UN requests $5.6 billion for Ukraine’s aid

According to the United Nations, $5.6 billion is required to deliver humanitarian relief in Ukraine and to the millions of people who have fled the war-torn nation.

The UN assessed that over a year after Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 21.8 million Ukrainians now required humanitarian aid.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement, “The war continues to cause death, destruction and displacement daily, and on a staggering scale.”

“We must do all we can to reach the hardest-to-reach communities, including those close to the front line,” he said.

“The suffering of the Ukrainian people is far from over – they continue to need international support.”

The need is so vast that aid organizations are unable to assist everyone, but the UN claimed that the $5.6 billion asked will enable them to assist the 15.3 million people who are in the greatest need this year.

It stated that more than four million Ukrainian refugees hosted throughout eastern Europe need help totaling $1.7 billion.

The majority of it would go to Moldova, the primary transit nation for Ukrainians traveling farther into Europe, and Poland, which is already housing more than 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees.

Approximately 86 percent of all refugees are women and children, according to the UN.

“Europe has proven capable of bold, collective action to help refugees,” UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said in the statement.

“We must not, however, take this response, or the hospitality of host communities, for granted,” he said.

“Continued international support and solidarity is needed until refugees are able to return to their homes in safety and dignity, which must also remain a priority.”

Humanitarian organizations in Ukraine have been working to help people since the war started, and by 2022, approximately 16 million people will have received aid and protection services, including in regions that are not under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian government.

Inside Ukraine, “the war has profoundly affected access to livelihoods and disrupted market stability particularly in southern and eastern oblasts, further aggravating humanitarian suffering,” the appeal said.

It warned that “a majority of Ukrainians have reportedly reduced food consumption and spent savings,” pointing to soaring unemployment, skyrocketing inflation and inadequate social assistance.

While food and other necessities were still generally accessible in the majority of the regions governed by the Ukrainian government, it was noted that many people found it impossible to afford them without cash, vouchers, or other forms of support for their livelihoods.

And they “are much more difficult to obtain in areas experiencing constant bombardment,” it said, highlighting the “systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure throughout the war.”