Mr. Stiller came to Ukraine to see the scale of destruction and hear first-hand from people who have directly experienced the impact of the war, had to flee from their homes and who are now trying to rebuild their lives.
Goodwill Ambassador Ben Stiller visits Lypki, Irpin. © UNHCR/Andrew McConnell
Ben Stiller, the actor, director, and long-term Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is in Kyiv to give global visibility to the massive scale of displacement and humanitarian and recovery needs caused by the war against Ukraine and mark World Refugee Day, which occurs every year on 20 June.
Mr. Stiller came to Ukraine to see the scale of destruction and hear first-hand from people who have directly experienced the impact of the war, had to flee from their homes and who are now trying to rebuild their lives.
These personal stories will enable Mr. Stiller to communicate the need for continued and increased support to the humanitarian response in Ukraine, addressing both immediate and medium to longer-term needs of the displaced people and communities, and UNHCR’s programmes that contribute to this, especially in the areas of protection, housing and assistance (cash and in-kind).
During his visit, Mr. Stiller met with families in Makariv whose homes had been destroyed and visited a community centre in Irpin that UNHCR had rehabilitated in 2014 to serve as a meeting place for people who had fled from Donetsk and Luhansk non-government controlled areas in 2014. He spoke with several of these people who had now been forced to flee for a second time, when Irpin was shelled.
Mr. Stiller also met with President Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Kuleba. In his meeting with the President, Mr. Stiller emphasized that sustained attention to and support for the Ukrainian people and communities that have been impacted by the war is crucial, especially in view of the approaching winter which will be very harsh for those whose homes had been damaged or completely destroyed. He stressed that the humanitarian needs are enormous and continue growing.
Mr. Stiller was appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador in 2018 and has since become one of the most influential voices on the refugee and internal displacement issue, inspiring thousands of people to generously donate. He came to Ukraine with the UN Refugee Agency which has been working in Ukraine since 1994 and significantly scaled-up its humanitarian programs since February 2022 to support the Government-led response in addressing immediate humanitarian and longer-term solutions and recovery needs of the affected population and their communities. Specifically, UNHCR provides assistance that helps people repair their damaged houses, legal aid to people who have lost their documents and houses, psychosocial counselling to recover from the trauma and cash and in-kind assistance to help people cover their basic needs like accommodation, hygiene items and food.
During a visit to Poland earlier this week Mr. Stiller met those recently forced to flee their homes, including a woman, who fled Kharkiv with her three children two months ago. Shortly after she and her children fled, her father was killed back home in Kharkiv after a bomb fell on her parent’s apartment building. The family want to return home to Ukraine but the neighbourhood where they are from has been devastated by the war.
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