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With winter approaching, UNICEF is appealing for $32 million to help keep critical services running for children by reducing disruptions to water, sanitation, health and education services, and distributing cash and in-kind support to families.
KYIV, 25 September 2024 – Children and families across Ukraine are bracing for the freezing winter months, as repeated attacks on energy infrastructure could result in power outages of up to 18-hours a day, leaving Ukraine’s children freezing and without access to essential services. Access to health care and education and sources of heat, safe water and sanitation for children and families have already been strained by the full-scale war.
“The lack of power and all its knock-on effects this winter could have a devastating impact not only on children’s physical health but on their mental wellbeing and education,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative to Ukraine. “Children’s lives are consumed by thoughts of survival, not childhood,” he added.
The heating system, water network and operation of sewage, sanitation and water treatment plants will be further strained without regular electricity. Schools that are open may be forced to close and online education will be disrupted for 1.7 million children.
“Children are yet again at risk of losing out on education. School life is not just about learning, its core to the holistic development of children who need to be with their peers and trusted adults, especially during a time of extreme stress,” added Mammadzade.
UNICEF is particularly concerned for the children and families who live within 30km of the frontline, as well as those who continue to be displaced and children in alternative care. In response, UNICEF and partners are distributing cash assistance and in-kind support, such as solid fuel, blankets and winter clothing, to some 100,000 people ahead of the drop in temperatures.
UNICEF’s large-scale winter response includes technical assistance, supplies and equipment to repair and bolster district heating, and water networks, embedding longer-term recovery efforts within the emergency work.
UNICEF has been working with relevant authorities to install heating support equipment in schools, hospitals, and social institutions. The renovation of infrastructure, project designs and use of innovative technology is designed to improve the efficiency and running of water utilities, health centers and schools in the immediate and longer-term. The overall UNICEF winter response targets some 1.4 million people, including 240,000 children.
“We are committed to do what we can to support the extraordinary energy, water and sanitation technicians, as well as health and educational personnel, who are doing everything they can to keep essential services running,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Representative to Ukraine.
UNICEF once again calls for all attacks on civilian areas and the infrastructure children rely on, as well as the military use of these facilities, to stop. This includes schools, hospitals, energy, and water and sanitation systems.
The UNICEF Ukraine winter response still urgently needs US$33 million to help households survive the freezing winter months. Additional resources would enable a rapid scale-up of cash assistance to vulnerable children and the procurement and installation of heating equipment to keep perinatal and children’s hospitals functioning.
UNICEF is grateful to its partners who have already supported the winter response, including the European Union, the governments of Croatia, Denmark, Norway, the Republic of Korea and the United States of America, as well as private sector donations.
Media contacts
Toby Fricker
Chief Advocacy and Communications
UNICEF Ukraine
Email: tfricker@unicef.org