Kyiv, 21 August: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding on support to war-affected people living in frontline communities during the upcoming harsh winter season.
Building on the longstanding and strong partnership between UNHCR and the Ministry, this new agreement sets out to provide winter cash assistance at a total value of USD 30 million to people living in areas where hostilities are ongoing or recently ended.
During the coming winter, many thousands of families in communities near the frontline of the war will have difficulties keeping their homes warm without assistance to cover increased expenses for heating. In support of the Ministry of Reintegration – and taking into consideration the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 583-r from 25 June 2024 – UNHCR will distribute one-off cash grants to internally displaced and war-affected people living in nine regions: Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv. These are the main regions where attacks continue to cause damage to homes and energy infrastructure, adding to the already massive destruction caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Families with specific vulnerabilities, particularly those with older members, young children, or adults or children with disabilities will be prioritized for the winter cash assistance. Additionally, households within 10 kilometers of the frontline or border with the Russian Federation will be given special consideration. This cash assistance will help families purchase solid fuel, ensuring that people can heat their houses despite the ongoing war and its destructive impact on critical infrastructure. UNHCR commits to support some 57,000 households under the agreement signed today, with the lists of recipients to be compiled by the respective regional state administrations and provided to UNHCR by the Ministry of Reintegration.
“It’s a top priority for UNHCR to support the people remaining in frontline regions of the war during the winter months, which are likely to be particularly difficult this year given the targeted attacks on energy infrastructure. They are usually the most socio-economically or otherwise vulnerable, and they are therefore among the ones who need humanitarian support the most in order to survive and sustain their resilience. I am glad we can build on our long-standing partnership with the Ministry of Reintegration to directly and tangibly support many of these families during the upcoming winter, when the impact of the devastating war is felt even more acutely,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR’s Representative in Ukraine.
“I am sincerely grateful to UNHCR for the much-needed and timely assistance to our frontline areas. Together we are securing our humanitarian front. Together we will get through this harsh winter,” said Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine.
The USD 30 million allocated for this winter cash intervention is part of a larger USD 100 million package of support from UNHCR, aimed at helping Ukraine prepare for the winter – as announced by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, during his meeting in Kyiv with President Zelenskyy in July.
Last winter season, UNHCR reached more than one million people across Ukraine with various forms of winter support, including winter cash assistance provided to over 600,000 people. This support was transferred directly to people’s bank accounts, enabling the recipients to prioritize how to best spend it on their most urgent winter needs.
Overall, 86% of the people who received cash assistance last winter highlighted one or more positive changes in their lives, including being able to buy winter clothes, shoes, firewood, and coal for heating, as well as pay utility bills for gas and electricity.
This coming winter season 2024-2025, UNHCR is planning various forms of winter support, including this intervention with the Ministry of Reintegration, contributing to the inter-agency Ukraine Winter Response Plan issued by OCHA. Subject to the availability of funding, UNHCR aims to support 600,000 displaced and other war-affected people in Ukraine with winter cash assistance this winter.
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