Humanitarian Assistance Assessment in Ukraine and Moldova

This document constitutes the report of the two-person team of consultants engaged by Development Associates of Arlington, Virginia, to undertake an assessment of USAID'S humanitarian assistance program in the Western MS countries of Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus under Contract OUT-AEP-800-00-00023-00, Task Order No.800, as ratified February 2, 2001. As discussed below, that contract was effectively altered on March 16, 2001, when USAID and Development Associates representatives jointly agreed that logistical constraints precluded a comprehensive site visit to an adequate number of locations pertinent to the assessment in Belarus and that a separate, follow-up assessment of humanitarian assistance requirements in that country should be conducted at a later date. Thus, the report reflects the results of the team's efforts in Ukraine and Moldova and provides no conclusions or recommendations specific to Belarus. That said, it seems highly unlikely to team members that central thrusts of the conclusions and recommendations reflected in this report would have been altered by the intended field investigation in Belarus. Findings particular to that country and its situation would have been additional but not contradictory to those provided here, it is believed.