Update on the UN work in Ukraine 11.03.2022

UKRAINE/HUMANITARIAN 



The humanitarian situation in Ukraine continues to be deeply concerning and shows the human cost of this war and the human suffering. As I mentioned yesterday, the UN Refugee Agency estimates that 1.9 million people have been internally displaced. Most of them are in the west and north-west with about 500,000 displaced people in Zakarpatska, 387,000 in Lvivska and about 170,000 in Volynska. 



The UN Refugee Agency also said that there are now more than 2.5 million women children and men, mostly women and children, who have crossed international borders out of Ukraine.  



For its part, WHO said that since 24 February, there have been 29 attacks impacting health facilities, health care workers and ambulances. WHO stressed that medical facilities, medical personnel and medical transport must always be respected in war.



We also have reports, from the UN Children’s Fund, that leads the water, sanitation and hygiene work of the humanitarians, that in the east, about 650,000 people in Donetska oblast and about 40,000 people in Luhanska oblast do not have access to water. In Mariupol and Donetska, safe drinking water is urgently needed. 



For its part, the World Food Programme said that 2,000 people have received value vouchers and that it will scale up this distribution to reach more people in areas where markets and systems are functioning. In Kharkiv, a WFP-contracted bakery is increasing its production line with a daily target of 30,000 loaves of bread, and that will benefit about 60,000 people. 



On funding, as of today, the Ukraine Flash Appeal, whichs is asking for $1.1 billion, has received $129 million. It is 11 per cent funded. 

UKRAINE/FOOD SECURITY 



Today, the UN food agencies in Rome issued reports showing the implications of the conflict on food security around the world. The World Food Programme is warning that the costs of its global operations look set to increase by $29 million a month. When added to pre-existing increases of $42 million since 2019, the total additional costs WFP is facing is $71 million per month. 

This could spell disaster for millions, as WFP had already warned that 2022 would be a year of catastrophic hunger, with 44 million people in 38 countries teetering on the edge of famine.   



For its part, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warns that supply chain and logistical disruptions on Ukrainian and Russian grain and oilseed production, as well as restrictions on Russia’s exports, will have significant food security repercussions. FAO said that this is especially true for some fifty countries that depend on Russia and Ukraine for 30 per cent or more of their wheat supply. 



The Director-General of the FAO, Qu Dongyu, noted that food prices, already on the rise since the second half of 2020, reached an all-time high in February of this year, due to high demand, input and transportation costs, and port disruptions. He warned that likely disruptions to agricultural activities of these two major exporters of staple commodities could seriously escalate food insecurity globally, when international food prices are already very volatile. 

SECURITY COUNCIL/UKRAINE 



The Security Council held an open meeting on Ukraine. Briefing Council members was the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, and she said that the UN is not aware of any biological weapons programmes in Ukraine.  Ms. Nakamitsu noted that this is largely thanks to the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, to which both the Russian Federation and Ukraine are States Parties. Ms. Nakamitsu said that situations such as this demonstrate the need to further strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention, to operationalize it and to institutionalize it. She also addressed the worrying issue of the safety and security of nuclear power plants in Ukraine.  Both her remarks and the remarks of Rosemary Di Carlo, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacebuilding and Political Affairs have been distributed to you.  



Ms. Di Carlo noted that the war in Ukraine is now in its third week and fighting continues unabated.  

She said that the Russian armed forces are pursuing their offensive operations and laying siege to several cities in the south, east and north of the country.  

Ms. DiCarlo stressed that all alleged violations of international humanitarian law must be investigated and those found responsible should be held accountable. 

She added that the Secretary-General is grateful to the many Member States that are working towards a diplomatic solution to this dangerous conflict and that he is in regular contact with regional and other leaders.