Over $300 mln of humanitarian aid needed for Ukraine – humanitarian aid coordinator

The world humanitarian community plans to draw $316 million from the international community to form an emergency aid package for the most vulnerable groups of Ukrainian citizens, said Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine Neal Walker.

Walker said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday after a conference on humanitarian aid for Ukraine, that five million people in the country were in dire need of humanitarian aid.

In January 2015, Ukraine's needs increased, he said, while citizens' lives and dignity in the conflict zones remain in serious danger. There are more than one million internally displaced people in Ukraine, and another two million live in disputable territories, of whom 1.5 million live in underground shelters almost entirely or absolutely denied access to basic necessities, he said.

Walker also said that more than two million people live in territories temporarily not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities and they, too, are in need of support, given limited access to services.

The UN has been providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the summer of 2014, making $33 million worth of aid available at the initial stage, he said.

The need for humanitarian aid has increased now and therefore, the UN plans to draw humanitarian aid from the world community worth $316 million, he continued.

This funding will be spent to provide accommodation to those in need, as well as warm clothes, jobs, health services and education, he said.

Walker said that foreign diplomatic missions and humanitarian organizations reaffirmed their readiness at a conference on Tuesday to provide aid standing at 15% of the required $316 million.

Peace must be restored in Ukraine if this aid is to be delivered, he said.