FILE PHOTO: Refugees brave the cold in a frozen field after they fled from Ukraine because of the Russian invasion at the border checkpoint in Medyka, Poland, March 1, 2022. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo
GENEVA (Reuters) - Two agencies at the United Nations on Wednesday made an appeal to raise $5.6 billion to support the Ukrainians most affected by the Russian invasion.
The announcement, made jointly by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), comes days before the one-year anniversary of the invasion on Feb. 24.
The Humanitarian Response Plan for Ukraine, which includes hundreds of local Ukrainian organizations, is seeking $3.9 billion in funding, while the Refugee Response Plan for refugees from Ukraine called for $1.7 billion.
"I urge all those generous governments, people and civil society, and people like you and me around the world to give generously today," Martin Griffiths, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told a briefing in Geneva.
"You can be sure that the funding will go to those who need it in Ukraine."
Griffiths said the funds would be destined for more than 11 million Ukrainians to provide them with food, health care, cash and other necessary assistance.
Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said the Refugee Response Plan included 10 countries that had welcomed a large number of Ukrainian refugees since the war broke out, including neighbouring Moldova, Poland and Romania.
"Refugees have not only been welcomed, but temporary protection arrangements have provided refugees with the right to work, access services and to be included in national systems," Grandi said in a statement. "We must not, however, take this response, or the hospitality of host communities, for granted."
Russia has intensified attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine in recent weeks, and a major new offensive ahead of the one-year anniversary of the invasion has been widely anticipated.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
