Update on the UN work in Ukraine 21.03.2022

We, along with our partners, remain deeply concerned over the impact of reported fighting on civilians trapped in cities in eastern, northeastern and southern Ukraine, including in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Izyum, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, and Mariupol.

Since 24 February, more than 10 million people have now been forced from their homes in search of safety and security – nearly a quarter of the population of Ukraine. This includes an estimated 6.5 million men, women and children who are internally displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and nearly 3.5 million people who have crossed international borders out of Ukraine as refugees, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).



Humanitarian organizations are concerned about the risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation and IOM has scaled up its trafficking prevention measures, providing verified and safe information to refugees and third-country nationals on the move. IOM has also reinforced its regional hotlines to help people with important safety and resource information.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it has verified 6 additional reports of attacks on health care in Ukraine yesterday. As of 20 March, WHO has verified 52 attacks on health care in 25 days. WHO notes that this is more than 2 attacks per day, stressing that this, of course, is unacceptable and that health care must always be protected.

For their part, the UN’s Children Fund and UNHCR, in partnership with local governments and civil society organizations, are setting up what they call “Blue Dots” centers. Those are one-stop safe spaces for children and women. "Blue Dots" centers help to identify unaccompanied and separated children and ensure their protection, as well as provide a hub for essential services and information for travelling families.



The World Food Programme (WFP) said that it has reached more than 330,000 crisis-affected people inside Ukraine with food assistance, and that’s since the beginning of the conflict. Food delivery to cooperating partners is also being scaled up, reaching more than 900 metric tons over the last days. In Kharkiv, WFP doubled its bread distribution through partners, reaching nearly 78 metric tons for about 260,000 people. In Kyiv – following the delivery of 26 metric tons of high-energy biscuits – WFP’s partners have delivered about 325 metric tons of vegetable oil and 478 metric tons of wheat flour to nearly 70,000 vulnerable people. In Dnipro, some 2.2 metric tons of mixed canned food was also distributed to the most vulnerable.



Last Friday, the UN Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine, Amin Awad, said that the first UN-organized convoy reached Sumy with emergency supplies for 35,000 people and equipment to repair water systems to help another 50,000 people. This was organized through good cooperation with the Governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. We hope that this is the first of many convoys that will make to deliveries to people trapped by the fighting.

Noon Briefing Highlight | United Nations Secretary-General