Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

Immediate needs regarding mine risk education and physical rehabilitation of vulnerable people affected by conflict and/or other situations of violence in Ukraine are covered. Vulnerable people include persons living in mine risk areas, persons with physical disabilities – including men and women injured by clashes, mines or explosive remnants of war (ERW) – and other victims of violence.

Expected results

In 2019, the ICRC aims to achieve the following Mine Action results in Ukraine:

• Threats posed by conventional and non-conventional weapons to the local population are reduced.

• 2 physical rehabilitation centers (in Donetsk and Luhansk) are equipped and operational.

• Support to developing standards on health and care in the Donetsk rehabilitation center is provided.

• 2 disabled people’s organizations in Donetsk (in the Non-Government Controlled Area, NGCA) receive equipment (e.g. walking aids and wheelchairs) are and operational.

• Social integration of disabled people is secured through financial support to 2 disabled people’s organizations and one sports center.

Target group / Beneficiaries

With an Austrian contribution of EUR 500’000, the ICRC can assist the following number of beneficiaries:

• 150’000 people in affected communities have increased knowledge of mine risks and threats posed by conventional and non-conventional weapons

• Physical rehabilitation and social reintegration for up to 643 people with disabilities ensured

The ICRC works closely with the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and implements this program in Eastern Ukraine, along the line of contact as well as in Donetsk, Lugansk, Sloviansk, Mariupol, Sieverdonetsk and Kiev.

Activities

The ICRC tries to prevent or mitigate the effects of mines/ERW. Initiatives to reduce the impact of weapon contamination include:

- interventions to raise awareness of its risks and promote safe behaviour among affected communities. ICRC supports educational programmes for boys and girls incl. their parents, teachers and community leaders on mine awareness and safe behavior, or safe playgrounds

- technical interventions to remove or reduce the hazard – the ICRC will engage in such activities if certain conditions are met and a specific added value for its involvement is identified, such as when the ICRC has sole access to an area where weapon contamination has a humanitarian impact on nearby communities

- structural improvements to front-line crossing points will help reduce civilian exposure to mines and ERW.

Context

The armed conflict in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of eastern Ukraine continues. Discussions among the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine – made up of representatives from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to find a political solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine are continuing in Minsk, Belarus. Every day, tens of thousands of civilians cross the line of contact – which separates government–controlled areas from non-government-controlled areas – to visit relatives, to obtain official documents or for other purposes, such as bimonthly verification process for obtaining State pensions.

The armed conflict in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of eastern Ukraine continues. Discussions among the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine (made up of representatives from Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to find a political solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine) are continuing in Minsk, Belarus. Every day, tens of thousands of civilians cross the line of contact – which separates government–controlled areas from non-government-controlled areas – to visit relatives, to obtain official documents or for other purposes, such as bimonthly verification process for obtaining State pensions.

The ICRC maintains its multidisciplinary approach to addressing weapon contamination in the area. It assists in marking areas littered with mines and ERW, and provides support for weapon-clearance teams and Ukrainian Red Cross volunteers conducting risk-awareness sessions. Structural improvements to crossing points along the line of contact helps protect civilians more effectively from mines and ERW.