UNHCR repairs over 27,500 houses, enabling families to remain in and return to their homes in Ukraine

Today, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, together with the Ambassador of Japan to Ukraine, Kuninori Matsuda, and the Head of the EU Humanitarian Aid in Ukraine, Claudia Amaral, visited families and locations in Kyiv region to see the results of house repairs and new solutions implemented for people who have had their homes damaged or destroyed in the war.

23 Jan 2024

© UNHCR/Alina Kovalenko

Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 January – With Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine soon entering its third year, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, continues to prioritise its house repair programme, which enables people and families to remain in and rebuild their own homes, or return to these, after having lived in internal displacement or abroad as refugees due to Russia’s invasion.

In close cooperation with the Government of Ukraine and its regional and local authorities, UNHCR together with its partners has completed the repair of over 27,500 homes across the country since the massive escalation of the war in February 2022 – and more repairs are finalized every week.

Regions such as Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy have seen significant repairs and rehabilitations implemented by UNHCR, focusing primarily on repairs of private houses, but also multi-story apartment buildings where windows typically are replaced and upgraded. In order to ensure that the repair support is tailored to the specific needs and situation of each family, UNHCR either engages Ukrainian contractors to do the repair works, provides construction materials or cash to cover repair costs and materials.

The repairs vary from smaller repairs and specific areas such as fixing the roof, changing windows and doors, and adding insulation to protect from