REACH deployed to Ukraine to support the Global Shelter Cluster
30 April 2015
Approximately 1.1 million people have been displaced from their homes due to ongoing conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine. Access to basic lifesaving services has been disrupted throughout much of the affected area and the influx of displaced persons has placed a strain on markets, resulting in steadily increasing prices of food and non-food items. Displacement has left many families with limited access to cash, income or social benefits, leaving them particularly vulnerable to rising inflation. Moreover, the arrival of displaced families has placed a strain also on the hosting population, since existing services and resources are stretched.
Despite the visible need for assistance, information on the displaced population’s specific needs for shelter and other basic items is limited. Where available, existing data is not sufficiently representative to be used as the basis of rigorous planning, and therefore further information is needed to inform targeted assistance by humanitarian actors.
In response to this information gap, REACH is about to launch a detailed needs assessment of the displaced population in Ukraine to better understand their needs relating to shelter and other basic items. In partnership with the Global Shelter Cluster, the statistically representative survey builds on existing data from other assessments by humanitarian agencies and the Ukrainian government and aims to close the information gap with respect to the shelter and NFI needs of the displaced population. The information collected will provide a baseline assessment, which will identify areas of priority need, inform targeted planning by humanitarian actors and allow monitoring of the ongoing humanitarian response.
