ReliefWeb

SITUATION OVERVIEW

The renewed ceasefire enforced on 24 June to allow safe harvesting has brought a relative lull in hostilities. However, daily clashes continue to be reported, claiming lives and generating more needs. Critical infrastructure, such as water and energy supply systems, continues to be affected by shelling almost on a daily basis, resulting in multiple disruptions in the provision of essential supplies for millions of civilians. In addition to daily hardships, legislative impediments and bureaucratic bottlenecks prevail, particularly for people to claim social benefits, including pensions. As of 1 January, some 450,000 people have been reportedly deprived of social benefits due to cumbersome verification requirement while this is the only source of income for thousands of those most vulnerable.

The number of individual crossings at all five operating exit/entrance checkpoints (EECPs) has steadily increased over the past seven months of 2017, with a record high in July at 1.13 million individual crossings recorded. Shrinking humanitarian access in non-Government controlled areas (NGCA) further degraded the lives of millions trapped in an increasingly isolated economic zone, compounded by political factors, such as the railway blockade by veterans and the ‘nationalisation’ of Ukrainian companies in NGCA by the defacto authorities in March. Concerns over worsening socio-economic situation in conflict-affected areas rise, as food insecurity increased significantly on both sides of the ‘contact line’. Funding for life-saving activities remains critically low, impacting the ability of partners to deliver the required assistance to meet life-threatening needs across all sectors. Underfunding has already led to cessation of activities of at least two humanitarian partners, while other partners are continuously forced to revisit and adjust their initial plans to optimise limited resources available.