In light of the soaring humanitarian needs in Ukraine, Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, visits Ukraine today to meet humanitarian organisations and high level Ukrainian
government officials to help coordinate the EU's crisis response on the ground.
On the occasion, the EU today is allocating another €205 million in humanitarian assistance for Ukraine. This brings total EU humanitarian aid funding and the value of in-kind assistance to over €700 million in response to Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, of which €13 million is dedicated to projects in neighbouring Moldova.
Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič said: “For more than 100 days, we have witnessed unnecessary suffering and countless violations of international humanitarian law. In this moment of crisis, our duty is to stand by the most vulnerable. We have swiftly responded by considerably scaling up our presence in Ukraine. With this funding our humanitarian partners are providing food, water, healthcare, shelter, protection and cash assistance. We are also working closely with the Ukrainian authorities to ensure the assistance provided by the EU Member States is aligned with the constantly evolving needs. Through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism we have delivered millions of life-saving supplies to Ukrainians, and we are committed to support Ukraine as long as it takes.”
EU humanitarian support in Ukraine
In addition to financial humanitarian assistance, the EU has mobilised all possible resources to enable aid into Ukraine, which includes:
- Via the largest ever mobilization of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, all 27 Member States, as well as Turkey, Norway and North Macedonia have provided more than 38,000 tonnes of aid including first aid kits, food, protective clothing, but also strategic equipment like fire trucks, mobile hospitals and energy supplies have been delivered to Ukraine with a financial value of €373 million. Given the scale of this operation, the EU has established logistics hubs in neighbouring Poland, Romania and Slovakia to expedite the deliveries. Two EU funded humanitarian warehouses and logistics operations have also been set up in Ukraine.
- Over 500 patients from Ukraine in need of continued treatment or urgent medical assistance have been transferred to European hospitals through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism from Ukraine, Moldova and bordering countries. The main destination countries have been so far Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.
- The EU has mobilised its rescEU emergency reserve to deliver key medical equipment from the rescEU medical stockpiles hosted by Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and Greece, adding a new medical evacuation plane to its fleet to help transfer the patients in need of urgent healthcare to hospitals in Europe. In the context of Ukraine crisis, the EU also coordinated the first rescEU mobilisation from the private sector to help deliver private donations to Ukraine.
EU humanitarian partners are ensuring that assistance reaches the most vulnerable people, even in the restricted areas. They are providing cash assistance, water, food, healthcare, protection and emergency shelter to affected civilians. As of today, EU-funded cash assistance programmes have already reached 1.59 million people with a monthly grant of 2,200 UAH. This is helping them to purchase items they need the most, while simultaneously contributing to the local economy.
Background
Since the start of Russia's invasion on 24 February, the humanitarian needs in Ukraine have risen to unprecedented levels. According to the United Nations, up to 15.7 million people require humanitarian assistance. The war in Ukraine has already forced more than 14 million people to leave their homes, of which almost 7 million people have crossed the border to neighbouring countries. It is estimated that more than 8 million people are internally displaced. Meanwhile, close to 13 million people are stranded in affected areas, either unwilling or unable to leave due to military action.
The EU has responded to the humanitarian needs in Ukraine on 28 February with €90 million of funding, on 10 March with €3 million for Moldova, on 19 April with €50 million, and today with additional €205 million that has been requested by the European Commission and currently under adoption by the EU's Budgetary Authority, bringing the total amount of EU humanitarian aid in response to the war to €348 million. This funding is part of the overall pledges made by the European Commission. Photo by UP9, Wikimedia commons.