Martin Griffiths, the United Nations humanitarian chief, announced on Monday that the U.N. would allocate $40 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to increase aid to some of the most vulnerable people affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Faced with this grim and escalating crisis, we are mobilizing a massive relief effort,” Griffiths said, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“These funds are critical to get operations off the ground immediately. In the early days of our response, fast and flexible funding can make all the difference,” he added.
The funding, which is the second allocation since the start of the invasion, will go toward providing health services, food and shelter and cash to Ukrainian people in need. It follows a $20 million allocation of funds announced last month.
Some emergency supplies have already been sent to the capital Kyiv and other cities via networks of bakeries, shops and health facilities, OCHA added.
Other aid agencies are also providing cash to displaced people in parts of western Ukraine where markets are in place. The U.N. will also send staffers to the “conflict-affected east” in an effort to get supplies to those most gravely in need, the agency also said.
Since the start of Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, nearly 2 million people have been displaced within Ukrainian borders, unable to leave their homes amid heavy attacks in places like Mariupol, Kharkiv and Kyiv, OCHA noted.
Over 2.5 million people have fled the country since Russia’s unprovoked war began late last month.
