IOM Regional Director Manfred Profazi today addressed the Standing with the Ukrainian People conference in Paris, which brought together 47 governments and hundreds of organizations and companies to focus on supporting Ukraine get through the winter.

Since the invasion 7.8m million people have fled the country and a further 6.5 million are displaced internally. However, IOM’s latest displacement tracking surveys show that most Ukrainians are determined to remain in their homes during the coldest months, with temperatures already well below zero and falling. 

Damage to infrastructure has plunged millions of people into poverty. Millions have already left the country, and among those who have stayed, over 40 per cent have exhausted their financial resources.

“It is essential that we continue supporting them and provide internally displaced people and other vulnerable groups with much-needed supplies to keep them safe and warm”, Mr Profazi said.

To that end, IOM’s 250 million USD winterization programme includes the provision of warm clothing, shelter repair and insulation materials, water and sanitation, health, fuel and cash assistance and energy production materials, including over 1,200 generators, he noted.

This assistance is being delivered across the vast country, including  areas recently  retaken by the Government of Ukraine.

Praising the “admirable resilience” being shown by Ukrainians, Mr Profazi challenged governments, businesses and civil society to not only attempt to meet the huge challenges of the winter, but to also keep recovery and long-term solutions to the forefront. 

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Addressing the conference via videolink, said Kyiv needed at least 800 million euros of emergency aid to help Ukrainians get through the winter. The conference has already raised one billion euro in aid to Ukraine, according to a statement from the French Foreign Ministry.

For further information please contact Joe Lowry in IOM Vienna on jlowry@iom.int, tel +436603776404