Bridging the Gap: RedR’s Approach to Humanitarian Training in Ukraine
Dr. Noorullah Kuchai
RedR UK’s Senior Programmes Coordinator, Dr. Noorullah Kuchai, spoke about RedR’s impact and mission at our recent Annual Reception. Focusing on RedR’s work in Ukraine, Dr. Kuchai shared moving examples of how we are equipping local responders with the tools and knowledge to lead recovery efforts on their own terms. His remarks highlighted the urgent need for locally led responses and the importance of shifting power to those closest to the crisis Read his full speech below.
The world is facing an era of compounding crises. The demand for humanitarian assistance is escalating, while resources are shrinking. In this landscape, the effectiveness of the response is not just important – it is vital. And this is where RedR’s work truly matters. Tonight, I’d like to share with you two specific examples of how we put our mission into action through our response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
Nearly 3 years ago, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine leading to a devastating impact on Ukrainians causing massive civilian casualties and the destruction of infrastructure. Resulting in millions being in need of humanitarian assistance – including more than 2 million children.
Within just two months, RedR responded by designing and delivering 27 training sessions to 360 humanitarian responders. We then continued to expand our reach, ultimately training more than 6,000 Ukrainians. These were individuals supporting communities under extraordinary pressure.
Our trainings equipped them with tools & skills to respond more effectively, covering topics such as humanitarian principles, blast-induced damage assessment, repair methods, retrofitting technologies and more.
We trained local people, so the knowledge stays there.
We hired and mentored local Ukrainian trainers. We delivered trainings and produced resources in Ukrainian. And we rooted the training contents in the reality of the situation in Ukraine, drawing on local case studies and Ukrainian building standards to make our trainings relevant and immediately applicable in the field. And this local capacity strengthening is hugely important.
War is ugly, it destroys both the built environment and human capital, while many focus on rebuilding physical infrastructure, the human capital gap that is created by war is often forgotten. This is where RedR’s work comes in – bridging the human capital gap by training local humanitarian responders.
Recently the Mayor of Mykolaiv has communicated with us that “capacity strengthening” is one of their key needs. We have grouped up with our industry engineering partners in the UK and the Engineering Without Borders to train local professionals to support the safe return of displaced communities.
In response to the acute shortage of qualified experts – damage assessors – we will train Ukrainian engineers and university lecturers. These lecturers will then train future generation engineers, thereby enhancing long-term in-country capacity.
In one example shared by Engineers Without Borders, 750 children were not able to go to school because there was not enough capacity to determine whether their school building, which had been partially damaged by a missile strike, was safe to use or not. So, its not only the immediate impact of the destruction being caused, but the longer-term impact on the entire community which is also affected. In this way, our training on damage assessment unlock the capacity of more professionals to carry out “safe-building entry checks”, and in this case, hopefully to get those 750 children back into school.
This initiative addresses critical societal challenges caused by war, including widespread displacement and infrastructure damage that compromise safety, health, and dignity. By equipping engineers and educators with essential skills, the project supports recovery efforts and promotes the reconstruction of built infrastructure.
Our training strengthen the quality of the humanitarian response. It enhances local ownership. And ultimately, it saves lives.
And crucially, we could not have done any of this alone.
The speed and scale of our Ukraine response—and our ongoing work in conflict and climate-affected areas—has been driven by RedR’s core mission: uniting diverse expertise across humanitarian and private sectors to empower and train local responders for more effective, locally led humanitarian action in an increasingly complex world.
That is why this work matters. And that is why your continued support matters.
Read our strategy here.
