Ukraine

Summary of needs

The humanitarian needs assessment conducted in the third quarter of 2024 revealed that 5.4 million people are in need of Mine Action assistance, with 18 raions facing severe contamination (9 raions in severity phase 4 and 9 in severity phase 5). The most impacted oblasts are Chernihivska, Sumska, Kharkivska, Donetska, Dnipropetrovska, Mykolaivska, Khersonska and Odeska oblasts, where over 2.8 million of the 5.4 million people in need are. Areas close to the front line are the most impacted by dense explosive ordnance contamination.

Non-Technical Surveys (NTS) conducted after the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine have identified about 580 square kilometres as probably contaminated areas that requires further clearance. The contamination severely disrupts agricultural activities– the lifeblood of Ukraine’s rural economy.¹ According to preliminary estimates, about 3,000 square kilometres of agricultural land across Ukraine are not cultivated as a result of landmines and other impacts of the war. This lost agricultural production cannot be made up for elsewhere in the country.

Response strategy

Mine Action operators will prioritize high-need areas and scale up survey and clearance activities while scaling down explosive ordnance risk education activities. In 2024, a total of 18 humanitarian mine action operators are certified for Explosive Ordinance Risk Education (EORE), NTS and clearance (manual and mechanical), and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD).

Mine Action has five pillars (clearance, EORE, victim assistance (VA), advocacy and stockpile destruction), and currently in Ukraine there are two active working groups on EORE and VA. The Working Group on explosive ordnance risk education and an initiative group for drafting a EORE standard will prioritize EORE and broader awareness-raising interventions to directly assist around 1.1 million people through in-kind or service delivery modalities. This will include over 230,000 internally displaced people and around 1 million non-displaced people. This represents a scale-down from people prioritized for assistance in 2024. Certified EORE humanitarian operators will continue to support interested national NGOs to obtain EORE certification. In addition, the Working Group on explosive ordnance risk education and an initiative group for drafting a EORE standard co-chaired by the Ministry of Economy, will help to harmonize the best EORE practices and improve coordination between EORE stakeholders.

The Victim Assistance Working Group will prioritize the development of a technical guidance note on the provision of cash assistance to EO victims and strengthen referral pathways and support the Ministry of Economy in creating a National Action Plan on EO Victim Assistance, in line with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) 13.10 and the National Mine Action Strategy. Planned interventions will be coordinated with relevant ministries, health and rehabilitation services, MHPSS providers, the National Mine Action Authority and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. These efforts will strongly align with the Government’s efforts to ensure disability rights and UNCRPD initiatives. Some of the key activities for EO victims and their families include cash assistance to promote socioeconomic inclusion (VA constitutes a multifaceted long-term commitment to meet the needs and address the rights of EO victims). Other activities include ensuring access to existing government and other support mechanisms through coordination and referrals.

Targeting and prioritization

In 2025, MA AoR partners aims to assist approximately 1.4 million people, including 1.2 million non-displaced war-affected people and 268,755 internally displaced people. Of those, about 14 per cent are children, 30 per cent are older people and the remaining 56 per cent are adults. This number includes 5,314 survivors of explosive ordnance incidents. To address the risks posed by explosive ordnance, the Mine Action AoR will prioritize four main components:

• support the accreditation process of international and national NGOs and partnering for non-accredited organizations, and encourage local NGOs to become accredited
• expand support for coordination for EORE and NTS
• strengthen advocacy for national authorities regarding tasking, prioritization and coordination
• provide MA AoR partners with relevant information management products to support planning.

The approach to eliminating the risk from explosive ordnance through clearance will draw on strengthened operational capacities of accredited national and international mine action actors. In 2025, the focus will be on expanding NTS activities to release most of the suspected contaminated land, mark contaminated areas and contribute to the Government of Ukraine’s strategy to reduce existing potentially contaminated territories by 80 per cent within the next five years.

Mine Action AoR will strengthen its cooperation with National Mine Action Authority, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and national mine action operators to support their efforts in the National Mine Action Strategy and its Operational Plan.

Cost of response

The estimated cost of the prioritized response for mine action in 2025 is $86 million, a slight decrease compared to 2024. A significant portion of this budget is allocated to survey and clearance activities, which mine action humanitarian operators will continue to scale up in 2025. In addition, more survivors of explosive ordnance will receive cash assistance and will benefit from referrals to other services. Approximately $12 million is projected to support capacity development and institutional support of national partners, including specialized technical training of over 2,500 personnel.

Mine Action non-technical survey activities have increased two-fold compared to the 2024 target. However, unit costs have not changed, although there has been a decrease in low-cost activities (like EORE) and an increase in activities not associated with a direct beneficiary reach.

Links:

National Mine Action Strategy and its operational plan