Ukrainian groups to get new UN funds as winter looms

By: 2 years ago

United Nations official Denise Brown, Deputy Country Director at World Food Programme Marianne Ward and Ukraine’s Infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov attend a news briefing in font of the Lebanese-flagged bulk carrier Brave Commander in the seaport of Pivdennyi after restarting grain export, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Yuzhne, Odesa region, Ukraine August 14, 2022. REUTERS FILE PHOTO

KYIV — Ukrainians shivering under bombs, frost and power outages will soon get more help from a fund that funnels money to volunteers, community groups and civil society organizations, a United Nations humanitarian leader said Tuesday.

“They are in the front line, taking risks to make sure people whose lives have been torn apart by months of war receive support for their daily needs: water, food, medicines, shelter when their houses have been damaged,” Denise Brown, the top U.N. official in Ukraine, said in a statement.

Brown, humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said the work being undertaken was “impressive,” but resources were being exhausted 10 months into the war. The Ukraine Humanitarian Fund was releasing an additional $20 million to support 300 groups who had been “working around the clock to support millions of people,” she added.

The funds release comes at a time when U.N. humanitarian projects face record funding gaps, with global needs from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa far outpacing pledges which are themselves at record highs.

The new release brings funds allocated in Ukraine by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to $252 million. More than $55 million has gone to projects supporting hospitals, displacement centers and other facilities that host generators and winter supplies.

Ukraine is struggling to keep the lights on, as its power infrastructure has faced relentless Russian attacks, including with armed drones.