Update on the UN work in Ukraine 16.03.2022
16 March 2022
The crisis in the country is developing rapidly, with devastating impact on the humanitarian situation. In the worst-affected cities under attack - including Mariupol and Kharkiv - heavy fighting leaves people isolated and facing severe shortages of food, water, and energy supplies.
In Mariupol, tens of thousands of people remain trapped in the city despite reports of some evacuations. Our humanitarian colleagues are particularly concerned about vulnerable groups such as older people and people living with disabilities, who may not be able to flee the conflict. Efforts continue to ensure voluntary safe passage of civilians out of areas with active fighting, as well as movement of humanitarian goods and personnel into areas where needs are most acute. Humanitarian organizations are deploying additional staff across the country and are working to move supplies to warehouses in different hubs to serve people in need.
The World Food Programme said that in Kharkiv, 32.5 metric tons of bread were distributed by one of their cooperating partners to about 140,800 people. So far, about 600,000 people have been reached with some form of humanitarian assistance.
Today, the UN Refugee Agency said that the number of people crossing international borders out of Ukraine has reached 3.1 million.
For her part, the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has condemned the killings of Ukrainian producer and fixer, Oleksandra Kuvshynova and Irish journalist and cameraman, Pierre Zakrzewski, in Gorenka, outside Kyiv on Monday. UNESCO notes that both journalists were killed while reporting for Fox News during shelling, which also injured another journalist, who remains in hospital.
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