STATEMENT BY THE RESIDENT AND HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR FOR UKRAINE, MATTHIAS SCHMALE, ON INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE

Russia’s war against Ukraine, which started in 2014 and escalated to a full-scale invasion in February 2022, continues to inflict untold suffering on the lives of Ukrainians. Relentless, systematic attacks, destroyed hospitals and schools, hours of power cuts, thousands of dead and injured civilians – this is a stark reminder that on this International Day of Peace, there’s no peace in Ukraine… again…

Let us take this day, and every single day, to think about the Ukrainian children who never experienced peace. How much they want to go to school, but the school is destroyed, how much they want to spend time in nature, but woods and fields are mined, how much they want to play in the playground, but the air alarm is on. 

Russia has violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the war has resulted in unacceptable violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. 

As we approach the Summit of the Future and the General Assembly’s high-level week, UN Secretary-General says: “We can’t create a future fit for our grandchildren with systems built for our grandparents”.

For world leaders, next week is another chance to end human suffering around the world including Ukraine.  So many children in Ukraine hope for a better and peaceful future!