Ukraine, while the war is pressing, the population is coming to terms with poverty and it is above all children who are paying the price

ROME – Two out of five families in Ukraine are in dire need of water, food and basic necessities, he says Save the Children in the latest report published at the end of March. The country is experiencing unprecedented rates of displacement, inflation and unemployment, one year into the war. Regions in the south and east are hardest hit by both fighting and poverty.

Inflation and the cost of food. According to assessments by the National Bank of Ukraine, the inflation rate reached 24.9% in February, down slightly from 26% in January 2023. Prices increased by 0.7%, with product costs rising almost half in the eastern regions. In September, one in five consumers in Ukraine could not afford to buy even basic necessities. Today, the increase in food prices has slowed significantly thanks above all to the stabilization of the energy sector. The prices of bread, flour products, soft drinks and canned food in general grew more slowly. Likewise, the increase in dairy products and sunflower oil has slowed down again due to the stabilization of the energy sector. Conversely, the prices of electronic, clothing and beauty products have increased significantly.

History. Anna and her three children can barely afford the household expenses. Today they live in western Ukraine after being evacuated from their hometown in Donbass in September. They had little savings and were initially forced to share an apartment with other people. Today Anna’s family receives assistance from Save the Children to cover at least basic needs.

The displaced. 5.3 million people – according to data released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in January 2023 – are still far from their homes and are increasingly in need of financial and humanitarian assistance. One in four people is currently unemployed, according to estimates by the National Bank, also because many are struggling to find sustainable work in their place of temporary residence. Some are even choosing to return to their hometowns, albeit war-torn ones, to try and find work.

Returning to the rubble with the hope of working. So he chose to make the family of Anton, a 12-year-old boy. Last March Anton and his parents left Kharkiv to move to western Ukraine due to continuous and heavy bombing. A few months later, Anton’s father returned to Kharkiv to work.

Returns from abroad. Since mid-April 2022, IOM has conducted more than 24,000 interviews with people who have returned to Ukraine from Hungary, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Romania and Slovakia. The main regions of origin among the Ukrainians surveyed were Dnipropetrovska (15%), Odessa (12%), the city of Kiev (11%) and the Kyivska region (10%). About 86 percent returned to their home oblast, while 13 percent intended to go elsewhere and 1 percent did not know it. Of those who did travel to another oblast, many reported insecurity about their original residence, not being able to travel there, or aware that their homes had been damaged or destroyed.

The need for humanitarian aid. The needs of families in Ukraine are enormous and continue to grow, while the war plunges more and more children into poverty. People are losing or have already lost sources of income, wages are not being paid, businesses continue to be closed. It is a twofold struggle: against bombs and against poverty, explains Sonia Khush, Director of Save the Children in Ukraine.