National social protection system support in Ukraine

SUMMARY

• The Social benefits top-up cash assistance programme is designed and implemented jointly by WFP, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and the Pension Fund of Ukraine and is aligned with the PeReHID initiative goals to support sustainable transition from humanitarian response to more resilient national system.

• The programme targets pensioners with low social benefits, who reside in the war-affected areas of Ukraine.

• Since August 2023, more than 317,000 beneficiaries were supported with the provision of complementary cash assistance to help them meet their essential needs.

• Assessments repeatedly show that older people and people living with disabilities are amongst the most vulnerable to food insecurity and deprivation of other essential needs. Evidence also confirm that humanitarian needs are more severe, the closer people live to the front line. Being a lowincome pensioner living in close proximity to hostilities means higher unmet humanitarian needs.

• While the Ukrainian social benefit system, including pensions, has continued functioning during wartime, minimum social benefits have not been adjusted in response to the highly increased needs caused by the war.

• In WFP’s complementary social benefit assistance programme with the Pension Fund of Ukraine and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, WFP supports pensioners – meaning both old-age pensioners and people on disability pensions – who receive less than 3,000* UAH/month in total social benefits and who live in the most war-affected hromadas in the South, East and North of the country.

• Each eligible pensioner receives the difference between their governmental benefits and 3,000* UAH, making WFP’s transfer a complementary assistance to ensure a minimum subsistence level as defined by the Government of Ukraine.

• The purpose of this programme is to enable the most vulnerable and conflict-exposed pensioners to meet minimum essential needs, in the face of the major shock presented by the war which has spawned humanitarian needs across the country and in particular for people living in proximity to the front line.