USD 316 million requested to assist 3.2 million vulnerable people

Kyiv, 24 February 2015 - The Humanitarian Community launched the Humanitarian Response Plan 2015 for Ukraine today.

The plan targets 3.2 million of the most vulnerable people of the five million estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance across the country. The plan appeals to the international community to generously fund the USD 316 million required to carry out a wide range of life-saving interventions including food and household item distribution, healthcare, psychosocial care, shelter, warm clothing, and basic education.

“Since January 2015 the needs intensified in Ukraine. The lives and dignity of people in conflict areas are seriously at risk. The community response has been incredible and crucial, but the crisis is beyond local capacities. It is estimated that more than one million people are displaced countrywide, and two million people still reside in contested areas, of which some half million are in underground shelters with little or no facilities. All need support as access to services is curtailed. In many locations, the local capacity to respond is overstretched,” - said Neal Walker, Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine.

"The Government of Ukraine provides people forced to flee their homes in eastern Ukraine with temporary housing and targeted financial assistance, and is taking steps to meet the basic needs of displaced people - said Hennadiy Zubko, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities. - The government also proposed to parliament amendments to the state budget, requesting an increase in funding from UAH 510 million to UAH 3.3 billion for targeted assistance to internally displaced persons. Local authorities and volunteers provide basic services to IDPs in many transit centres in the east. The government passed a comprehensive IDP law, and recently established humanitarian coordination mechanisms for rapid humanitarian assistance,” – he added. 

Both Hennadiy Zubko and Neal Walker appealed to the generosity of the international community to fund the response plan. 

‘I am very grateful to humanitarian actors for their commitment and readiness to support the Government of Ukraine in the significant scaling-up of its humanitarian response,” – said DPM Zubko. ‘Yet, the needs are enormous, and no country can cope with such challenges on its own. The support of the international community is very important for the people of Ukraine.”– he added.