UNDP in Ukraine has launched a large-scale distribution of humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs), and people living in the Donbas conflict zone, including those in militant controlled territories.
“Supporting IDPs and the early recovery of critical social infrastructure in Eastern Ukraine is a priority for the United Nations Development Programme. We provided food and critical supplies to more than 30,000 people and our main task is to ensure that no one is left behind,” UNDP in Ukraine quoted Inita Paulovica, Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP in Ukraine, as saying on Jan. 5.
According to UNDP in Ukraine, the priority recipients of aid are the elderly, orphans, pregnant women, families with children, and people with disabilities.
Overall, more than 25,000 food packages have been distributed in towns hosting large number of IDPs, including in Kharkiv, in Severodonetsk, Svatove, Starobilsk and Bilovodsk in Luhansk region, in Nikopol, Kryvy Rih, Marhanets and Tomakivka in Dnipropetrovskregion, in Pyriatyn, Lokhvytsia, Myrhorod, Reshetylivka, Poltava, Kremenchuh, Komsomolsk in Poltava region, and in Sloviansk, Artemivsk, Krasnoarmiysk, Biletske, Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka in Donetsk region.
In addition, 23 social institutions (including senior homes, hospitals, mental heath institutions and schools) located in Luhansk region in territory temporarily controlled by militants received humanitarian assistance from the UN agencies, including UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA.
In January 2015, UNDP is planning to extend its aid program and distribute 30,000 more food packages to IDPs across Ukraine in the cities of Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Dniprodzerzhynsk, Pavlohrad, Novomoskovsk, Zaporizhia, Melitopol, Berdiansk, Prymorsk, Mariupol, Izium, Lozova and others.
The total budget for assistance is $1.6 million. The humanitarian aid includes food packages, warm clothing for adults, warm clothing for children, and bed linen and blankets.
