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With the war in Ukraine now in its third week, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo warned the Security Council on Friday that direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects are prohibited under international law, and may amount to war crimes.
The UN rights office, OHCHR, reiterated deep concern on Friday at the increasing number of civilian casualties in Ukraine following the Russian invasion which began on 24 February, before issuing a reminder to Moscow that any targeting of non-combatants could be a war crime.
Madam President,
The war in Ukraine is now in its third week. Fighting continues unabated.
The Russian armed forces are pursuing their offensive operations and laying siege to several cities in the south, east and north of the country.
A large concentration of Russian forces is reportedly massed along several approaches to the capital, Kyiv.
The situation is particularly alarming in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv, where there is shelling of residential areas and civilian infrastructure, resulting in an increasing number of civilians killed and injured. The utter devastation being visited on these cities is horrific.
The numbers bear out the conclusion that civilians are paying the highest price for the conflict. As of 11 March, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded a total of 1,546 civilian casualties, including 564 killed and 982 injured, since the start of the invasion on 24 February.
OHCHR believes the real casualty figures are likely considerably higher, as information from locations where intense hostilities are ongoing has been delayed and reports are still pending corroboration.
Most of the recorded civilian casualties, which include children, have been caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.
OHCHR has received credible reports of Russian forces using cluster munitions, including in populated areas. Indiscriminate attacks, including those using cluster munitions, which are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, are prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as so-called area bombardment in towns and villages, are also prohibited under international law and may amount to war crimes.
As of 10 March, the World Health Organization has verified 26 attacks on health facilities, health workers and ambulances, causing 12 deaths and 34 injuries. This includes the bombing of the Mariupol maternity hospital on 9 March. We condemn such attacks without reservation. They cause not only death and destruction: they also deprive people of urgently needed care and endanger more lives.
We cannot emphasize it enough: The targeting of civilians, of residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, is inexcusable and intolerable. All alleged violations of international humanitarian law must be investigated and those found responsible held accountable.
Madam President,
Millions of people in Ukraine need urgent assistance. This includes 2 million internally displaced people.
We are scaling up humanitarian aid in areas where security permits. More than half a million people are now receiving assistance, including life-saving food, shelter, blankets and medical supplies.
The United Nations and our partners have developed operational plans to meet humanitarian needs where they are most acute.
This work needs funding. Over $1.5 billion was pledged to the appeals last week. We are grateful for this generosity and encourage donors to release the funding quickly.
Madam President,
It is critical to urgently achieve a cessation of hostilities to allow for the safe passage of civilians from besieged areas and to ensure that life-saving humanitarian supplies can reach those who remain.
On 9 March, over 51,000 people were reportedly evacuated through five out of six agreed-upon safe passages. These safe passages must continue. They should be implemented with clear principles and modalities. Civilians should be duly and timely informed of the possibility to leave the concerned areas and on a voluntary basis and in the direction they choose.
To expand life-saving assistance and services to those most in need humanitarian actors must also have safe, rapid, unimpeded and sustained access to all areas.
We commend the humanitarian actors on the ground who are staying and delivering in a highly volatile situation.
Madam President,
The number of refugees from Ukraine has reached 2.5 million people These numbers continue increasing by the day.
We also commend the countries that have kept their borders open to welcome and support refugees. All people fleeing Ukraine, including third country nationals, need access to safety and protection, in line with the principle of non-refoulement and without any form of discrimination.
Madam President,
The need for negotiations to stop the war in Ukraine could not be more urgent. We note the three rounds of talks held thus far between Ukrainian and Russian delegations. We call for such efforts to intensify, including to further secure humanitarian and ceasefire arrangements as a matter of priority. We urge the sides to build on their contacts, such as the meeting yesterday between the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and the Russian Federation in Antalya, Turkey. The logic of dialogue and diplomacy must prevail over the logic of war.
The Secretary-General is grateful to the many Member States working in pursuit of a diplomatic solution to this dangerous conflict. He is in regular contact with regional and other leaders and his good offices remain available.
Madam President,
Let me reaffirm the UN’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders.
As the war grinds on, there is already much reflection about its implications, beyond the tragedy it represents for Ukraine. We increasingly hear the use of terms such as “turning point”, “defining moment”, “end of multilateralism”. I believe this is not an exaggeration. Indeed, some consequences are already being felt, economically and politically. Perhaps most alarming are the risks the violence poses to the global framework for peace and security.
We must do everything we can to find a solution and put an end to this war. And we must do it now.
Thank you, Madam President.
Syria’s 11 years of brutal fighting has come at an “unconscionable human cost”, subjecting millions there to human rights violations on a “massive and systematic scale”, said the UN chief on Friday, marking yet another tragic anniversary
Humanitarians are deploying extra staff across Ukraine to aid the growing number of civilians sheltering from Russian bombardment, or fleeing the violence, the UN Spokesperson said on Thursday.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compels Member States of the United Nations to unite in “cooperation and solidarity” to support all those impacted “and to overcome this violation of international law” said Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday, addressing the General Assembly in New York.
The global failure to deliver enough COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries “is prolonging the pandemic” and causing tens of thousands of preventable deaths every week, senior UN figures told the Human Rights Council on Thursday.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an independent, UN-backed body, is calling on governments to do more to regulate social media platforms that glamourize drug-related negative behaviour and boost sales of controlled substances.
At least two-thirds of households with children have lost income since the COVID-19 pandemic hit two years ago, according to a joint report published on Wednesday by the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) and World Bank.
The exodus of millions of Ukrainians from their country following the Russian invasion could overwhelm neighbouring countries, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday, as the head of the UN Children’s Fund, expressed her horror over the reported destruction of a maternity hospital in the stricken coastal city of Mariupol, which has been under heavy bombardment for days.
Almost 500 million people have been infected with the coronavirus since March 2020 and new variants are still a threat. This Friday marks two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) characterised the global spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic.
New guidelines on abortion are now available from the World Health Organization (WHO), in a bid to prevent more than 25 million unsafe terminations that happen each year.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, has said that it is taking measures as best it can, to try and protect some of Ukraine’s priceless heritage from destruction in the face of the Russian invasion, noting that the international community also has a duty to help protect and preserve the country’s historic buildings, and other treasures.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has praised European countries welcoming people fleeing the war in Ukraine, whose numbers now surpass two million.
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the “deteriorating security situation” this week in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where daily violence has claimed the lives of six Palestinians, including a child.
On day 13 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and amid rising numbers of civilian casualties, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday repeated her ceasefire call, with humanitarians on the ground describing conditions as increasingly “apocalyptic”.
Mariia Shostak, a 25-year-old woman living in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, started having contractions on 24 February, the day the Russian Federation launched a military offensive in Ukraine, and gave birth amid the sounds of air raid sirens.
Allowing civilians to safely leave areas under fire in Ukraine, and delivering desperately needed aid to these locations, are among immediate priorities for humanitarians, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council on Monday.
New York, 8 March 2022
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South Sudan’s unity government marked its two-year anniversary against a backdrop of stalled constitutional progress and ongoing cycles of community violence – often fuelled by political groups and armed militias – the senior UN official in the country told the Security Council on Monday.
Unaccompanied and separated children fleeing the conflict in Ukraine must be protected, two senior UN officials said in a joint statement on Monday.
A convoy from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) hit an improvised explosive device north of Mopti on Monday, killing at least two ‘blue helmets’, from Egypt, and wounding four others.
Ukraine addressed the UN’s highest court on Monday to reject as a “grotesque lie” Russia’s claims that genocide has been committed in eastern Ukrainian oblasts, or regions, before calling for emergency measures to halt Russian aggression.
Reports that Ukraine’s, and Europe’s, largest nuclear power plant is under the control of Russian forces is a cause for grave concern, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said on Sunday.
UN chief António Guterres called on Sunday for a pause in fighting to allow civilians to escape conflict zones in Ukraine, as the UN rights body (OHCHR) announced it had recorded 1,123 civilian casualties since the beginning of Russia’s armed attack on the country.
Tropical Storm Ana left a trail of destruction in its wake in Malawi, particularly in hardest-hit southern districts, after it struck the country in late January. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has been at the forefront of efforts to help pregnant women and mothers by providing medical supplies, and reproductive services.
Amin Awad, the United Nations Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine, called on Saturday for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, as UN aid supplies arrive in the country.
Amin Awad, the United Nations Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine, called on Saturday for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, as UN aid supplies arrive in the country.
“Slave” tattoos, electric shock devices, and plastic bracelets. These are examples of the kinds of objects and physical abuses deployed by human traffickers to control, torture, and brand their victims, and which are crucial to securing a conviction.
This Week in DPPA is a brief roundup of political and peacebuilding events and developments at UNHQ and around the world.
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Amid reports of dwindling food supplies in embattled areas in Ukraine, the World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday began ramping up operations, warning that the conflict could have consequences beyond the country.
UN humanitarians on Friday described as “unprecedented,” the continuing outflow of children and families fleeing the “relentless shelling” of Russian military action in Ukraine – as they await assurances for the safe passage of relief teams to provide urgently needed assistance.
Madam President,
The Secretary-General is gravely concerned by the escalating fighting throughout Ukraine. Ukrainian cities are today under siege and facing repeated attacks.
Over one million Ukrainians have already crossed Ukraine’s borders and have been welcomed by their European neighbours. We applaud such solidarity and support. Everyone seeking refuge should be afforded protection without any form of discrimination.
Millions of Ukrainians who remain in the country are being subjected to heavy, often indiscriminate, bombardment and shelling. There are thousands of casualties and their number is growing.
The UN is significantly increasing its humanitarian assistance in Ukraine to respond to the escalating crisis.
Madam President,
The Secretary-General has followed with great alarm reports of heavy fighting around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. We understand that the fire affected a training facility and not the cooling system or power center.
Military operations around nuclear sites and other critical civilian infrastructure are not only unacceptable but highly irresponsible.
Ukraine knows only too well the devastation of a major nuclear accident. The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 stands as a lasting example of why it is vital to ensure all nuclear power plants have the highest standards of safety and security.
Every effort should be taken to avoid a catastrophic nuclear incident.
The persistence and bravery of the Ukrainian personnel who continue to keep power plants safely operational during this crisis are to be applauded.
Madam President,
Attacks on nuclear power facilities are contrary to international humanitarian law. Specifically, Article 56 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Convention, states that: “Works or installations containing dangerous forces, namely dams, dykes and nuclear electrical generating stations, shall not be made the object of attack, even where these objects are military objectives, if such attack may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian population.”
The Secretary-General welcomes the statements and actions by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on this issue and is ready to assist however he can.
It is vital that all parties work with the IAEA to establish an appropriate framework that will ensure the safe, secure and reliable operation of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
Urgent and safe passage should be granted to IAEA personnel should they need to travel to Ukraine to work with regulators.
Madam President,
We welcome the reported agreement between the Ukrainian and Russian negotiators during their second round of talks in Belarus yesterday. We understand the discussion focused on the establishment of humanitarian corridors to allow safe passage for civilians and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
We hope that this reported agreement is implemented without delay and that a full and unconditional ceasefire is quickly agreed and enacted.
We urge the sides to continue negotiations and to make urgent progress on security, humanitarian and other issues.
Madam President,
As the Secretary-General has emphatically stated, the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders, must be respected, in line with General Assembly resolutions.
What we are witnessing in Ukraine today is inconsistent with the principles of the UN Charter.
Only diplomacy and negotiations can achieve a truly lasting solution to the current conflict.
The fighting in Ukraine must stop. And it must stop now.
Thank you, Madam President.
On World Obesity Day, marked on Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries to do more to reverse what is a preventable health crisis.
