Approximately 4 million people are in need in the East of Ukraine – European Commission

12:20 / 24 Jan. 2017 / 475

The priority of the European Union for 2017 in matters of humanitarian assistance to the eastern regions of Ukraine is its provision to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, especially those who live along the demarcation line and beyond the control of the Ukrainian Government. These were the main issues discussed at the international conference “Human Face East conflict” conducted by Social and Economic EU Committee.

The European Commission underlined the particular importance of the integrational efforts of the government agencies and non-governmental organizations.

• We have more opportunities today than we had before to implement an integrated approach, which would apply both to government-controlled territory, as well as uncontrollable, – Jean-Louis Brouwer, the representative of the European Commission’s department for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection said.

He stated that the humanitarian situation in the eastern territories of Ukraine remained complex and had no tendency to be improved. European Commission representative reminded that last year the EU provided the biggest humanitarian aid to Ukraine amounted € 2,6 million.

Brouwer said that the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Christ Stylianides planned to visit Ukraine in mid-February. This would be another clear demonstration of Ukraine priority for humanitarian policy in the EU.

Conference participants were reminded that about 10 thousand of Ukrainians died, 22,000 injured and 3.8 million people in the east of Ukraine are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance.

Member of the Platform of civil society of the EU-Ukraine Andrzej Adamczyk said that today Europe had to share responsibility to mobilize international efforts at the government level, as well as non-governmental organizations with the aim of finding and consolidating resources to provide humanitarian assistance to millions of vulnerable Ukrainians in the east.

More than 1,6 million people reportedly registered in Ukraine.

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