Over 3 mln still in need of humanitarian aid in eastern Ukraine, UN food agency says

The World Food Programme (WFP) on Wednesday said that more than 3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in eastern Ukraine, and the UN agency will continue to help 220,000 people in conflict-affected areas in the region throughout 2017, a UN spokesman told reporters here.

"Nearly three years after the start of the conflict, the security situation remains tense, with more than 3 million people in need of humanitarian assistance," the deputy UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, said at a daily news briefing here.

WFP has provided emergency food assistance to people in eastern Ukraine since late 2014, with nearly 850,000 of the most vulnerable people having received food from the agency, he said.

"WFP urgently needs more than 30 million U.S. dollars to provide much-needed food assistance in eastern Ukraine until the end of this December," Haq said.

"The situation is becoming even worse as prices are increasing quite rapidly compared to incomes, which limits families' ability to afford the food they need," said the WFP representative in Ukraine, Dorte Ellehammer. "Food prices are increasing at a time when household incomes are impacted by unemployment, and we see many families resorting to negative coping strategies in the face of economic hardship."

In 2017, WFP will continue to distribute food assistance to 70,000 of the most vulnerable people, based on the severity of needs. WFP aims to target elderly people, families headed by single mothers, people with chronic illnesses or disabilities, along with those who are not receiving any other form of humanitarian assistance.

As the conflict has continued, many Ukrainians have become more vulnerable due to the lack of sufficient social benefits to cover food and other living expenses, said the UN agency.

WFP will continue to scale up the use of cash-based transfers where possible, depending on availability of financial institutions and market conditions.

During spring and summer, WFP and its partners will implement small-scale early recovery projects aimed at enhancing local livelihoods, increasing incomes, diversifying crops, and rehabilitating productive assets.

"Without medium- and long-term interventions, more people would require humanitarian assistance in the months and years to come," said Ellehammer.

Up to 150,000 people identified as moderately food-insecure, meaning they struggle to find or buy enough food on a daily basis to lead a healthy life, will be engaged in food-for-training and food-for-assets activities, which will be tailored to the local context and based on available funding.

Since November 2014, WFP has provided emergency food assistance to internally displaced people, returnees and residents in eastern Ukraine, distributing monthly food packages and food assistance through cash-based transfers or vouchers.

To date, nearly 850,000 of the most vulnerable conflict-affected people have received food from WFP, in spite of the ongoing conflict and a volatile security situation that has restricted humanitarian staff movement. Enditem