UN humanitarian agencies and their partners have presented a humanitarian response plan in eastern Ukraine in Geneva, for which they need $187 million to help 2.3 million people in need of assistance in 2018.
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Neal Walker, updated UN member states on the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine, reported the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA).
As Ukraine enters its fourth year of conflict, many of those affected have exhausted their savings and their ability to cope. They are now forced to make impossible choices between food, medicine, housing, heating or their children's education.
Millions of women, children and elderly people are threatened every day by shelling, intense fighting and other hostilities. Nearly a million people cross one of the five operational checkpoints along the 457-kilometer 'line of contact' every month to access basic services, pensions, social benefits and maintain family networks."
"The people of eastern Ukraine continue to pay a very heavy price as a result of the conflict. While Ukraine no longer makes the headlines, millions of men, women and children urgently need our help. Today, I call on Member States to show their solidarity by supporting this important appeal for funds." Mr Walker, Humanitarian Coordinator.
Of the 4.4 million people affected by the conflict, some 3.4 million are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. Among the most vulnerable are many elderly people, women and children.
32 international and 16 national organizations have launched this appeal for $187 million in humanitarian aid. Without this funding, humanitarian organizations will be unable to support vulnerable communities through the difficult winter months.