Media advisory. Humanitarian Сhief Martin Griffiths starts four-day visit to Ukraine

WHO:

- Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

WHAT:

- Mission to see the humanitarian impact of the war on the people of Ukraine and review the response undertaken by aid organizations in the country.

WHEN:

- 12 to 15 December 2022

WHERE:

- Mykolaiv, Kherson and Kyiv.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, arrived in Ukraine today for a four-day mission. While in the country he will meet with Government officials, humanitarian partners and people impacted by the war.

Accompanied by the Assistant-Secretary-General and Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, Mr. Griffiths will see the impact of the humanitarian response and new challenges that have arisen as infrastructure damage mounts amid freezing winter temperatures.

In Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, the humanitarian chief will visit a site housing internally displaced people and a UN-supported bakery which produces bread for people front-line city of Kherson. From there, he will head to Kherson, where he will see how the UN and local authorities are establishing areas where people can go for warmth and safety when they have lost heating, electricity and water in their homes. Mr. Griffiths will spend the final leg of his trip in the capital, Kyiv, where he will meet with senior Government officials, as well as with NGO representatives and the diplomatic community.

Over nine months since the war in Ukraine began, nearly 18 million people – around 40 per cent of the country’s population – need humanitarian aid. Recent waves of attacks on energy infrastructure are leaving millions of people without heat, clean water or electricity in their homes just as freezing winter conditions set in. The United Nations and humanitarian organizations, most of them Ukrainian national NGOs, have reached more than 13.5 million people with critical aid since 24 February.

For further information, please contact OCHA:

Saviano Abreu, in Ukraine: +380 50 422 3943, deabreuisidoro@un.org 

Viktoriya Hrubas, in Ukraine: +380 50 382 4541, viktoriya.hrubas@un.org

Anna Jefferys, in New York, + 1 917 769 7454, jefferysa@un.org

OCHA press releases are available at www.unocha.org or www.reliefweb.int