The UN and its partner organizations launched an emergency appeal on Tuesday to raise $1.7 billion to provide the humanitarian aid that Ukraine will need.
“We are witnessing what might become the worst refugee crisis in Europe in this century,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Of this total amount, 1.1 billion dollars should make it possible to help 6 million people in the country itself for an initial period of three months, specifies a press release from the organization.
According to the UN, 12 million people will need help in Ukraine as well as more than 4 million refugees who might flee the fighting.
In less than a week, since the start of the military crisis, more than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine and taken refuge in neighboring countries, according to the UNHCR.
To help these countries cope with the shock, the UN needs 550.6 million dollars, in order to meet the basic necessities of people who have found refuge in Poland – a country which hosts more than half of the registered refugees – but also Moldova, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. This amount should make it possible to provide accommodation, distribute money and provide psychological support to people who had to flee leaving everything behind.