UN: Ukraine Requires $4.2bn for Humanitarian Needs in 2024

The UN has requested funds from donors to support some 10.8 million people in Ukraine and the European region in need of humanitarian assistance in 2024. The United Nations and its partners have asked donors for $4.2 billion (about 3.8 billion euros) to support war-affected people in Ukraine, as well as Ukrainian refugees and host countries in the region in 2024. In general, the aim is to assist “some 10.8 million people in Ukraine and the European region with the greatest needs,” according to a joint press release from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued on Monday, 15 January. “Hundreds of thousands of children live in communities on the front lines of the war, terrified, traumatized and deprived of their basic needs. That fact alone should compel us to do everything we can to bring more humanitarian assistance to Ukraine,” said the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths. The requested funds include $3.1 billion to provide humanitarian assistance to the 8.5 million needy Ukrainians remaining in the country. The response to humanitarian needs inside Ukraine is coordinated by OCHA. Another $1.1 billion is planned to support 2.3 million refugees and host communities, coordinated by UNHCR. There are 14.6 million people in need of humanitarian aid in Ukraine This year, the UN estimates that more than 14.6 million people in Ukraine, or 40% of the country’s population, are in need of humanitarian assistance because of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Some 6.3 million people have fled the country and are in refugee status, mostly in Europe. However, “only 40% to 60% of refugees are employed, often in jobs requiring lower skills, and many remain vulnerable without sufficient means of subsistence.” “Host countries continue to extend protection and include them in society, but many vulnerable refugees still need help,” said Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. “They shouldn't feel pressed to return because they cannot make ends meet in exile.”