Measuring Impact in Time of Crisis - Effective Partnerships

ISSA Member: International Step by Step Association ISSA, partners and members, International

What happened?
Facing an immediate need for culturally relevant reading materials, ISSA partnered with Save the Children and Amazon to distribute Ukrainian-language storybooks to refugee children across Ukraine, Poland, and Romania.

What was needed? How did they respond?
Young Ukrainian refugee children needed access to expressive and comforting content that supported early literacy and emotional well-being in their own language. To address this, ISSA’s Reading Corner series (three Ukrainian-language books) was reproduced and distributed in large quantities. Amazon handled printing and logistics, while Save the Children and ISSA’s Members carried out distribution in the field.

Key challenges:

• There was a shortage of age-appropriate Ukrainian-language books in countries receiving refugees.
• Getting resources into countries rapidly and equitably posed logistical challenges.

Solutions:

• ISSA leveraged its own Reading Corner series in Ukrainian.
• Amazon efficiently managed printing and shipping.
• Save the Children and ISSA members in Poland, Romania, and Ukraine distributed 195,000 copies of the books across the region.
  
  This partnership integrated Amazon’s logistical capacity, ISSA’s educational content and network, and Save the Children’s distribution presence, ensuring effective and timely access to critical resources. Children received storybooks in safe spaces like home, refugee centres, or kindergartens, helping maintain continuity in learning and play.
  
  ISSA’s network enabled rapid implementation through trusted, local Members, including the Comenius Foundation for Child Development in Poland, Transcarpathian Regional Charitable Fund Blaho in Ukraine, and Step by Step Center for Education and Professional Development in Romania, ensuring both broad reach and local relevance.

What's in place? What's missing?
This partnership exemplifies how combining unique strengths, educational content, logistical reach, and field presence creates powerful and immediate impact. It also shows why establishing formal channels for such cooperation is critical to ensure continuity of support when emergencies strike.

Being part of a regional network: Advantages of ISSA membership
Being part of ISSA enabled this initiative to move from concept to reality in record time by connecting global partners with trusted local members. The network amplified reach, ensured cultural and contextual adaptation, and turned a corporate–civil society partnership into a regional safety net for children. It demonstrates the power of ISSA as a platform where resources, logistics, and expertise converge to protect learning and well-being in emergencies.

Recommendations

National policymakers:
Governments should facilitate fast-track import and distribution channels for educational materials in refugee languages during crises. By creating contingency protocols and partnerships with publishers and NGOs, they can ensure that culturally relevant books and learning resources reach children quickly and equitably.

Local/national actors
Local actors can strengthen impact by identifying distribution points (schools, libraries, hubs, refugee centres) and ensuring that Ukrainian-language resources are integrated into daily educational and psychosocial activities. Collaboration with local schools and kindergartens ensures these materials are not only delivered but also used effectively to support children’s emotional and literacy needs.

Private donors
Donors and corporate partners can play a critical role by supporting printing, translation, and logistics at scale. Strategic funding can guarantee that every child has access to culturally resonant books, while corporate logistical expertise (such as Amazon’s example) can significantly reduce time and cost in delivery.

Professionals/practitioners
Teachers, caregivers, and social workers can use Ukrainian-language storybooks as tools for both literacy development and emotional healing. Storytime activities, group reading, and parental involvement can strengthen the sense of safety and belonging for children navigating displacement, while also bridging them gradually into host country language learning.

Explore Further:
Amazon, ISSA, and Save the Children partner to distribute story books in Ukrainian | ISSA

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