Mariupol, July 3, 2020 – Rescue units of the State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine working along the “contact line” in eastern Ukraine have received specialized technical equipment worth US $70,000.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine purchased the equipment under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with funds provided by the European Union.

The coordinator of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme’s Social Cohesion and Community Security Component, Rustam Pulatov, said that by having proper technical equipment for rescue units, rescuers would be able to respond more quickly to neutralize threats arising in eastern Ukraine. “The safety of residents of communities living in eastern Ukraine, where the armed conflict has been going on for six years, is our highest priority, said Pulatov. “The technical support we’ve provided to the SES is aimed at making all residents in eastern Ukraine, without exception, feel protected and safe,” he said.

Rescue units in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts have already received more than 200 pieces of specialized technical equipment, such as floating motorized pumps, fire hoses, emergency lighting sets, backpack fire extinguishers and digital trunking repeaters to enhance signal quality.

The equipment will be used to bolster the efficiency and quality of security services for rebuilding housing, medical care, and extinguishing fires along the “contact line.”

Head of the Main Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast Oleksiy Migrin said he was sincerely grateful for the continuous support provided by UNDP under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme. “We appreciate our long-term cooperation with UNDP, as it contributes to the more efficient work of rescue services to ensure the safety of citizens in eastern Ukraine,” Migrin said.

UNDP also recently purchased video communication equipment for the Main Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

Background

The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The programme is supported by twelve international partners: the European Union, the European Investment Bank and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Media enquiries

Maksym Kytsiuk, Communications Associate, the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, maksym.kytsiuk@undp.org, +380 63 576 1839