UNICEF Seeking $66.4mln In Assistance For Children In Ukraine
Washington, Feb 25: UNICEF needs $66.4 million to provide access to basic services, healthcare, education and cash assistance to children inside Ukraine, Afshan Khan, UNICEF regional director for Europe and Central Asia, said on Friday.
“UNICEF is seeking US$66.4 million to provide access to basic services including water and sanitation, immunization and health care, schooling and learning, psychosocial support, and emergency cash assistance for up to 7.5 million children inside Ukraine,” Khan said.
The fund will be working with the UNHCR and other UN agencies in the coming days for a Flash Appeal for the surrounding countries.
“UNICEF – along with the rest of the UN family – calls on all parties to protect all children at all times and to ensure that humanitarian actors can safely and quickly reach children in need, wherever they are,” Khan said.
“UNICEF also calls on all parties to refrain from attacking essential infrastructure on which children depend – including water and sanitation systems, health facilities and schools. Already we have reports of grave shortages, along with a fast-rising number of requests for psychological support, and care for children.”
UNICEF has been working for the past eight years in and across eastern Ukraine to shore up life-saving programs for children, and has staff in the country in more than five locations, according to Khan.
“But clearly, in the last few days, the needs of children and families are escalating in line with the conflict,” she added.
Donbas, an area with a predominantly Russian-speaking population, has been engulfed by conflict since 2014, when the Ukrainian authorities unleashed a military operation against the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which refused to recognize the new government in Kiev, which came to power after what they considered to be a coup. In recent months, the situation on the line of contact between Ukrainian forces and the two republics has worsened.
On Thursday, Russia launched a military operation after the Donbas republics appealed for help. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. Moscow says it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.
