ReliefWeb

Highlights

• During 2019, the situation in eastern Ukraine continued to be volatile and unpredictable. While the year saw less ceasefire violations compared to 2018, the number of attacks on civilian infrastructure remained high, with 88 reported incidents of shelling or small arms fire targeting WASH infrastructure and 36 such incidents affecting education facilities. Mines and unexploded remnants of war continued to be the cause of casualties among the civilian population.

• A new President and Parliament were elected by a landslide majority in, respectively, April and July 2019. This political change brought new hope and a new dynamic for eastern Ukraine, with the new President showing commitment to find a solution to end the six-year long conflict. Recent negotiations with the Russian Federation resulted in an exchange of prisoners, the re-establishment of the dialog through the Normandy Four Summit, and the disengagement of armed forces from three locations along the Line of Contact (LoC).

• In 2019, boys, girls and their families living on both sides of the LoC continued to require access to basic services, psychosocial support and protection. In response, UNICEF and its partners worked to ensure children and families had uninterrupted access to water, education and child protection services reaching over 1.7 million people (including children) with critically required humanitarian support.