ReliefWeb

UNHCR coordinated the delivery of humanitarian convoys. In total, ten trucks with shelter material reached Donetsk region. The materials will be used for the repair of 110 damaged houses.

UNHCR partners have conducted 643 protection monitoring visits in seven regions. UNHCR focused most of its visits to conflict affected villages located along the ‘Contact Line’ in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Since 2015, 150,000 displaced and conflict affected persons have benefited from support provided by 79 community centres that have either been repaired, constructed or reconstructed by UNHCR in different regions of Ukraine.

KEY INDICATORS

13,080

IDPs and other conflict-affected persons received legal assistance from UNHCR partners in first 8 months of 2018.

597

Vulnerable IDPs or conflict-affected persons have been selected to receive individual protection assistance through cash assistance (IPA) in 2018.

467

Households in eastern Ukraine have had their homes repaired or reconstructed

FUNDING (AS OF 11 SEPTEMBER)

USD 31.1 M
requested for Ukraine

INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDP) AND CONFLICT-AFFECTED PERSONS

1.8 million ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM UKRAINE

Operational Highlights

On 22 August 2018, the ‘harvest ceasefire’ was replaced by the ‘school ceasefire’ negotiated at the Trilateral Contact Group meeting in Minsk. Overall, the summer of 2018 has seen the least number of ceasefire violations since the beginning of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, according to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM). Nevertheless, there was an escalation at the end of August that resulted in causalities and damages to private houses, especially in the villages of Krasnohorivka, Myronivsky, Marinka, Verkhniotoretske and Vrubivka. UNHCR has been continuously monitoring the situation, including with onsite visits. In Vrubivka, where 47 houses were damaged and one civilian killed, UNHCR and partners responded with emergency shelter assistance to affected families as well as protection advocacy. Although the village of Vrubivka has been affected by the conflict, it is not considered by the authorities as qualifying for conflict-related benefits for its population. Therefore, UNHCR NGO partner Proliska has been advocating for Vrublivka and other five villages in close proximity to the ‘Contact Line’ to be included in the list of settlements that are affected by conflict so that the residents are also eligible for financial support from the authorities. The other five villages include Loskutivka, Novozvanivka, Bila Gora, Pravdivka and Novotroitske.

Additionally, UNHCR has visited the village of Novooleksandrivka, which is located along the ‘Contact Line’ and returned to Ukrainian control in January this year. However, because of the absence of state services, fewer than 20 people remain there out of a population of 120+ in the beginning of the year. The village also has possible mine and UXO contamination due to its proximity to the ‘Contact Line’.
UNHCR has also been advocating with authorities for access to be provided to other actors, such as NGO partner Proliska, as well as resumption of pension payments. Since January 2018, UNHCR and Proliska have been able to deliver NFI kits to its residents. UNHCR has also assisted two elderly women with disabilities to access their pensions.

UNHCR’s protection presence and monitoring in eastern Ukraine has also allowed for the identification of potential Peaceful Coexistence Projects (PCP). PCPs cover various areas of assistance to conflictaffected communities, including facilitation of access to health services, psychosocial support, safe access to education, peacebuilding and social cohesion, community mobilization as well as access to and registration for pensions and social payments. Since 2015, UNHCR has finalized 79 community projects and more are planned for this year. For instance in the village of Novhorodske, where the population of 12,600 people has welcomed around 1,000 IDPs, UNHCR has started a PCP located in the premises of the town council that will facilitate the access to a wide variety of social services, including for persons with disabilities.