Denmark has become the first donor to the Ukraine Community Recovery Fund (UCRF), launched by the United Nations in partnership with the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine.

The UCRF is designed to support investments in the reconstruction of housing, energy and social infrastructure, humanitarian demining, and economic development at the local level. The concept of the fund was presented in the summer of 2023 at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

“The recovery of each individual community is equal to the recovery of the whole of Ukraine. The speed of recovery directly depends on the capacity of the communities. They understand their needs best. Decentralisation has strengthened communities and enabled them to manage their own activities.

It is symbolic that Denmark became the first donor to the new Fund. The country is now demonstrating an exemplary case of partnership with the city of Mykolaiv and Mykolaiv region in strengthening resilience. I am confident that this cooperation with the UN will become a successful practical tool for the further development of the Fund,” commented Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development.

Since 2022, Denmark has been working on the recovery of the city of Mykolaiv and Mykolaiv region, providing support ranging from generators and drinking water systems in the early stages to assistance with the comprehensive restoration of social infrastructure and entire residential neighbourhoods now. The UN has been supporting Denmark throughout this process.

The Ukraine Community Recovery Fund aims to complement and strengthen the work of the UN’s Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF), which has been in place since 2019. Since February 2022, the UHF has received more than USD 350 million in contributions from 31 donors and has provided humanitarian assistance to millions of people.

According to Denise Brown, UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, supporting the reconstruction of communities in Ukraine despite the war is important to reduce their dependence on humanitarian assistance in the future. She is convinced that Denmark’s contribution to the Ukraine Community Recovery Fund is important, as it will serve as a catalyst for further contributions to the Fund.

Since the beginning of the war, Denmark’s support to Ukraine has reached approximately EUR 565 million in military aid and EUR 192 million in civilian aid, including humanitarian contributions. The main areas of support are military, humanitarian, emergency crisis support, accountability, demining, protection of women and children, and anti-corruption.

Denmark has assigned ten civilian experts to Ukraine: nine to the EU Advisory Mission and one to the OSCE.