The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Tuesday the 2017 humanitarian appeal for Ukraine, which was launched last month and calls for 214 million U.S. dollars, is only 1 percent funded.

"The humanitarian coordinator and the aid community there today said they are gravely concerned by the drastic deterioration of the security situation in the country's east and its impact on the humanitarian work," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.

The UN humanitarian coordinator, Neal Walker, said that an immediate cessation of hostilities is needed to prevent further loss of life and to allow repair teams to restore critical basic services, including water and heat, to people living in freezing cold weather.

According to the UN estimates, the conflict between government troops and pro-independence insurgents, which rages in eastern Ukraine since April 2014, left some 3.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)