Uneven distribution. While donations have been pouring into Ukraine since the start of the conflict with Russia, UN agencies and major international NGOs are taking by far the lion’s share of the pie. Local associations have only received 0.3% of the 12,000 million euros raised since February. However, they lack everything.
“I sleep fully clothed”
In Kherson, in eastern Ukraine, the wait is long. Neighbors have to wait several hours and make their way through the crowd to get a piece of bread, water or hygiene products.
For some, humanitarian aid has become their only means of survival since the Russian invasion began almost 10 months ago.
“There is no heating anymore, so we have to warm ourselves with blankets. I sleep fully dressed, with my hat, because my head is always cold,” Raisa Hablo, a resident, told BFMTV.
Deterioration of working conditions
As winter approaches, temperatures continue to drop and working conditions for humanitarian volunteers have deteriorated.
“There are volunteers who sometimes live without electricity, without water, without even a means of subsistence. There are those who sometimes ask: ‘can we also help ourselves with food rations to be able to live’”, the president of the NGO U-Saved François Dupaquier assures BFMTV.
“There are volunteers who sometimes give up, who are completely exhausted and give up their action”, he says again.
Only 1% of donations for local associations
For the UN, of the 3.6 billion euros raised by the United Nations this year, only 1% was donated to Ukrainian NGOs. The rest was raised by large international NGOs.
“The two find it very difficult to connect, which means that the international aid system exhausts many resources that have difficulty going through the Ukrainian mechanisms,” explains the director of the URD think tank, François Grunewald.
Aid to the civilian population provided by Ukrainian NGOs could now be relayed by municipalities and regional administrations.
Source: BFM TV
