OCHA urges Security Council to pursue peace, ensure respect for the rules of war in Ukraine

Briefing to the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine by Edem Wosornu, Director, Operations and Advocacy for OCHA, on behalf of Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

                                                                                                                                                       As delivered.
Madam President, Members of the Security Council,

We last briefed you in March – thank you for the opportunity to brief you on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

As you have just heard from Assistant Secretary-General Jenča, Ukraine is currently enduring some of the worst attacks since the start of this war.

Not a day passes without air strikes shattering the lives of yet more families across the country.

In Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Dnipro, wave after massive wave of attacks continue to kill and injure civilians and cause widespread damage and destruction to critical civilian infrastructure. No region of Ukraine has been spared by this war.

As you heard, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) – as Assistant-Secretary-General Jenča noted – has verified that this ongoing conflict has now killed more than 10,810 civilians and injured more than 20,550 since 24 February 2022. Tragically, the actual numbers are likely to be higher.

Ten million people across the country have now lost their homes and have been forced to flee since the escalation of this war.

Fierce ongoing hostilities in front-line and border communities, especially in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Sumy regions, are driving even greater displacement of civilians.

Women and children continue to be disproportionately impacted, like many other crises across the world. They often face additional barriers to accessing essential services, and are more exposed to protection risks, including gender-based violence.

Madam President,

The damage and destruction to critical infrastructure caused by the latest hostilities have disrupted access to electricity, water, gas and other essential services for hundreds of thousands of civilians.

And continuous attacks impacting medical facilities and schools, as you have heard, have had far-reaching consequences for access to healthcare and education.

The World Health Organization has now verified more than 1,700 attacks affecting healthcare facilities, personnel, transport, supplies and patients since February 2022.  

These attacks have significantly hindered the delivery of healthcare services. Access to medical care for women and girls – including maternal and reproductive health care – is severely restricted in rural areas or near the frontlines.

Over the same period, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, hostilities have damaged or destroyed over 1,000 educational facilities, interrupting education for millions of children.

I saw the importance of education first-hand when I visited Ukraine earlier this year.

The social isolation and constant fear caused by this war are having serious impacts on children’s mental health. More than 1.5 million children are in urgent need of support to cope with stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges associated with the hostilities.

Madam President,

Aid operations are also impacted by these attacks. The already challenging operational environment is further affected by more frequent and bigger aerial strikes.

As said in this Council in March, so far in 2024, two humanitarian workers have been killed and 10 have been injured by the violence. This brings the total deaths of humanitarian workers to at least 17 since the escalation of the war. This is another stark reminder of the dangers to humanitarian workers, especially as national staff are the overwhelming majority of those killed.

Again, this was mentioned in our last brief in March, there have been 14 reported incidents damaging humanitarian assets and facilities – eight incidents within 10 kilometres of the front line – further reducing the capacity and operational range of our response efforts.  

Over the weekend, a humanitarian hub in Zaporizhzhia was hit and last week, a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) office in the Donetsk region was destroyed by a missile attack. Five civilians were injured, and MSF had to temporarily suspend critical medical activities. 
And, Madam President, we have seen in recent weeks a particularly troubling pattern in the sequencing of attacks:

As first responders or emergency services rush to the scene of attacks, a second wave of strikes target the same location, killing the wounded and causing the death and injury of first responders who have rushed to the scene to assist those in need. This clearly compounds the suffering of the wounded and incapacitates first responders. Attacks directed against the wounded and those helping them are prohibited by international humanitarian law (IHL). They are cruel, unconscionable, and must stop.

Madam President,

As we have mentioned in previous Council briefings, lack of access is one of the most significant challenges to humanitarian operations in Ukraine. We remain deeply concerned by the lack of humanitarian access to the parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions occupied by the Russian Federation. 
 
At least 1.5 million people need humanitarian assistance in these areas. Their needs are undoubtedly similar to those in all other parts of Ukraine close to the frontline, including access to healthcare and medicine, food, livelihoods, and clean drinking water.

It is imperative under international humanitarian law that humanitarians be granted access to these areas as a matter of priority.

Madam President,

The pattern of civilian harm in this conflict as a whole continues to be of grave concern. And it raises serious doubts about compliance with international humanitarian law.

I want to recall that IHL requires parties to take constant care to spare all civilians and civilian objects throughout military operations. This includes protecting humanitarian personnel and assets, as well as infrastructure essential for civilians’ survival.

IHL also requires the parties to allow and facilitate rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for all civilians in need.

Obstructions that leave the civilian population without the essential basic services to survive run contrary to this obligation.

Madam President,

The continuing attacks on Odesa, including the city’s port infrastructure, are also of concern due to their impact on global food security.  

As we have said in this Council many times before, Ukraine’s Black Sea ports are an essential component of the global supply chains for grain and other key agricultural commodities. Attacks on these ports threaten to undo the progress made in stabilizing grain markets and bringing global prices down.

With staggering levels of food insecurity persisting in parts of the world, safe navigation in the Black Sea and the protection and safe operation of ports and related civilian infrastructure must be assured.

Madam President, distinguished Members of the Council

I cannot underscore that the scale of humanitarian needs in Ukraine remains vast. More than 14.6 million people – about 40 per cent of Ukraine’s population – require some form of humanitarian assistance, 56 per cent of whom are women and girls.

We are immensely grateful to the donors who have so far provided $541 million or 17 per cent of the $3.1 billion ask for the 2024 Ukraine humanitarian needs and response plan.

This has enabled us to provide lifesaving assistance to three million people in the first two months of 2024 alone, despite the deteriorating situation.  

It has allowed the UN and its partners – many of them local organizations – to provide food, psychological support, services for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, and other supplies.

But more financial support is needed urgently to sustain operations in an increasingly complex and dangerous environment.

Madam President,

The humanitarian community remains committed to doing everything it can to support the people of Ukraine.

But if hostilities continue to escalate, the already dire situation for millions of people in Ukraine – and the challenges we face in responding to it – will only deepen. 

Tolerating war is not normal.  We urge the Security Council not to allow this war to grind on unchallenged and unresolved. It is causing unceasing death, destruction, and hardship.

Together you must do everything within your power to ensure respect for the rules of war, pursue peace, and bring the suffering of the Ukrainian people to an end.

Thank you.