GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations on Monday injected $40 million in emergency funding to its agencies supplying Ukrainians with cash, food, medicine and shelter, its humanitarian chief said.
It was the second such allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24. That same day, the U.N. announced a $20 million injection.
“These funds are critical to get operations off the ground immediately,” U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement. “In the early days of our response, fast and flexible funding can make all the difference.”
In the absence of certainties about safe passage for humanitarian convoys, agencies have been using existing local supply networks via bakeries and hospitals to get food to major cities like Kyiv, the U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said.
They plan to send additional staff to the conflict-hit east in order to get supplies out of warehouses and closer to people in need, it added.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Tim Ahmann)
