The humanitarian response plan of the UN mission is $3 billion for 2024, and it is funded by only 30%, said Denise Brown, the coordinator of the UN system in Ukraine and humanitarian coordinator, who is completing her two-year mission.

“Unfortunately, the longer the war continues, the more difficult it’s going to be for us to get humanitarian funding. The world is seeing some very terrible situations in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan, so it’s harder and harder for us to get the funding right now. Our humanitarian response plan is a summary of all of our humanitarian actions in Ukraine. It is three billion dollars for 2024 and it’s only funded at 30% while last year at the same time it was way over 50%. It is more and more difficult,” Brown said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

She stressed that she always tried to be very clear in her messages to donors, “the war is not over, the suffering is not over, the needs increase, and do not normalize the war in Ukraine.”

Brown noted that there must be a way for the international community to continue to support all places where humanitarian assistance is needed “until political solutions are found.”

The UN also reported that the Plan for preparing for winter in Ukraine is already ready. In particular, the mission is focusing on eight areas along the front line, especially the elderly, women with children.

“Last year we reached more than two million people, and we will do that or a little more again this year. We have the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, which I oversee. And two weeks ago we launched a request for proposals for those specific winter actions. And we have right now about 68 million U.S. dollars that we will use for that. If it’s not enough, we will put more, but we need to start now,” she added.

With the help of the winter preparation plan, UN aims to reach 1.8 million people, and for this we need about $500 million, Brown said.

Speaking generally about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, the UN stressed that the needs are enormous, and more than 14 million people in Ukraine need humanitarian assistance.

“What we see happening in Ukraine is that needs are only increasing. And that’s to be expected, because the war continues and, in some places in the country, intensifies. And as we go towards the winter months, I know the government, with the partners including the UN, is doing everything possible to improve the energy situation. But if we have a winter with insufficient supplies of energy, then there will be more people in need of assistance,” Brown stressed.

As reported, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Matthias Schmale as the coordinator of the UN system and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine from August 11, 2024, with the approval of the host government.