Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Ursula Mueller, Statement to the media at the Conference on the Humanitarian Situation in Eastern Ukraine and the Way Forward, 28 February 2018

As delivered

Good afternoon.

In Ukraine, on the doorstep of the European Union, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding.

Four years of conflict have affected 4.4 million people; over 1.6 million of them have been forced to flee their homes and are internally displaced across the country; and today, some 3.4 million men, women and children in eastern Ukraine urgently need humanitarian assistance and protection.

I am joining the Government of Ukraine, the European Union and other international organizations today to speak up on behalf of those millions of people who urgently need our help and solidarity.

I visited Ukraine last October and saw for myself how people on both side of the ‘contact line’ were struggling to put food on the table, ensure a roof over the head, access clean water, send their children to school, and buy medication or fuel for heating. I can only imagine what these families are going through now with temperatures in eastern Ukraine dropping below -15 degrees Celsius.

As the conflict drags on, the situation for over 2 million people living in the areas close to the ‘contact line’ and non-Government controlled areas is getting worse.

People’s freedom of movement is curtailed, their access to services, facilities and livelihoods is disrupted, and the land they live on is increasingly contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war.

This afternoon, we have discussed how collectively we can do better to urgently raise awareness of the suffering in eastern Ukraine. I have raised my concerns about continuous, indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas and critical infrastructure such as water and electricity, schools and health facilities.

I again remind parties to the conflict of their obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure under International Humanitarian Law.

We have also discussed the urgency of funding the 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan, coordinated by the UN, which aims to reach 2.3 million of the most vulnerable Ukrainians with assistance and protection.

To make this plan a reality, aid organizations in 2018 need US$187 million in funding. I commend the members of the European Union for their solidary and generous support so far, but I also call on them to stay the course with the people of Ukraine in this difficult time.

In Ukraine last year, I assured people I met that they would not be forgotten by the international community. Today, I reconfirm the UN’s full support to the people of eastern Ukraine to address their basic need for humanitarian assistance and protection.

Thank you.