UN agencies seek USD 5.6 bn to help Ukraine, its refugees

Workers rebuild a damaged house on Vokzalna street in Bucha, near Kyiv Tuesday. Pic/AFP

The UN's humanitarian aid and refugee agencies said on Wednesday they are seeking USD 5.6 billion to help millions of people in Ukraine and countries that have taken in fleeing Ukrainians in the wake of Russia's invasion of their country nearly a year ago.

The bulk of the joint appeal - USD 3.9 billion - is for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which aims to help more than 11 million people by funnelling funds through more than 650 partner organisations.

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Refugee agency UNHCR, meanwhile, is seeking USD 1.7 billion to help some 4.2 million refugees who have fled to 10 host countries in eastern and central Europe. The joint appeal, one of the largest of its kind for a single country, could draw a large outpouring of funds from Western countries, as a similar appeal did since the war began. Such UN appeals rarely get fully funded.

"We were relatively well-funded last year," said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "I think the refugee appeal was funded in excess of 70 per cent - not total, but quite good. We count on that to last."

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