Russia’s attack on Ukraine triggered the fastest-escalating humanitarian crisis in the world since World War II. Within less than two months, nearly 13 million people were forced to flee their homes. Those who remained on besieged territories have been living without access to food, water and heating, constantly facing a threat of bombing. Due to the war, 16 million people urgently need humanitarian aid.
During the Conference, the international community declared readiness to support Ukraine’s fight against the Russian aggression and to help Ukrainian refugees with more than USD 6.5 bn. Representatives of individual countries and organisations announced commitments and expenditure allocations to meet the immediate humanitarian needs.
Organisations that provide humanitarian aid require donors’ continued support. This support is essential in order to extend the organisations’ capacity to operate in Ukraine and make sure that help reaches those affected by the war.
The event’s partners and guests were President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. The conference was also attended by heads of international humanitarian organisations: UN Deputy Secretary-General and Head of UN OCHA, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, UNICEF’s Executive Director, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, OSCE Secretary General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Secretary-General, and the presidents of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and of the European Investment Bank well as by representatives of the business community.
The second part of the conference was devoted to the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine. The discussion opened by Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński and Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation Matilda Erkrans focused on the key items of the post-war reconstruction plan as well as the seizure of Russian Federation’s frozen assets and reserves to finance the reconstruction, fix the damages, and pay compensations.
Łukasz Jasina
MFA Spokesperson
Photo: Bartosz Peterman/MFA
