SITUATION OVERIEW
November and December have seen an increasing trend of ceasefire violations along the ‘contact line’. As of end November, the conflict resulted in 9,098 people killed, of which at least 2,000 were civilians, and over 20,732 people injured, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The trend of decreasing civilian casualties that started in September continued, with 35 civilian casualties (eight killed and 27 injured) recorded in November, 80 per cent of these caused by Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). This underscores the urgent need for extensive mine clearance and mine awareness actions on both sides of the ‘contact line’.
Restrictions on freedom of movement of civilians and goods continue to affect people living in areas along the ‘contact line’ and in NGCAs. This is a major concern as temperatures have plummeted, with long queues of civilians waiting for hours at the crossing points on the ‘contact line’ persist. These restrictions on freedom of movement of people and goods isolate people, impact family unity and limit access to social entitlements, medication and humanitarian assistance. According to the Ukrainian security forces, about 550,000 civilian crossings to and from NGCAs through five checkpoints along the ‘contact line’ were registered in November and 700,000 in December.
Despite challenges, UN agencies have been stepping up the delivery of humanitarian assistance to non-Government controlled areas (NGCAs) of Luhanska oblast following resumption of operations at the end of October. By end December, the UN and its partners delivered more than 2,500 MT of food, shelter,
NFIs, medicines to NGCAs. The UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are the only organisations registered by the Luhansk de facto authorities. The situation remains unchanged in Donetsk where only two partners – ICRC and the INGO PIN - are able to operate officially. Some activities are conducted through local partners. Between January and November, humanitarian partners provided educational and early childhood development kits to about 187,000 children and almost 2.1 million people were provided with access to safe drinking water. More than 245,000 people were provided with nonfood items across the country. About 93,000 people were provided medical consultations. By the end of November, Food Security Cluster partners delivered food vouchers and food parcels to around 357,000 people.
The 2015 Humanitarian Response Plan for Ukraine remains underfunded, according to the Financial Tracking Service (FTS). By the end of November, donors disbursed and pledged about US$158 million, or 50 per cent of the $316 million required. National actors, with their own private funding, are also substantially contributing to the humanitarian response.