Executive Summary

Executive Summary

The crisis in Eastern Ukraine has significantly affected the entire population of the Donetsk oblast. However, given the pre-existing vulnerabilities and a demographic make-up of the buffer zone locations, older women and men have been particularly affected.

In Eastern Ukraine, we enter the 3rd year of the conflict that shows no sign of abating. It has already left 22,000 people wounded and 10,000 killed, and humanitarian needs persist for 3,8 millions of people. Action contre la Faim (ACF) is providing humanitarian assistance since 2015. Access to essential services for the most vulnerable remains a serious issue, and humanitarian space continues to shrink, mainly due to political blockages of warring parties.

Key findings

**Livelihoods*
• 99% reported pensions as their main source of income
• Nearly 1 in 3 of the assessed HHs rely on the older person’s pension as the main source of income • 80% of older people (74% women) reported a decrease in income since the beginning of the conflict with only 1% of older people being able to buy the same goods as before the conflict

In response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine countless volunteers, as well as many international humanitarian actors, including the United Nations system, national and international NGOs, and other international organizations, are engaged in the humanitarian relief effort. In December 2014 the cluster system was activated, with 7 clusters engaging in life-saving activities throughout the country. This 3W (WHO is doing WHAT WHERE) captures the presence of partners currently on the ground in each oblast. Meanwhile, humanitarian access remains severely constrained.

Key findings

Livelihoods
• 98% of older women and men rely on pension as their main source of income
• Older people spend majority of their income on medication (57%) and food (34%)
• 66% of people (73% women) report their income decreased since the beginning of the conflict
• 96% of people (74% women) cannot afford to buy the same products as before the conflict

This report is for the media and the general public.

After three years of conflict and 10,000 deaths, Russia has shown it can destabilise and dominate Ukraine. The Kyiv government may still prevail, but only if it uproots corruption and if the U.S. and EU maintain sanctions until Russia’s complete withdrawal from the country’s east.

Overview

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• Cereal production above average in 2016

• Cereal exports in 2016/17 marketing year forecast to decline from previous year’s record high

• Export and domestic prices of wheat increased in November

Cereal production above average in 2016

MINSK, 21 December – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) Martin Sajdik made the following press statement after the meeting of the TCG ‎and its Working Groups in Minsk on 21 December 2016:

“Today а regular round of negotiations took place, including а meeting of the TCG, consultations with representatives from certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions as well as meetings of Working Groups.

BERLIN, 21 December 2016 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today welcomed the declaration of the Trilateral Contact Group in which the sides recommitted to a comprehensive, sustainable and durable ceasefire starting from 24 December 2016 and reconfirmed their will to implement the Minsk agreements and to continue the Minsk process effectively in the year 2017.

This report is for the media and the general public.

SUMMARY

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons increased at both BCPs.

OPERATIONAL REMARKS

The OM is currently operating with 20 permanent international staff members, including the Chief Observer (CO). The Mission is supported administratively by a Vienna-based staff member.

OBSERVATIONS AT THE BORDER CROSSING POINTS

Alfano: "Italy has approved an emergency contribution of 1 million euros, divided into two funding packages: an initial 700,000 euros for the World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute food rations and cash aid to the most vulnerable civilian population, in order to lessen the human impact of the conflict taking place in eastern Ukraine.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the period between the evenings of 18 and 19 December. The SMM observed damage from fighting on 18 December, and followed up on reports of shelling and civilian casualties. The SMM continued monitoring the three disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and its access was again restricted. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs to essential infrastructure in Horlivka, Zolote, Orikhove and Krasnyi Lyman.

A third psychosocial centre that International Alert supports in Ukraine has opened to help victims of a conflict that has killed over 9,000 people and left over 1.2 million internally displaced.

‘Forpost Help’ centre was unveiled in Dnipro, a city in south-central Ukraine, with a traditional blessing by representatives of the Orthodox Christian Church. The Mayor of Dnipro attended the opening alongside the Governor of the Dnipro Region and Chairman of the Regional Council.

More than 1.6 million people are registered as internally displaced in Ukraine. Most have been forced to flee their homes over the past two years as a result of the political chaos sparked by anti-government protests in 2014, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the self-proclamation of the “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk and intense armed conflict in the east of the country.

The WASH Cluster was been informed of a serious electricity power failure to a three filter stations (Donetska, Verkhniokalmiuska and Makiivska) and the Central Water Unit (a water distribution pumping station run by “Voda Donbasa”) in Donetsk, on the afternoon of Wednesday 14th December 2016. Reasons were unspecified.

*The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions on both 17 and 18 December compared with 16 December. The SMM observed heavy fighting in the areas around Svitlodarsk and Debaltseve. The SMM followed up on reports of shelling and observed impacts on both sides of the contact line in Popasna and Kalynove. The SMM continued monitoring the three disengagement areas in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and its access was again restricted; it recorded ceasefire violations in or around Petrivske.