Ukraine: New cash assistance for displaced people without regular income
| Publisher | International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) |
| Publication Date | 15 September 2015 |
| Cite as | International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Ukraine: New cash assistance for displaced people without regular income, 15 September 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56b2608e17a.html [accessed 3 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has forced many civilians to flee the areas where fighting is taking place and to seek refuge in more peaceful areas. With winter approaching, the ICRC and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society are finding novel ways to help them cope with increasing needs, one of which is through a cash assistance programme.
Many displaced civilians hosted by local communities on both sides of the front line have no regular income. They rely almost solely on the support of their hosts, as well as of the local authorities and humanitarian aid agencies.
"There are several thousand displaced families, many of them with children, living in the east of the country, whose income is below the minimum monthly subsistence level of 1,176 Ukrainian hryvnia per person," said Dragana Rankovic, the ICRC's economic security coordinator in Ukraine. "Already now these people hardly make ends meet. And it is very likely that they will face even more difficulties during the approaching cold season."
With the aim of supporting unemployed displaced people and their dependents, the ICRC is introducing a cash assistance programme, designed in close cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross. The pilot phase has just started in 16 districts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions under Ukrainian government control. It is expected to last until the end of the year.
More than 4,200 beneficiaries of the programme will receive a text message from their local bank providing the bank´s hotline number, the amount of cash assistance they will receive and where to collect it. They will also be given a free hotline number by which to contact the ICRC if needed.
Since April 2014 the ICRC has been assisting local residents and displaced people affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine with food, household items and construction materials. It has also provided medicines and dressing material to hospitals on both sides of the front line.
