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UN humanitarian chief calls for urgent, sustained aid for people in eastern Ukraine

Xinhua, November 5, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Humanitarian Chief Stephen O'Brien on Thursday called for sustained and unimpeded access to the vulnerable communities caught in the middle of the crisis in Ukraine after his three-day visit to the country.

According to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, around four million people in the east of Ukraine need assistance and protection, while many families do not have access to basic supplies and services, including food, clean water supply, and heating fuel.

"I came to Ukraine to see for myself the consequences of the conflict in eastern areas for the civilians living there and those who have been forced to flee. As the winter fast approaches, our top priority must be to quickly scale up the coordination and delivery of aid for the most vulnerable people, especially the elderly and ill," he said.

"Many people, especially those who have not been able to flee to safe areas because they are elderly or sick, are living in homes which, as I saw when I met an elderly woman in Tsentralniye, have been severely damaged in the fighting," He added.

During his visit to Ukraine the UN official met the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, and senior officials in the Presidential Administration in Kiev, and it has been agreed that strengthening coordination and partnership to ensure that more aid can be delivered to all Ukrainians in dire need was of paramount importance.

He also met representatives of the de facto authorities in Luhansk and Donetsk in the eastern areas and discussed ways of improving humanitarian access to people in the non-Government controlled areas.

"I was struck by the urgent need for greater protection and safety, as well as for basic supplies," O'Brien noted, adding that the UN and its partners remain ready to scale up the delivery of vital aid and are activating their plan to commence the transport of more blankets, food, medical supplies and shelter repair materials for people in the Luhansk area in the next few days. Endit