Highlights
The security situation continued to deteriorate throughout March with intense armed clashes in Donetsk, Horlivka and Mariupol areas in particular. This had a negative impact on the water and electricity supply to vulnerable people in eastern Ukraine; the number of causalities has also increased.
The number of people crossing checkpoints between government and non-government controlled areas of eastern Ukraine increased markedly during March. The State Border Guard recorded over 720,000 people crossing five checkpoints, compared to 490,000 in February. An additional checkpoint that was opened at Zolote (Luhansk oblast) on 31 March closed after only a few hours.
The Ukrainian government suspended social benefit payments at the end of February to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and started verification procedures for registered IDPs from five oblasts in eastern Ukraine. According to the government, this is intended to fight fraud in the benefits system. However, it has caused a great deal of anxiety to many IDPs, as shown by the numbers of people calling special hotlines.
UNICEF and Representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany launched a large-scale project in Kramatorsk, which aims to provide conflict-affected children and families with access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as support child protection, IDP integration and resilience-building activities.
The third round of the national polio vaccination campaign reached 81.7 per cent of targeted children, according to Ministry of Health statistics. In particular, collaboration with the Ministry of Education enabled vaccination teams to operate in schools and kindergartens. UNICEF completed t