Among the rapporteurs was Ukraine's Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs, the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, and other representatives.
The human toll of the armed conflict is appalling, with over 2,530 civilians killed and 9,000 injured. Thousands of homes, hundreds of hospitals, schools, and water and electricity facilities have been damaged due to the hostilities. The rapid and increased contamination of the conflict-affected area by mines and unexploded ordnances is threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of Ukrainians. With one million crossings each month across the 457-km “contact line”, thousands of people face delays and obstacles in accessing basic services, pensions, social benefits, and markets every day, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports.
"Some 200,000 people live under constant fear of shelling every day. With the highest proportion of elderly affected in the world, it is our obligation to reverse the unacceptable deprivation that they face,” Assistant Secretary General Ursula Mueller said Wednesday at a conference on the humanitarian crisis in eastern Ukraine
Read alsoAs fighting intensifies, humanitarian aid for Ukraine faces severe cuts – Hromadske InternationalDisrupted access to critical facilities and diminished livelihoods mean that some 3.4 million people are without basic supplies and services and need assistance for protection and survival. "Four years of conflict have put a tremendous strain on the civilian population in eastern Ukraine,” said the European Union Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides. "Our new aid package will provide essential assistance such as food, healthcare and education for children," he said.
Some 1.6 million Ukrainians have been displaced across the country.
Ukraine Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, Vadym Chernysh, expressed in Brussels the Ukraine Government’s appreciation of and support to the ongoing humanitarian activities to assist affected and displaced people.
Last December, humanitarians in Ukraine consolidated a comprehensive and prioritized $187 million Humanitarian Response Plan that sets out the urgent need to reach 2.3 million vulnerable Ukrainians with assistance and protection throughout 2018.
Read also"Up to 30,000 peacekeepers": presidential envoy on size of possible mission in DonbasThe UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Neal Walker, stressed that “in 2017, we provided aid to 1.1 million of the most vulnerable Ukrainians. We wanted to do much more. Today, I commend EU Member States for their support, but I urge immediate bolstering of solidarity by supporting our collective efforts in helping the people of Ukraine in the very continent we share”.
