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OCHA Ukraine Situation Report, 18 Feb 2019

Countries
Ukraine
Sources
OCHA
Publication date
Origin
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KEY MESSAGES

  • US$162 million needed to provide aid to 2.3 million people: Humanitarians launch 2019 response plan

  • Civilian casualties due to the conflict go down in 2018, but one is still too many .

  • Sharp increase in casualties among water workers in the last 12 months – more than the two previous years

  • Over 700,000 children and teachers in more than 3,500 education facilities need humanitarian assistance

  • Despite challenges with limited funds, humanitarians mounted a collective response

FEATURE

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator calls for urgent support to fund the US$162 million appeal

“As with previous years, our response plan is only useful if it is adequately funded,” said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Ms. Osnat Lubrani, in a statement, at the launch of the Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for 2019 on 31 January, noting the need to continue and strengthen donor support.

The plan sets sight on mobilising US$162 million to provide aid to some 2.3 million vulnerable Ukrainians on both sides of the “contact line”. The appeal is slightly lower than what humanitarians asked in 2018 (US$187 million), but aims to reach with life-saving assistance and protection the same number of people as in previous year, through a stricter prioritised set of actions.

Over 120 representatives of the Government, donor, UN and international and national non-Governmental organizations, as well as media representatives attending the event, also heard about the devastating consequences of the conflict from the speakers, which also included the Deputy Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs, Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine and a representative of the affected community. Moreover, the event provided a forum to reflect on the humanitarian efforts, existing challenges and discuss opportunities, as the conflict sets into its sixth year this spring.

The launch in Kyiv was followed by the UN Member States briefing in New York, which was chaired by the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (ASG/DERC) Ms. Ursula Mueller. The RC/HC briefed the participants via a video conference from Kyiv, and called on the international community to stand in solidarity with the people of eastern Ukraine and support fund the HRP. Mr. Vadym Chernysh, the Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine (MTOT) also participated in the event and provided his insights on the humanitarian situation, improvements of crossing conditions at the checkpoints and the most critical humanitarian needs of people affected by the conflict. During the briefing, ASG Mueller also announced the establishment of a Country-Based Pooled Fund (CBPF) in Ukraine, which is an additional tool to effectively mobilise funds to support the HRP.

The Humanitarian Response Plan: For the first time in Ukraine, the response will be of a multi-year nature, through a two-year strategy, which aims not only to address immediate needs, but reduce them overtime through strengthening links with recovery and development action, under the ongoing efforts around the Humanitarian-Development Nexus.

The HRP is the result of a collective effort of hundreds of organizations, and is based on evidence methodologically gathered through a Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), an analysis of over 50 assessments conducted in 2018.

2019 Humanitarian Response Plan: https://reliefweb.int/node/2974458 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview: https://reliefweb.int/node/2974378

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.