"There are several thousand displaced families, many of them with children, living in the east of the country, whose income is below the minimum monthly subsistence level of 1,176 Ukrainian hryvnia per person," said Dragana Rankovic, the ICRC's economic security coordinator in Ukraine, according to the ICRC press service.
"Already now these people hardly make ends meet. And it is very likely that they will face even more difficulties during the approaching cold season," said the official.
With the aim of supporting unemployed displaced people and their dependents, the ICRC reports introducing a cash assistance program, designed in close cooperation with the Ukrainian Red Cross. The pilot phase has just started in 16 districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions under Ukrainian government control. It is expected to last until the end of the year.
Read alsoUN coordinator elaborates on aid program in DonbasMore than 4,200 beneficiaries of the programme will receive a text message from their local bank providing the bank´s hotline number, the amount of cash assistance they will receive and where to collect it. They will also be given a free hotline number by which to contact the ICRC if needed.
Read alsoUN: Ukraine ranked ninth in the world by number of internally displaced personsSince April 2014 the ICRC has been assisting local residents and displaced people affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine with food, household items and construction materials. It has also provided medicines and dressing material to hospitals on both sides of the front line.
