MOSCOW, March 21, 2022. The office of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Moscow has signed a partnership agreement with the Russian Red Cross (RRC) to address the most pressing humanitarian needs of displaced persons and refugees coming from Donetsk, Luhansk, and other regions of Ukraine. RRC is among the first responders to their needs and has been appointed as coordinator for humanitarian assistance.
The document was signed by UNHCR Representative ad interim to the Russian Federation Karim Atassi and RRC Chairman Pavel Savchuk.
“In these challenging times, solidarity, generosity, and compassion towards people who are fleeing their homes and leaving family members behind are crucial and needed more than ever. It is our mandated role, as the UN Refugee Agency, to concretely support our partners, like RRC, which are on the forefront of the humanitarian response to this crisis, and to strengthen their capacity to deliver on the ground,” Karim Atassi stressed.
“In these challenging times, solidarity, generosity, and compassion towards people who are fleeing their homes and leaving family members behind are crucial and needed more than ever”.
The partnership between UNHCR and RRC includes:
This agreement covers the regions of Kursk, Belgorod, Volgograd, and Lipetsk.
“The longstanding cooperation with the UNHCR is of great value to the Russian Red Cross. It is especially important now, given the ongoing difficult humanitarian situation with refugees. We are grateful for the additional assistance our colleagues are ready to extend. Together, we will be able to help the displaced persons in a more efficient manner, provide them with food and basic necessities, as well as psychosocial support,” Pavel Savchuk said.
“The longstanding cooperation with the UNHCR … is especially important now, given the ongoing difficult humanitarian situation with refugees”.
A total of 66 regional Red Cross branches are involved in the provision of assistance to displaced persons and refugees from Ukraine. Around 170 RRC specialists are providing psychosocial support at the TACs. Some 120 points for the collection of humanitarian aid have been organized by the RRC. Additionally, in RRC branches, there are 96 distribution points that process private requests and address the needs of the new arrivals who are not staying in the TACs.
The partnership agreement with RRC is part of UNHCR efforts to support humanitarian partners on the ground. UNHCR Moscow has also mobilized resources for all its NGO partners to provide legal counselling to new arrivals on available options, including access to asylum procedure and status and on referrals to State institutions, including medical facilities.
