UN has set up safe spaces along the Ukrainian border and has reached to more than 3,30,000 people with food assistance since the war began in Ukraine in late February.
The Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, in a press briefing on Monday said, two United Nations agencies, UNICEF and UNHCR, have set up “Blue Dots” centres, which are “one-stop safe spaces for children and women,” at various places along Ukraine’s border in neighbouring countries. “Blue Dots” centres are set up in coordination with local governments and civil society organizations and “help to identify unaccompanied and separated children and ensure their protection, as well as provide a hub for essential services and information for travelling families,” Dujarric said.
Furthermore, the UN World Food Programme said it has reached more than 330,000 people inside Ukraine with food assistance since the Russian invasion, according to Dujarric. He added that food delivery to cooperating partners is also being accentuated.
“In Kharkiv, the World Food Programme doubled its bread distribution through partners, reaching nearly 78 metric tonnes for about 260,000 people. In Kyiv — following the delivery of 26 metric tonnes of high-energy biscuits – WFP’s partners have delivered about 325 metric tonnes of vegetable oil and 478 metric tonnes of wheat flour to nearly 70,000 vulnerable people. In Dnipro, some 2.2 metric tonnes of mixed canned food was also distributed to the most vulnerable,” Dujarric said.
On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics requested help in defending themselves. What followed the military operation was a slew of sanctions imposed by the western countries targeting the Russian economy.