Experiences from Ukraine's volunteers - Organizing and coordinating civil society's voluntary efforts to support war-affected citizens
Publish date: 2026-09-11
Report number: FOI-R--5791--SE
Pages: 39
Written in: Swedish
Keywords:
- Ukraine
- civil society
- volunteers
- coordination
- communication
- organising
- civil defence
Abstract
The report describes how a few voluntary actors have organized and coordinated support efforts for war-affected citizens in Ukraine, based on an interview study conducted in the fall of 2024 with six Ukrainian NGOs. The findings show that existing organizations have reoriented operations towards war-related needs and that new organizations have been established as a result of Russia's full-scale invasion. Two distinct coordination practices have been identified. The organizations regularly participate in formal coordination clusters to exchange information on needs and available resources. Support efforts are coordinated through informal contacts in temporary chat groups via digital platforms such as Whatsapp, Telegram, and Signal. The study shows that Ukrainians' practices of self-organization through personal networks enables rapid and flexible response to highly dynamic conditions. A low degree of formal organizations simultaneously entails challenges in terms of endurance, resource provision, and cooperation with international aid organizations. New actors have therefore emerged with the aim of bridging flexible and more established organizations. Finally, the study discusses how to plan for the inclusion of volunteers in Swedish civil defense. The discussion shows that the results support previous research, which suggests that volunteer planning should focus on communication and coordination based on existing social and organizational structures.