UN: USD 5.6 billion to help millions affected by conflict

With the full-scale war in Ukraine about to enter its second year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Wednesday (local time) jointly appealed for USD 5.6 billion to ease the plight of millions of people affected.

Humanitarian funding is needed to continue supporting lifesaving aid convoy deliveries to communities on the front line, "into areas of great danger and difficulty and priority needs", said Martin Griffiths, OCHA Head.

The situation for many in Ukraine remains desperate, amid "relentless" shelling of civilian targets and infrastructure, said Griffiths.

To continue doing this lifesaving work, the OCHA chief appealed for USD 3.9 billion to help 11.1 million of the 18 million people who need humanitarian assistance inside Ukraine. Officially called the Humanitarian Response Plan for Ukraine, it brings together more than 650 partners, the majority of them Ukrainian organizations.

In parallel with the OCHA appeal, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is also seeking USD 1.7 billion to help Ukrainian refugees in 10 host countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi warned against complacency about what is happening in Ukraine.

"I think we're becoming a little bit used to this; we shouldn't, because it's quite appalling what the Russian invasion is doing to the country," he said.

Refugees from the conflict have every intention of returning to Ukraine at some point, Grandi continued, but until that happens, he said that Tuesday's Refugee Response Plan appeal will continue to help millions of refugees and hundreds of UN partners on the ground.

Emergency and search-and-rescue teams have deployed to assess and prioritize urgent needs and to provide life-saving assistance following the devastating earthquake near the Turkey-Syria border.

In particular, funding will support health and nutrition services, education, livelihoods and temporary protection, the High Commissioner explained.

"The Ukraine refugee crisis - displacement crisis - remains the largest in the world, clearly," he said. "Almost six million estimated internally displaced people. Plus, you know, the refugees in Europe who have registered for temporary protection are close to five million now, 4.8 million. But we know that there's many more that have not."

Amid reports that violence is escalating in the east, the latest UN estimates indicated that more than 7,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine in the last year, with 12,000 injured. "This is almost certainly a low estimate," Griffiths said.

Since the war began, humanitarian organizations in Ukraine have made every effort to scale up assistance to all regions of the country. Nearly 16 million people across Ukraine received aid and protection services in 2022, including areas outside Government control. Humanitarians also reached 6 million people with cash assistance, which also provided a boost to local economies.