The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) welcomes increased assistance to Ukraine from the Australian government. Canberra will provide 31 million Australian dollars (nearly US$20.6 million) in support of energy and humanitarian needs, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the Pacific Region reports.
“The Ukrainian community in Australia is pleased to see the package of support announced today by the Albanese Government. We deeply appreciate Australia’s contribution to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, set up by the European Union and the Ukrainian Government. This latest contribution will help provide essential heat and electricity for Ukrainians, and will go some way to alleviating some of the immense suffering being faced across the country,” said Stefan Romaniw, the UWC First Vice President and Co-Chair of the AFUO.
The community also thanks the Australian government for $11 million to the United Nations – $10 million for providing water, food, and shelter to Ukrainians and an additional $1 million to support people disabled by Russia’s brutal attacks.
“This support comes at a crucial time, with Russia intensifying its attacks in Ukraine’s north-east and now using deadly glide bombs to wreak havoc. Together with missiles, these attacks have targeted Ukraine’s energy sector, residential neighbourhoods, schools and hospitals, and are used to terrorise the population,” emphasized Romaniw.
At the same time, the community stresses that Australia’s support should be on par with countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada. “For a period of time in 2022, Australia was the leading non-NATO contributor to Ukraine. We are now fifth, and the lowest-ranked donor among developed G20 countries,” added the UWC Vice President.
Cover: open sources
