About Première Urgence Internationale

Première Urgence Internationale (PUI) aims to help populations affected by humanitarian crises by equipping them with the skills to take their futures back in their own hands. Their approach is to respond to the basic needs of people who were impacted by natural disasters, wars and situations of economic collapse and support them in such a way that they are enabled to regain autonomy and dignity. Worldwide, they support six million people over 150 projects in 24 countries. PUI takes an integrated approach operating across sectors to provide health, nutrition, food security, WASH, education, protection, livelihood, camp management and other services to establish a sustainable combination of solutions.

Première Urgence Internationale in action

A key component of PUI’s work is to raise awareness of prolonged humanitarian crises that have been largely forgotten by the media and thus risk insufficient financial support to meet the needs of the affected population. One such crisis is the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, which will soon mark the seventh year since the start of the conflict and has left 3.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. The presence of heavy weapons and regular clashes around the Contact Line has reduced the functioning of and access to essential health services, including mental health and psychosocial support services. “With the emergence of COVID-19 last year, the Ukraine Health Cluster looked to partners such as PUI to leverage existing projects in the collective response” shared Ukraine Health Cluster Coordinator, Emanuele Bruni, continuing “by participating in Health Cluster harmonized assessments of COVID-19 hospitals in zones where they already work, supporting personal protective equipment distribution and regularly sharing back information, PUI was an invaluable partner in both responding to COVID-19 and in maintaining essential health services in Ukraine.” 

Since 2015, PUI has provided emergency health care in Ukraine, aiming to strengthen access to quality health services for people affected by the conflict, particularly in rural and remote areas where access is very complex. At four entry-exit crossing points (EECPs) in Donetsk, PUI provided first aid services to people crossing the Contact Line. The pandemic and the difficulty reaching individuals in non-government-controlled areas led PUI to reimagine a successful cash voucher program that began in 2015 aiming to remove economic barriers to accessing lifesaving medicines around the Contact Line. As of 2021, all partnered health centers and pharmacies have received the equipment and training necessary to transition to an electronic voucher system. Doctors can now prescribe medicines and provide a coupon in the form of a QR code to patients, which can be presented at their local pharmacy in exchange for free access to their medicines. PUI then reimburses the pharmacies based on list of coupons redeemed. PUI actively engages in multi-sectoral coordination mechanisms at both national and sub-national levels, particularly with Health and WASH Clusters.   

As part of their advocacy work, PUI has collaborated with Sergey Korovayny, a native of Donbass Region, to produce an exhibition entitled Ukraine: faces of conflict, featuring documentary videos and photo portraits of people living in PUI-supported hospitals and mercy homes.  The purpose of the project was to raise awareness about the conflict, illustrate what it means to live close to the Contact Line and to highlight how COVID-19 has further exacerbated the situation in Eastern Ukraine. This project was completed with the support of the European Union through European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

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