Weekly Update #3
March 14-16
March 14-16
UNICEF
More than 1 million children have now fled Ukraine as war continues to ravage the country, UNICEF said today (March 10), with most families going to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania.
Working with partners, UNICEF UNICEF is appealing for US$ 349 million to target the welfare of children in Ukraine and neighboring countries and to enable the effective provision of critical life-saving support. This includes US$ 276 million for immediate needs within Ukraine and US$73 million in neighboring countries.
Working with partners, UNICEF teams in Ukraine will be delivering medical supplies to 22 hospitals in 5 different conflict-affected areas of Ukraine, to benefit 20,000 children and mothers.
So far, 6 trucks carrying nearly 70 tons of supplies have arrived in Ukraine. The supplies include personal protection equipment and medical, surgical and obstetric kits.
Source: ECAR Ukraine Situation Refugee Response in Neighbouring Countries Situation Report, 10 March 2022
HIGHLIGHTS
UNICEF’s refugee response in neighboring countries is focused on assuring protection of children made vulnerable by this crisis, closely integrating child protection, water, sanitation and hygiene (wash), health and nutrition, education and early childhood development and social protection support. Seven neighboring countries are covered by the UNICEF response.
To assist children and families on the move from Ukraine to Moldova, Poland, Romania and Belarus, UNICEF has set up “Blue Dots,” one-stop safe spaces that provide key information to traveling families and the ability to identify unaccompanied and separated children and ensure their protection.
In child protection, initial supplies to establish 10 Blue Dots in Poland have been delivered and will be distributed to implementing partners in the coming days. These include 100 Early Childhood Development (ECD) kits, 100 School-in-a-box kits for 40 students each, 100 Recreation kits, 50 Adolescent Kits, 10,000 school bags, 1,000 WASH and Dignity Kits, 40 First aid kits, 20 tents as well as blankets, clothes and Personal Protection Equipment.
In collaboration with UNHCR, an agreement with the government has now been reached on how to faciliate registration, which is an important step for the unicef/unhcr joint ‘blue-dot model’ in poland, which will center around these sites.
The UNICEF funding appeal for 2022 is US 73.1 million, of which 28.8 million has been received.
COUNTRY ACTIVITIES
Moldova
As of 8 March 2022, 250,236 Ukrainians, including 98,453 children, entered Moldova. Of the new arrivals, 148,569 have left for other destinations, while 101,667, including 46,701 children, remain in Moldavian territory.
The three first Blue Dots have been established near the Otaci border crossing (north), Palanca border crossing (south) and Moldexpo reception centre (Chisinau), with the Moldexpo Blue Dot already operational, and two more to be fully functional this week.
UNICEF and WHO are working jointly to promote polio and measles vaccinations at all reception centres. UNICEF is co-chairing the Education Working Group with UNHCR and supporting the Ministry of Education to integrate refugee children into the national education system.
UNICEF plans to reach at least 3,250 vulnerable refugee households with cash assistance.
Registration and payments are expected to commence in the coming week. This cash assistance will help families obtain the goods and services that they feel they need most.
Romania
As of 6 March 2022, 82,062 Ukrainian citizens entered Romania. Around 58,000 refugees, including an estimated 18,000 children, are still in the country. Although most people entering Romania are in transit (i.e., they are met at the border by family and/or friends with transportation means and are led further west towards Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland), a number must find their own means of transportation and accommodation.
Out of three main border sites, in Sighet, UNICEF has established a fully functioning Blue Dot Hub which includes services for refugee children and families. Around 2,500 refugee and asylum seekers women and children received at least one service in the Blue Dot since the start of the refugee crisis.
All Blue Dots will have child-friendly spaces and the presence of social workers and psychologists is ensured by specialized local authorities and civil society organizations. UNICEF is preparing the establishment of two other Blue Dots in two sites (Siret and Seaccaea). In Siret, UNICEF is working with three NGOs, (Hope and home for children, SERA foundation, Romanian Federation of Child Rights Organizations) which will roll out services in Blue Dots.
Hungary
191,348 refugees and asylum seekers arrived from Ukraine as of 7 March 2022, the majority of which continue to be children and women.
One key partner for the Refugee Response in Hungary is Terre des Hommes. Other child protection service providers have been mapped to identify service providers in terms of mental health and psychosocial support, case management and child protection support for children at risk in the context of the current crisis. Together with partners, UNICEF is planning to establish six Blue Dots and mobile teams for immediate response.
Slovak Republic
140,745 refugees have arrived as of 7 March 2022, with 60,000 being in temporary placement and with 140 having applied for special protection (asylum). The mapping of potential partners to accelerate Blue Dot locations and partnerships in service provision is ongoing. Similarly, contacts have been established with the Slovakian National Committee for UNICEF.
Belarus
UNICEF is assessing the needs for sanitation interventions in shelters, planning for distribution of hygiene kits, and supporting trainings on infection prevention and control
SOURCE: Ukraine Humanitarian Situation Report, 10 March 2022
HIGHLIGHTS
Nine child protection mobile teams providing psychosocial support (PSS) will be expanded to 47 to reach children across the country. 100 mobile education and early childhood development teams are being established.
A first shipment of essential medical equipment arrived at temporary storage facilities around Kyiv, to be distributed to 20 hospitals and health care facilities in the most affected areas, ensuring access to essential medical services for 20,000 pregnant women and families with children.
A humanitarian cash transfers programme is being developed to meet the basic needs of over 265,000 households with children. Social Behavior Digital content for caregivers has reached 13.5 million people with critical information including explosive ordnance risk education, immunization, breastfeeding, and PSS.
UNICEF also continues to support Ukraine’s Child Helpline, which has provided online psychosocial support services to 694 beneficiaries from all regions of Ukraine since 24 February 2022. Additionally, thirteen mobile child protection and gender-based violence (GBV) teams have been providing outreach child protection services and support, phone counselling services, and referrals to state social services throughout the country.
UNICEF is establishing four new partnerships to facilitate delivery of health care services to affected people in Internal Displaced Person (IDP) camps, shelters and temporary congregation points (railway stations, etc.) across Ukraine.
UNICEF, in partnership with local NGO Friends Hands has delivered bottled water, family hygiene kits, baby diapers, maternal health kits, institutional hygiene kits and disinfectants to health and social institutions to provide direct assistance to affected families in eastern Ukraine. Partnerships with the private sector are also being established to provide bottled water to the most affected areas in the east of the country, while over 75,000 hygiene kits have been ordered and will be distributed to collective centers and to families in areas affected by the conflict, depending on access.
An expert team has been deployed to support the humanitarian cash transfers programme to meet the basic needs of over 265,000 conflict-affected households with children.
SOURCE: https://www.1212.be/le-reseau-international-caritas/
In the light of the Ukrainian crisis, UNICEF Belgium has formed a partnership with seven humanitarian organizations in a consortium called Consortium 12-12 that coordinate to raise funds in Belgium during serious crises or natural disasters in developing countries. These organizations include Caritas International, Medecin du Monde, Handicap International, Oxfam-Belgium, Plan International Belgium, Belgian Red Cross.
Launched in 3 March 2022, 3 million euros have already been raised to support their partners in providing emergency humanitarian relief.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
SOURCE: https://www.wfp.org/publications/food-security-implications-ukraine-conflict
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has major implications for food security across the world as well as the region, given both countries’ major roles in global food markets and Russia’s prominence in global energy trade. Both Ukraine and Russia are critical players in global wheat and maize markets, ranging among the top five exporters globally for both commodities. Together, the two countries supply 30 percent of wheat and 20 percent of maize to global markets.
The conflict in Ukraine has raised high food prices even further. These increases, once passed on to domestic markets, will limit people’s access to food. The main expected effect of the conflict on global food security comes through the impact on global grain and energy markets. In addition to increased prices, access to food will result. Russia is one of the world’s most important exporters of the three major groups of fertilizers – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Rising input costs in turn could impact next season’s harvest, leading to elevated food prices in the longer run.
Short-term impacts on WFP procurement include expected cancellations or delays of WFP split pea and barley shipments from the port of Odessa. This will likely primarily affect West Africa, where the cargo is needed for distributions from May onwards. They will simultaneously increase operational costs for WFP, constraining its response at a time when people need it most.
WFP
SOURCE: WFP Ukraine Situation Report #4
HIGHLIGHTS
Bulk food, bread and food rations are being delivered into Ukraine urban areas. Interagency crossline convoys are prepared to support encircled cities with food during humanitarian pauses, security permitting.
In Ukraine, the WFP team is mapping and contracting partners on the ground to support the delivery of food and voucher assistance to the crisis-affected populations. Agreements were concluded targeting one million vulnerable beneficiaries so far.
WFP established its presence in Lviv while the agency is assessing the possibility to expand in Dnipro and Vinnitsya to organize humanitarian convoys into the north and east, whenever needed. Value voucher are being distributed to 2,000 people in Lviv, Ukraine. This activity will be scaled up to reach more people in areas where markets and systems are functioning.
Overall, close to 20,000 mt of various food commodities have been purchased and are at various stages of delivery. Some 6,000 MT of which has arrived or will be dispatched by the end of the week and transported into Ukraine.
In Moldova, WFP cash assistance experts are conducting rapid assessment of financial service providers to explore the potential of cash distribution and possible payment options.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine, a WFP-contracted bakery is increasing its production line with a daily target of 15 mt (30,000 loaves of bread) benefitting 60,000 people. A national NGO will take on delivery duties, effective immediately.
Some 17 mt of various dry foods (including beans, couscous, bread, canned beef) arrived in Lviv from Rzeszow, Poland and will be dispatched to Dnipro.
Some 200 mt of various dry food arrived from Turkey and are being palletized and dispatched over three-days, to Lviv and further on to the east.
A daily airlift of a total of 238 mt of High Energy Biscuits (HEB) is planned to commence this week to Rzeszow and Katowice in Poland, on a five-days cycle.
Additional food supplies purchased inside Ukraine include o 4,000 mt of wheat flour being loaded by train to Kiev city administration,
600 mt of mixed commodities and 700 mt of yellow split peas currently in Odessa to head to Kyiv.
And, from outside Ukraine: 200 mt of family rations are being loaded and in transit from Romania to Dnipro
12,600 mt of mixed commodities to be delivered by suppliers in Poland and Romania.
WFP Operations in Ukraine and Neighbouring Countries
WHO
SOURCE: https://www.who.int/news/item/13-03-2022-stop-attacks-on-health-care-in-ukraine
In Ukraine, since the start of the war, 31 attacks on health care have been documented via the WHO’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA). According to these reports, in 24 incidents in health care facilities were damaged or destroyed, while in five cases ambulances were damaged or destroyed. These attacks have led to at least 12 deaths and 34 injuries, and affected access to and availability of essential health services.
More than 4,300 births have occurred in Ukraine since the start of war and 80,000 Ukrainian women are expected to give birth in next three months. Oxygen and medical supplies, including for the management of pregnancy complications, are running dangerously low.
WHO is coordinating with partners the provision of humanitarian health assistance, both within Ukraine and on its borders, and providing technical support and surge staff. WHO is providing support across Ukraine through the Country Office, the Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen, as well as from its headquarters in Geneva.
WHO is working with partners to alleviate shortages of life-saving equipment and medication, such as oxygen and insulin, surgical supplies, anaesthetics, and transfusion kits to collect, test and safely transfuse blood. Oxygen generators, generators to maintain electrical supply in affected health facilities, defibrillators, monitors, anaesthesia drugs, rehydration salts, gauze and bandages are among the medical supplies WHO and partners are shipping into Ukraine to save lives and maintain health services.
HIGHLIGHTS
On 5 March, approximately 600 doses of anti-tetanus toxoid reached Kyiv, and 36 tonnes of vital medical supplies reached Lviv, from where they are being distributed to health facilities across the country.
On 8 March, WHO delivered 10 tonnes of trauma and emergency surgery kits to Kyiv, to be distributed to warehouses in 7 regions: Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Zaporizhia, Zhytomyr and Cherkasy.
On 9–11 March, 9 shipments of 10 tonnes each were dispatched to Kharkiv via Poltava; to Sumy via Poltava; to Dnipro; to Kherson via Dnipro; to Mariupol via Dnipro; to Mykolaiv; to Zhytomyr; to Zaporizhia; and to Cherkasy. Each shipment serves 150 trauma patients and 15 000 primary health care patients for 3 months.
On 12 March 2, ventilators were delivered to hospitals in Kyiv and 14 tonnes or 52 cubic metres of trauma kits and essential medicines for primary health care reached Lviv.
To support operations in and into Ukraine, a WHO support hub is being established in Poland. WHO has also scaled up surveillance and health information dissemination to detect and respond to outbreaks early and better understand needs, threats and health service availability.
WHO and partners have updated the Public Health Situation Analysis for Ukraine, covering health needs and threats to the population. WHO and the Health Cluster also launched the mapping tool 3W, showing who does what and where. Event-based surveillance activities for various potential hazards are also ongoing, including through Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS).
SOURCE: https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/ukraine-emergency/news/news/2022/03/a-life-saving-journey-critical-who-supplies-arrive-in-ukraine
Coordinating the logistics for this shipment and making sure it gets to its destination has been no small feat – taking 5–6 days from dispatch in Dubai to arrival in Lviv.
The supplies arrived in Poland by cargo plane on 3 March, travelling a distance of over 6200 km from the hub in Dubai. The 36 tonnes of medical aid and trauma supplies will meet the urgent needs of 1000 people requiring surgical care and provide medical provisions to help treat 150 000 people.
This was the first of multiple shipments planned to support people severely affected by this humanitarian emergency. A second shipment has arrived in Lviv for distribution to other parts of Ukraine, containing cold chain elements, such as fridges, so that vaccines and other medicines can be stored safely. The Dubai-based logistics team is also preparing more health supplies for a third charter flight, which will deliver an additional 40 tonnes of trauma and emergency surgery kits to enable hospitals to continue to treat injured patients and perform operations.
WHO has released US$ 5.2 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies and will need to raise US$ 45 million for Ukraine and US$ 12.5 million to support neighbouring countries providing refugee care.
OCHA
SOURCE: https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-humanitarian-impact-situation-report-300-pm-eet-13-march-2022
The Humanitarian Coordinator will release US$30 Million from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund to:
Provide timely lifesaving multisectoral assistance to displaced and non-displaced persons, who are affected by the escalation of hostilities.
Protect conflict-affected people and civilian infrastructure regarding international humanitarian law, norms, and standards.
Support provision of basic services in areas impacted by the escalation of hostilities.
KEY FIGURES (FLASH APPEAL 2022)
12M people in need (Source: 2022 Flash Appeal)
6M people targeted (Source: 2022 Flash Appeal)
$1.1B funding required (US$) (Source: 2022 Flash Appeal)
11% funded (Source: FTS)
HIGHLIGHTS
As of midnight on 12 March, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reports at least 1,663 civilian causalities, including 596 killed, although the actual numbers are likely much higher.
The unfolding military offensive continues to expand to western Ukraine. Early on 13 March, airstrikes were reported at a military facility in Yavoriv, Lvivska oblast (west) and the airport in Ivano-Frankivska oblast (west) was nearly completely destroyed by a second airstrike in three days.
The humanitarian situation in the conflict-ravaged city of Mariupol (Donetska oblast, east) remains the biggest concern. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns that if there is no respite from hostilities and increased access to basic goods, like food, water and medicine, affected people may potentially die from dehydration, hunger and lack of access to essential medicines.
The Nutrition Cluster estimates that more than 2 million children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women are in need of life-saving nutrition assistance in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Energy Ministry says around 264,000 users have reportedly been cut off from gas supplies in Ukraine, mainly in Donetska, Kyivska (north) and Zaporizhzhia (south-east) oblasts, and some 960,000 are now without electricity, with Chernihivska (north), Donetska, Kharkivska (east) and Kyivska oblasts worst-affected.
SOURCE: Ukraine: Humanitarian Impact Situation Report (As of 3:00 p.m. (EET) on 13 March 2022)
HIGHLIGHTS
The Government of Ukraine has set up a Coordination Centre for Humanitarian and Social Affairs to coordinate the response of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international humanitarian organizations. The Cabinet of Ministers will facilitate relations with diplomatic missions, international organizations and donors to ensure the coordinated delivery of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
The Ukraine inter-agency operations cell headed by OCHA and the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has rolled out a humanitarian notification system to facilitate the deconfliction and safe movement of humanitarian cargo to the worst-affected areas. The humanitarian community in-country continues to coordinate response activities through already-established and well-functioning country-level coordination mechanisms that have been further reinforced by the activation of additional clusters.
On 12 March, OCHA Ukraine conducted a meeting with Heads of NGOs. Around 130 national and international NGOs attended the meeting, most of which are new to the Ukrainian context. The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss humanitarian needs and response, coordination with the Cluster system in place, operational modalities and related issues, including security and logistics. OCHA will continue facilitating the inclusion of NGOs new to the context into the existing coordination architecture to avoid duplication and ensure the maximum coverage and effectiveness of the response. Meetings with NGOs will take place on a weekly basis.
Needs:
People in the most-affected cities, such as Izium, Kharkiv (Kharkivska oblast), Mariupol, Okhtyrka, Sumy (Sumska oblast, north), as well as Kherson (Khersonska oblast, south) and Zaporizhzhia (Zaporizka oblast), urgently need ready-to-eat meals.
Odesa City Council has also requested food support for 150,000 families. If your organization can provide support, please contact FSL Cluster for further details: info.ukraine@fscluster.org.
Ongoing response & humanitarian assistance delivered:
Hungarian Interchurch Aid is providing assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the affected population. As of 11 March, 250 tons of aid were delivered; 15,254 people received aid, including 10,869 IDPs in Ukraine and 4,385 people who fled to Hungary. The assistance is currently provided to different institutions across Ukraine, including in Lvivska and Zakarpatska oblasts (west) and will expand to Ivano-Frankivska, Zaporizka and Khersonska oblasts.
Last week, ICRC distributed food to Ocheretyne, Sloviansk, Svitlodarsk and Toretsk (Donetska oblast, GCA) and to Dokuchaevsk, Horlivka and Olenivka (Donetska oblast, NGCA). Multi-purpose cash assistance in the amount of UAH5,000 ($170) is being provided to 1,000 persons. ICRC is also planning to deliver five trucks of food and water to Kharkiv.
Between 10 and 12 March, the Ukrainian Red Cross, in collaboration with the NOVUS network, provided more than 3,000 meal kits to affected people in Kyiv. In Chernihiv (Chernivetska oblast), as of 12 March, the Ukrainian Red Cross delivered more than 400 meal kits.
In the last two weeks, Caritas Ukraine has delivered more than 15,000 food kits to people in need. Additionally, Caritas continues to provide hot lunch to around 1,200 people every day.
UNDP
UNDP is urgently assisting the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation to provide new digital support services for Ukrainian refugees and displaced people, as well as social and humanitarian support services for those still in Ukraine.
As the conflict intensifies, UNDP is also partnering with the State Emergency Services and local authorities to assess and repair damage to critical energy, communications, and other infrastructure. The online provision of public services is part of an ongoing project between the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and UNDP, supported by the Government of Sweden.
SOURCE: https://www.ua.undp.org/content/ukraine/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2022/undp-mobilizes-emergency-medical-supplies-in-ukraine-as-efforts-.html
UNDP mobilizes emergency medical supplies in Ukraine as efforts to support over one million people fleeing violence also scale up.
In Moldova, UNDP has worked with partners providing emergency shelter, to ensure those fleeing the violence also have access to much needed food and hygiene products. In refugee distribution centres, portable shower cabins and electric heaters have also been provided.