© Donetsk Regional State Administration
Dnipro, 21 August 2023 – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Donetsk Regional State Administration today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to solidify and expand their well-established cooperation to support people from Donetsk region and their communities impacted by the war. During the signing ceremony, both parties agreed to continue cooperation to address urgent humanitarian needs of war-affected people and expand efforts to support displaced people’s ability to return and recover and rebuild their homes and lives in Donetska oblast, which is one of the five most affected oblasts by the full-scale war.
To ensure live-saving assistance to people remaining in frontline areas of Donetska oblast, UNHCR, together with its partners, will continue delivering essential humanitarian items through convoys and emergency shelter kits, which help families quickly repair damaged windows and roofs.
Under the leadership of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, UNHCR will support social protection departments with equipment and capacity building to expand their ability to provide services to the growing number of war-affected people with vulnerabilities. UNHCR and its partners will also continue providing free legal aid to people who need help to replace destroyed or expired documents, psychosocial support to cope with the trauma caused by the war, and provide support with repairs of damaged homes and improvement of the living conditions in collective sites hosting displaced people from Donetska oblast.
© Donetsk Regional State Administration
© Donetsk Regional State Administration
© Donetsk Regional State Administration
“I am very grateful to the Donetsk Regional State Administration for the close and efficient cooperation we have enjoyed since 2014 and throughout the full-scale invasion. UNHCR is committed to continue providing life-saving assistance and protection services to people remaining in, or evacuated from frontline regions of Donetska oblast, and expand our support in areas that help people recover and rebuild their homes and lives in retaken areas of the oblast. We will simultaneously advocate for sustained and increased support for the people of Ukraine and the recovery of their communities,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
“Signing the Memorandum of Understanding with UNHCR is not just the formal step. We have had close cooperation since 2014, UNHCR was among the first responders when the full-scale invasion began, and now we hope to expand and deepen cooperation to address the needs of our people in Donetska oblast,” said Pavlo Kyrylenko, Head of Donetsk oblast state administration.
© Donetsk Regional State Administration
© Donetsk Regional State Administration
© Donetsk Regional State Administration
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, UNHCR and its NGO partners have reached over 342,000 people in Donetska oblast with protection services, cash assistance, non-food items, emergency shelter kits and housing repairs, and support to collective sites hosting internally displaced people. Another 38,000 IDPs from Donetsk region who were displaced to Dnipropetrovska, Zaporizka, Kharkivska and Poltavska oblast have been assisted by UNHCR and its local partner NGO Proliska, in humanitarian hubs established by the Donetska oblast authorities. This assistance includes beds, sleeping mats, blankets, mattresses, pillows, solar lamps, hygiene kits and kitchen sets.
Across Ukraine, UNHCR and its NGO partners reached over 4.3 million people in 2022 and over 1.86 million people so far in 2023 with protection services including free legal aid and psychosocial support, emergency shelter materials and housing repairs, support for collective centres hosting displaced people, and cash and in-kind humanitarian assistance.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Victoria Andrievska
Associate Communication/PI Officer
Iryna Tymchyshyn
Assistant Communications Officer
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