PRESS RELEASE : UK boosts humanitarian funding for Ukraine [February 2024]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 29 February 2024.

Two years on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK has pledged £8.5 million in humanitarian funding to the Red Cross Movement and the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.

Two years on from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UK has pledged £8.5 million in humanitarian funding allocations to the Red Cross Movement and the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund. The funding will bolster the UK’s ongoing support for their work with local partners, providing emergency responses and vital humanitarian assistance across Ukraine.

In 2024, over 14.6 million people – about 40 percent of the Ukrainian population – need humanitarian assistance. Millions have been left homeless, struggle without adequate access to water, food and electricity, and desperately need health, protection and other essential services and supplies in territories under Russian occupation.

Over £6 million will support the Red Cross Movement’s neutral and impartial work, reinforcing their existing emergency response projects and their support to the most vulnerable in Ukraine.

£2.5 million will fund the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, part of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. UK funding supports ongoing emergency responses, preparedness activities and last-mile aid delivery in frontline areas where local communities have been most affected by recent attacks.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said:

Ukrainians are bravely defending their land against Russia’s brutal invasion, but the past 2 years of war have had a tragic impact on millions of people across Ukraine. Families have been separated, towns and villages decimated, and vital civilian infrastructure destroyed. The UK stands with Ukraine, and is committed to supporting the most vulnerable Ukrainians living through the horrors of this war.

This announcement follows the Foreign Secretary’s visit to the UN on Friday, where he addressed the United Nations Security Council and United Nations General Assembly. He reinforced the UK’s commitment to supporting Ukraine, and Ukrainians suffering at the hands of Putin and his illegal invasion.

Denise Brown, UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said:

The international community has truly stepped in, with remarkable support over the past 2 years, enabling the humanitarian community to help millions of people in Ukraine suffering the horrifying consequences of Russia’s invasion. But the war, the suffering and the needs are still a daily outrageous reality that the world should absolutely not tolerate or normalise. International support, including from the UK, is as crucial as ever to ensuring the humanitarians in Ukraine can assist people who desperately need it.

This funding is part of £357 million of humanitarian assistance the UK has committed since the start of the full-scale invasion. UK support contributes to an international response that reached 11 million people in Ukraine in 2023 and 15.8 million in 2022.

The UK has now provided almost £12 billion in support to Ukraine, and is one of the largest bilateral humanitarian donors.