Ukraine: UN relief chief reminds the world of "horrific one-year milestone"
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths’ remarks to the UN Security Council on Ukraine
Madam President,
For almost a whole year, the Secretary-General, myself and many others have briefed this Council repeatedly on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
We have warned about the toxic brew of death, destruction, displacement, and deprivation that this war has caused.
We have spoken about the psychological trauma it has left.
We have condemned its deadly toll on civilians.
Yet the tragedy continues to unfold with no end in sight.
As we near the one-year mark of this war, allow me to remind the Council of some facts:
17.6 million people – that’s almost 40 per cent of Ukraine’s population –need humanitarian assistance.
More than 7,000 civilians have been killed. These are only the figures confirmed by the UN. The actual toll is certainly higher.
Nearly 8 million people have fled to neighbouring countries.
5.3 million people have become internally displaced, many seeking shelter in collective centres.
Countless numbers of people have hunkered down in basements for days and weeks on end, to seek protection from bombs.
Homes, schools, hospitals and other critical civilian infrastructure have been destroyed.
Entire cities, towns and villages have been heavily damaged.
Madam President,
This violence shows no sign of abating.
Only last week, air strikes hit hospitals on both sides of the front line, causing death and injury among dozens of civilians.
I saw evidence of this relentless violence when I visited Ukraine in December. I saw the utter devastation in the countryside around Mykolaiv, riddled with mines. I saw agricultural land destroyed. Entire communities cut off from electricity and essential supplies.
But in this warscape, I also saw people’s remarkable drive for survival.
In Mykolaiv, I visited a bakery led by women that had continued working throughout the war, although with reduced capacity. With help from the World Food Programme, the bakery has increased production and now produces thousands of loaves every day that are distributed to people in Kherson and Mykolaiv Oblasts.
In Kherson City, I saw volunteers, municipality employees and local authorities working hand-in-hand with humanitarian partners to provide assistance at a communal centre.
Madam President,
The people of Ukraine have left the whole world in awe of their resilience.
Resilience despite the deadly violence.
Resilience despite the power cuts and the damaged energy sector in the middle of a savage winter.
Resilience despite the mines and explosive remnants of war which are driving displacement, preventing safe returns, hindering humanitarian aid, interrupting agricultural activities and delaying the restoration of essential services.
Resilience despite the sexual violence, the trafficking, the sexual exploitation, the abuse.
The people of Ukraine have been spared none of the horrors of war.
And the humanitarian community has been doing its best to help.
We have provided 15.8 million people with assistance, including more than 1.3 million people who are in areas outside the control of the Government of Ukraine.
We have delivered winter clothes, heating appliances, solid fuel and building materials.
We have delivered generators to hospitals, shelters, heating points, water pumping facilities, schools and places hosting internally displaced people.
We have delivered life-saving aid to villages near the front line in rural parts of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya, Kherson and Kharkiv Oblasts, using inter-agency convoys to provide a comprehensive package of support, facilitated by our constructive partnership with national, regional and local authorities.
Madam President,
Our operations have expanded exponentially in the past year.
This year’s Humanitarian Response Plan for Ukraine – which I will launch later this month in Geneva – requires $3.9 billion to bring assistance to more than 11 million people.
Before February 2022, humanitarian partners were already delivering assistance mainly in the east, on both sides of the front line in Donetska and Luhanska Oblasts.
Today, more than 650 humanitarian organizations are operating across all of Ukraine’s 24 oblasts.
But we need to reach more people, more frequently.
Humanitarian access to areas under the temporary military control of the Russian Federation has become increasingly unpredictable and impeded.
Despite repeated attempts and negotiations, no inter-agency humanitarian convoy has been able to cross between the two areas.
Madam President,
At the risk of repeating myself, allow me to highlight some basic rules of war:
All parties must take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects throughout their military operations. They must also allow and facilitate the rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need, wherever they are.
Madam President,
We must continue to staunchly advocate from all angles.
To stop the humanitarian catastrophe and suffering of the Ukrainian people.
To address this war’s profound global implications on global food and energy prices. On trade and supply chains. And on questions of nuclear safety.
We are making progress where we can. The Black Sea Grain Initiative is allowing food exports to continue to reach global supply chains, helping to lower prices and maintaining an essential source of WFP wheat supplies. The extension of the Initiative beyond March is critical.
The United Nations will also continue to press for the facilitation of food and fertilizer exports – including ammonia – from the Russian Federation, which remain a key part of our broader effort to address global food insecurity.
On the eve of this horrific one-year milestone – which comes on top of the previous eight years of conflict – we still have much to do.
I call on us all to push forward with renewed vigour to give the people of Ukraine the peace and support they need and deserve.
Thank you.