingly important role. In Ukraine, AWO International supports emergency aid together with Ukrainian partner organisations. The joint projects include aid deliveries to various Ukrainian cities, as well as shelter and psychosocial support for internally displaced persons. The work also focuses on the reconstruction and professional equipment of social institutions such as schools and women’s shelters.

In the Skills Alliance for Ukraine, AWO International e.V. is represented with three projects:

• Building Resilience and Advancing Vulnerable Persons and Entities in South of Ukraine (BRAVE), through which project participants receive retraining, vocational training and support in implementing business ideas. 4 re-/upskilling hubs renovated and equipped. Women, people with disabilities or war-related trauma, young people, IDPs and other vulnerable target groups will benefit from qualitative psycho-social services and vocational training opportunities in the repaired basic infrastructure and have improved economic and social living conditions;

• Strengthening the resilience of vulnerable households and war affected communities through community-driven recovery in Bucha Rajon, where project participants receive retraining, vocational training and support in implementing business ideas, and through which 3 re-/upskilling hubs are renovated and equipped. Vulnerable persons from Buchanskiy district of Kyivska oblast (Butcha, Irpin, Makariv) will increase income security and improved wellbeing as individuals and communities. They will set up, develop and resume their business activities and become self-employed or have found a (new) job on the basis of further education and training; and

• Improving social cohesion, economic and psychological resilience of the affected population of Vyshgorod district of Kyiv region, where project participants receive retraining, vocational training and support in implementing business ideas. 2 re-/upskilling hubs renovated and equipped. The project aims to enhance the self-sustainability of local social structures and strengthen the economic and social well-being of individuals, with a particular focus on women. By improving access to income-generating opportunities, fostering social inclusion, and providing support services, the project seeks to empower beneficiaries and contribute to long-term community resilience.