OCHA urges Security Council to prevent a worsening humanitarian toll in Ukraine

Briefing by Ms. Edem Wosornu, Director of Crisis Response Division, OCHA, on behalf of Mr. Tom Fletcher, USG for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine

Mr. President,

Distinguished members of the Council,

Since OCHA’s last briefing on 25 July, the toll of intensifying hostilities on civilians in Ukraine has continued to rise. Relentless missile and drone strikes – day and night – are killing and injuring civilians, destroying homes and damaging critical civilian infrastructure, including schools, health facilities and energy distribution sites. For many, each air-raid siren is a reminder that nowhere is truly safe.

Civilians recently evacuated from Donetsk describe a constant buzz of drones overhead, leaving them unable to sleep or feel safe in their own homes. As freezing temperatures set in, fear, exhaustion and recurring strikes are compounding hardship nationwide. Power outages are growing more frequent, depriving families of heat and water – the very essentials for survival.

Allow me to share what we are seeing on the ground, and what it means for our humanitarian response.

In Pokrovsk and nearby Myrnohrad, about 1,500 civilians – mostly older people and those with limited mobility – remain trapped without reliable access to water, power or medical care. Just a hundred kilometres further north, in Lyman, fighting has left 3,000 people out of reach of humanitarian assistance. They fear being completely cut off, even as humanitarians stand ready to support whenever conditions allow.

This deterioration comes amid a sharp rise in attacks harming civilian infrastructure, including health facilities.

The World Health Organization has verified more than 500 attacks harming healthcare this year alone, leaving 19 people dead and nearly 200 injured. This includes an incident in October – as my DPPA [Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs] colleague mentioned – when a missile struck a children’s hospital in Kherson, injuring civilians, including hospital staff.

This pattern of attacks risks eroding an international legal framework that has taken more than a century to build. International humanitarian law demands that all feasible precautions be taken to avoid and minimize civilian harm. Indiscriminate attacks – including those that cause disproportionate civilian death, injury or damage – are strictly prohibited. These fundamental rules must be upheld.

At the same time, displacement and humanitarian needs are growing.

Some 3.7 million people are displaced in Ukraine and nearly 6 million are refugees. This year alone, around 122,000 people have been newly displaced, mainly from front-line oblasts. The vast majority are women, children and older people, many having moved multiple times since 2022, and now shelter in temporary collective centres or unfinished buildings.

Humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations and its partners, continue to deliver humanitarian assistance wherever access allows. Collective centres are being expanded to host new arrivals, while inter-agency convoys deliver food, water and medical supplies to those who remain in the hardest-to-reach front-line communities.

Between January and September, humanitarian partners reached more than 4.2 million people – over two thirds of the target for 2025.

Yet the challenges facing humanitarian workers remain immense. They continue to operate under constant threat of shelling, restricted access, damaged infrastructure and unpredictable security conditions – all while striving to reach those most in need, often at great personal risk.

In October, a UN-led aid convoy in Kherson was attacked while trying to reach a community needing assistance. Footage of the strike, later circulated on social media, it shows humanitarian vehicles being treated as targets. They are categorically not. Protecting humanitarian aid is not optional; it is both a legal obligation and a basic standard of humanity.

Humanitarian access in several front-line areas is also shrinking. At the same time, access to areas under Russian occupation remains extremely constrained. We seek sustained, predictable humanitarian access where civilians face growing humanitarian needs and have received little to no international assistance.

We continue to urge the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure – including humanitarian and medical personnel and assets – and for safe, predictable, unimpeded and unfettered humanitarian access to all those in need.

Mr. President,

Funding remains an additional major constraint to humanitarian operations. Of the US$2.63 billion required under the 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan, 46 per cent has been received. We are grateful to our donors. The winter component is 65 per cent covered.

Underfunding has a human cost:

· 72,000 displaced people lack adequate shelter.

· Survivors of conflict-related related sexual violence are left without access to specialized care.

· An estimated 640,000 women and girls were affected by cuts to vital services, including those addressing gender-based violence.

· Overall, a growing mental health crisis leaves millions without psychosocial support.

With Under-Secretary-General Mr. Tom Fletcher, and through the Humanitarian Reset, we continue to sharply prioritize life-saving assistance and place affected people at the centre of the response. The 2025-2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is built around these core priorities, and the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund is reinforcing them through channeling more resources to local partners and supporting targeted initiatives.

Mr. President,

The determination of Ukrainian communities to survive and rebuild is remarkable. Teachers hold classes underground, doctors perform surgeries without power, and volunteers drive along roads that are potentially mined to deliver aid. Yet resilience is not protection; it cannot substitute for safety, dignity or compliance with international law and international humanitarian law.

This Council and all Member States have a vital role to play in ensuring that international law is respected, a foundation of international peace and security.

You also have a critical role in working toward an end to violence. Without it, human suffering and humanitarian needs will only deepen. Humanitarian concerns must remain central to any future ceasefire or political process. The United Nations stands ready to help make that happen.

I thank you.