This Operations Update No. 6 gives an account of the humanitarian situation and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS)`s response for the period between 1 September 2015 and 29 February 2016, with the support of its partners, to the needs of internally displaced persons and returnees affected by the crisis in Ukraine.
Summary:
The revised Emergency Appeal is implemented by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) with the support of IFRC and provides a complex of assistance measures for the most vulnerable IDPs. This includes the provision of emergency relief items, vouchers for food, non-food/household items and pharmaceuticals as well as essential health and psychosocial support. Cash assistance through vouchers has been identified as one of the most appropriate solutions for areas not directly affected by the conflict. The choice of using vouchers as the support modality applied in the project is based on thorough assessments of the target population`s needs, taking into consideration the experience and capacity of URCS. The Emergency Appeal also foresees some modest material support to medical rooms and centres of the URCS and supports capacity building in disaster management (DM), first aid (FA), cash transfer programming (CTP), financial management and communications.
Extension of the timeframe of the revised Emergency Appeal: In May 2014, IFRC issued an Emergency Appeal (EA), to assist the URCS to respond to the emergency needs of 107,750 IDPs arising out of the conflict. Based on the needs the Emergency Appeal was revised twice, in the autumn of 2014 and in June 2015, and it was to expire by the end of May 2016. An extension by 12 months, till the end May 2017, is currently in effect. The total CHF 19.8 budget will remain unchanged.