UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2019) The International Organization for Migration (IOM) aims to provide humanitarian assistance to more than 40,000 people affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine as the temperatures drop, IOM said in a press release on Friday.
"This winter IOM is striving to provide humanitarian assistance to over 40,000 vulnerable conflict-affected people on both sides of the contact line," the release said.
In the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, more than 12,000 people will receive enough coal to keep home temperature at 18 degrees Celsius (64.4 degrees Fahrenheit), the release said. Another 6,000 vulnerable people will be provided with warm blankets, bed linen, pillows and towels, and 1,000 individuals in remote areas will get electric heaters.
Some 2,000 people with disabilities, the elderly, single parents and families with three and more children in government-controlled areas close to the contact line will receive $40 in cash for three months. According to IOM, for most vulnerable households in the region, the monthly income does not exceed $77.
The UN agency added it would also engage in rehabilitation activities at more than 30 centers for the elderly, people with disabilities, medical facilities and other institutions in the non-government-controlled areas.
Since the beginning of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, IOM has provided aid to more than 160,000 people.
Kiev authorities launched a military operation against independence militias in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in April 2014. The confrontation has claimed over 9,000 lives, according to UN estimates.
