Charitable Organization "Charity Foundation "East-SOS"

The Charitable organization "Charity foundation "East-SOS", more commonly known as Vostok-SOS is a non-governmental organization that works to provide comprehensive assistance to internally displaced persons and to people affected by the military conflict in eastern Ukraine. Its activities are aimed at strengthening the civil society, promoting human rights, democratic changes and the rule of law in the eastern region of Ukraine and in the country as a whole. Vostok-SOS started as one of the first volunteer civil initiatives in May 2014 by activists of Luhansk Human Rights Center “Postup”, Crimean Human Rights Center “Diya” and the Civil Sector of Luhansk EuroMaidan. The volunteers began providing assistance to victims of the military conflict in the east of the country and in Crimea. They helped find shelter to IDPs, assisted in the evacuation of people, collected and distributed humanitarian aid to IDPs, and provided psychological first aid. Members of Vostok-SOS participated in the search, release and rehabilitation of victims of abductions, monitored and documented human rights violations and reported on the situation in the east. Vostok-SOS has an office in Kyiv and in Severodonetsk. Activities today include: • legal counseling and assistance • humanitarian aid • educational activities, human rights • social and psychological support • documenting human rights violations • law enforcement monitoring • advocacy • improvement of the Ukrainian legislation on a regional and national level • media coverage of the situation in eastern of Ukraine. Vostok-SOS has implemented both small- and large-scale projects in collaboration with various governmental, non-governmental organizations and UN agencies. During the six years of work, the team has established its strong presence in the eastern regions and gained the trust of the local population and the local authorities as a reliable, trustworthy and competent organization.