The UN asks for more than 5.2 billion euros to help the victims of the war in Ukraine

MADRID, 15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United Nations has launched this Wednesday an appeal to demand from the international community 5,600 million dollars (about 5,220 million euros) with which to help more than 15 million people affected directly or indirectly by the military escalation unleashed in Ukraine just a year ago. year, when Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order to start an invasion.

The UN estimates that 40 percent of the Ukrainian population currently requires humanitarian aid, the result of a devastation that has also pushed large numbers of people to flee the country. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are eight million Ukrainians in other countries.

Less than two weeks before the first anniversary of the invasion, the United Nations has put on the table a plan outlined by UNHCR and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). which aims to cover the expenses of hundreds of humanitarian organizations, both inside and outside Ukraine.

Of the total money requested, 3,900 million dollars would go to provide basic aid --food, health care, cash, for example-- to 11.1 million people, while the remaining 1,700 million are concentrated in care for 4.2 million refugees and host communities in a dozen countries --Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia--.

The UN Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, has warned that "the war continues to cause death, destruction and displacement on a daily basis" and at an "overwhelming" level. "The suffering of the Ukrainian population is far from over, they need international support", he stressed in a statement.

The head of UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, has praised the solidarity of the countries hosting the refugees and the "extraordinary" work of civil society, a sign that Europe can take "collective action" to help people who are They have been forced to leave their homes.

"Refugees have not only been welcomed, but have been provided with temporary arrangements that give them the right to work, to services and to be included in national systems," he added. According to the international agency, more than 4.8 million Ukrainians benefit from some protection framework in Europe.

However, Grandi has called "not to take for granted" the hospitality of the areas where refugees have arrived in large numbers and to guarantee that these communities also receive the help they need until the refugees can return "in safety and dignity "to Ukraine.