Remarks by the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya at the Member States Briefing on the Humanitarian Situation in Ukraine, New York, 18 October 2022

As delivered

Good morning, good afternoon, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for joining us here today.

I thank the Deputy Secretary of State for Ukraine, Mr. Anatolii Kutsevol for being here today to share the Government’s perspective on the current humanitarian priorities eight months into this war.

I further acknowledge the presence of the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations in New York, Ms. Krystyna Hayovyshyn, for joining us.

I also thank Denise Brown, my colleague, the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, for being here to give an overview of the latest humanitarian achievements and challenges, and Tetiana Stawnychy, the President of Caritas Ukraine, who is joining online to describe the situation on the ground.

Before they do, allow me to very briefly set the scene of the war in Ukraine.

Let us for a moment focus on the women, men and children who are having to wake up every day and cope with the war on their doorstep. A war they wanted no part in.

In particular, I want to draw your attention to the most vulnerable groups among them – older people and people with disabilities who experience the trauma of violence and displacement in ways we can’t even begin to understand. Since the invasion in February, thousands of people– have died, and millions of families have been torn apart. Some 2,500 schools have been damaged or destroyed, according to the Government, disrupting education for over 5 million children.

Health care facilities and practitioners have endured over 600 attacks, according to the World Health Organization, barring the sick from medicines and treatment.

In conflict-affected areas, electricity supply, telecommunication and transport infrastructure have been devastated, affecting people’s access to water and heat just as the cold winter months approach.

Incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, including trafficking and exploitation targeting women and girls, are on the rise. And we are hearing more reports of arbitrary detention from civilians.

I join the Secretary-General in his calls to end this war and the senseless suffering it has caused. And I appeal for full respect for international humanitarian law throughout all military operations – in taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects; in facilitating humanitarian relief; in the humane treatment of all those in the parties’ power, including persons deprived of their liberty, and more.

All States must ensure accountability for grave breaches of international humanitarian law.

We are making all efforts to respond to needs where we can. Under Denise’s leadership, more than 590 humanitarian partners are delivering critical assistance and protection.

Many of them are national and local aid organizations, women-led organizations and volunteers who are on the forefront of these efforts. I admire their bravery, and commitment.

Together, we have reached over 13 million people across the country with some form of assistance since the invasion on 24 February.

Most of this assistance has been provided in Government-controlled areas. It is critical that families be able to receive assistance in areas beyond the control of the Ukrainian Government, especially in parts of Donetska, Luhanska, Khersonska and Zaporizka oblasts where people are forced to live in a perpetual state of fear – and deprivation. The war in these and other places is showing no signs of letting up and we expect needs to grow as the bombardment continues and winter comes knocking.

So, I want to thank donors, the private sector and individuals for your generous support. Now I need to call on you to keep up this support for humanitarian assistance. The people of Ukraine are displaying a resilience and fortitude that has awed all of us.

We must continue to help them with life’s essentials, to ease their suffering and enable them to stand tall, dignity intact, as their struggle continues.

Thank you very much.