Geneva/New York, February 15 – With the Russia-led war in Ukraine entering a second year, the United Nations and humanitarian partners are appealing for $5.6 billion to help more than 15 million people affected by the war in 11 countries.
Two main programs are under way to assist those people since Russian troops invaded Ukraine last February 24, working with the U.N. office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
OCHA said (1) the Humanitarian Response Plan for Ukraine, with more than 650 partners most of them Ukrainian organizations, called for $3.9 billion to reach 11.1 million people with food, health care, cash and other life-saving assistance.
It said (2) the Refugee Response Plan (RRP) for refugees from Ukraine needs $1.7 billion for 10 countries hosting refugee host countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The RRP has some 250 partners that are helping 4.2 million Ukrainian refugees and communities in countries hosting them.
“Almost a year on, the war continues to cause death, destruction and displacement daily, and on a staggering scale,” said Martin Griffiths, the Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
“We will continue to prioritize assistance to people who need it most and to support local authorities and civil-society organizations, whose dedication has been inspiring,” he added. “We must do all we can to reach the hardest-to-reach communities, including those close to the front line. The suffering of the Ukrainian people is far from over – they continue to need international support.”
Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said, “The response in host countries to the Ukraine emergency has been remarkable, with strong state leadership, an outpouring of solidarity by host communities as well as the extraordinary work done by civil society, particularly local NGOs, and refugee-led and community-based organizations.”
“Europe has proven capable of bold, collective action to help refugees”, Grandi added. “Refugees have not only been welcomed, but temporary protection arrangements have provided refugees with the right to work, access services and to be included in national systems. We must not, however, take this response, or the hospitality of host communities, for granted. Continued international support and solidary is needed, until refugees are able to return to their homes in safety and dignity, which must also remain a priority.”
OCHA said in a press release that RRP partners have reached millions of refugees from Ukraine “with protection and assistance,” including over 609,000 children who benefited from child protection services. It said 1 million refugees received in-kind support and over 885,000 people received urgent cash assistance to cover their basic needs.
It said the new fundings will enable partners inside Ukraine and refugee host countries to reach millions of people with protection services. Those services include mental health and psychosocial support, child protection and gender-based violence prevention and response, shelter support, supplies for basic needs, and cash assistance. (by J. Tuyet Nguyen)
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