la gurre en ukrain

After months of posturing while simultaneously denying any plans to attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin's assaults on multiple cities in Ukraine began overnight on Feb. 24 and have continued day and night since then. The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s (CDP) response to this crisis is focused on humanitarian needs that arise, particularly among internally displaced peoples (IDPs) and refugees. We are not looking at the conflict itself except for how it affects population movement and humanitarian needs. To that end, this profile is not providing detailed updates about the status of the war as we believe that is better done by news media. In 2023, 17.6 million people in Ukraine require humanitarian assistance, 45% of whom are women, 23% are children and 15% are people with disabilities. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in their Dec. 19 Ukraine Situation Report, “Regular waves of attacks on energy infrastructure continue to cause destruction and leave millions of people across Ukraine with no electricity, disrupting water supply and heating systems, while temperatures have fallen below zero in most parts of the country. The attacks have also damaged other civilian infrastructure, including homes, as well as killed and injured civilians across Ukraine over the past couple of weeks.” Disruption to utilities poses significant humanitarian challenges. Human Rights Watch has raised concerns about Russian attacks on the energy grid and the harm done to civilians and Amnesty International called for Russia to “end its unlawful targeted assaults on civilian infrastructure.” In October, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said, “Attacks targeting civilians and objects indispensable to the survival of civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian law.” Humanitarian organizations, including CARE, have warned that the severe winter weather and continued attacks on civilian energy infrastructure could lead to a second refugee crisis. In addition to the impact of destroyed and damaged infrastructure, scheduled blackouts to mitigate the power shortages have a ripple effect, disrupting the ability of households to heat their homes and access water. Analysis by REACH released on Jan. 31, 2023 found that Kharkivska, Dnipropretrovska and Donetsk oblasts in Ukraine’s east faced particularly high exposure and vulnerability to severe winter hazards. Populations at increased risk include IDPs, older adults, and lower-income households. An information campaign launched by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the State Emergency Service aims to raise awareness of the safe use of generators, gas burners, heating stoves and candles amid the power and heating outages across Ukraine.