Ukraine Community Recovery Fund Approves First Strategic Allocation

“We presented the Fund’s concept back in July this year at the London Conference. International partners responded to our call to support the restoration of Ukrainian communities, and this is evidence of their trust and confidence in the future of Ukraine. Together we continue to establish the conditions for Ukrainians to return to their communities and restore their lives, even during war,” said Vice Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

The function of Fund Secretariat is carried out by the UN Resident Coordinator Office in Ukraine, with administrative support from the UN’s Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office. Projects supported by the fund will be implemented by relevant UN agencies on the ground in cooperation with local partners.

“The UN is not losing sight of humanitarian needs, wintertime challenges, and daily attacks that significantly affect the civilian population. At the same time, we are seeing that people want to return to their communities where that is possible. This is why the Recovery Fund has been launched – to provide an important push for housing and infrastructure reconstruction and demining, along with new livelihoods and support for the economic development of communities affected by the full-scale Russian invasion,” said UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown. “I am grateful to the governments that have already contributed to the Fund, and I call on others to join this critical initiative.”

Apart from Denmark, who became the Fund's first mover in November 2023, funding has also been provided by Luxembourg and the Republic of Korea. Thus, as the first meeting of the Steering Committee took place, the Fund had $5.85 million available. $4.6 million was allocated to support communities in the Sumy region, while $1.25 million provided by Korea and earmarked to the Mine Action window of the Fund will be directed to supporting much needed infrastructure of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine for community demining. Over the next five years, the Fund aims to raise $300 million and be a catalyst for the recovery of Ukrainian communities.

“In July 2023, the Sumy Regional Administration launched an inclusive Recovery Coordination Council that brings together national and international partners to coordinate the ongoing interventions towards the implementation of our Recovery Strategy 2022-2024. While we have made some progress against the targets in our plan, a key gap remains in mobilizing resources to support communities with livelihoods, agriculture and economic development. This allocation from the Community Recovery Fund fills a key funding gap for our Strategy and is an important signal to people in our communities who want to stay in their homes and rebuild their lives. I wish to thank Denmark, Luxembourg and Korea for their contributions to the Ukraine Community Recovery Fund,” commented Volodymyr Artiukh, Head of the Sumy Regional Administration.

As the next step, UN entities will work directly with the Sumy Regional Development Agency and the heads of target communities to design the needed interventions and rollout implementation by March 2024.