The United Nations appeals to donors to provide $4 billion to Ukraine

Geneva (agencies)

The United Nations announced yesterday that it needs $4.2 billion in 2024 to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and to help millions of refugees who have fled their country since the Russian-Ukrainian crisis that began nearly two years ago.
The United Nations stressed that “the recent series of attacks constitute a reminder of the high cost of this crisis on civilians, at a time when the harsh winter reinforces the urgent need for humanitarian assistance that will save lives.” The United Nations indicated that 14.6 million people will need humanitarian aid in Ukraine this year, or 40% of the population.
Of these people, 8.5 million are supposed to be initially assisted.
For humanitarian aid inside Ukraine, the United Nations called for donations worth $3.1 billion, while this number reached $3.9 billion in 2023, 64% of which was secured.
The United Nations decided to reduce the amount of aid this year as it chose to focus more on urgent needs.
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, said in a statement: “Hundreds of thousands of children live in areas located on the front lines, and they are terrified, shocked, and deprived of the simplest things.”
He added, “These facts should urge us to do everything in our power to collect additional humanitarian aid for Ukraine.”
As for aid to Ukrainian refugees abroad, Griffiths and the head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, launched their aid plan during a joint press conference held at the United Nations office in Geneva.
This plan aims to raise $1.1 billion to help 2.3 million refugees and the communities hosting them.
About 6.3 million people fled Ukraine and took refuge mainly in European countries.
“Millions of Ukrainian refugees still need emergency assistance,” Grandi said.
The United Nations explained that only half of Ukrainian children attend schools in host countries, while health care is not easily provided for a quarter of refugees. Only 40 to 60% of them were able to find a job, which often did not match their qualifications.
Grandi said: “Host countries continue to protect refugees and integrate them into society, but a large number of those who are poor are still in need of assistance, and they should not feel forced to return to their homes because they are unable to cover their expenses in the countries to which they have sought refuge.”
Yesterday, Ukraine announced growing support for its plan to bring peace to its crisis with Russia, and that it seeks in the future to hold a peace summit at the highest level, according to Andrei Yermak.
Yermak said during the Davos Forum on Ukraine with the participation of 80 countries and international organizations that it is not currently possible to hold peace negotiations with Russia, expressing at the same time his satisfaction that more countries have shown their support for Ukraine recently and participated in the talks at the level of security advisors.
On the ground, Ukraine announced yesterday the destruction of a Russian Beriev A-50 aircraft and an Ilyushin LL-22 airborne command center in the Sea of ​​Azov region.
“The Ukrainian Air Force destroyed a long-range radar detection aircraft and an air surveillance aircraft,” Valery Zaloghny, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, wrote on the Telegram application. There was no official confirmation from Moscow.