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New York, May 5 – Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said he did not mince words when he visited Moscow and told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the invasion of Ukraine violated the UN Charter. Guterres and the UN heads of the Human Rights Council and emergency humanitarian affairs briefed the UN Security Council on recent events in Ukraine.

“Throughout my travels, I did not mince words,” Guterres said. “I said the same thing in Moscow as I did in Kyiv – which is exactly what I have repeatedly expressed in New York.

“Namely that: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a violation of its territorial integrity and of the Charter of the United Nations. It must end for the sake of the people of Ukraine, Russia, and the entire world.”

“I visited Moscow and Kyiv with a clear understanding of the realities on the ground.

I entered an active war zone in Ukraine with no immediate possibility of a national ceasefire and a full-scale ongoing attack on the east of the country.”

Guterres met with Putin on April 26 and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiyv on April 28 and had discussions over the war in Ukraine with the presidents of Turkey and Poland.

From his discussions Guterres said the UN worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Russian and Ukrainian authorities to open humanitarian corridors and begin the evacuation of civilians caught for months by the fighting in Mariupol and the Azovstal plant. He reported to the council the evacuation of civilians has achieved “some measure of success.”

“Together, the United Nations and the ICRC are leading a humanitarian operation of great complexity – both politically, and in terms of security,” he said.

He said the Ukraine war has unleashed a food security crisis in the West African nations of Senegal, Niger and Nigeria, where he visited after Moscow and Kiyv and directly heard testimony from leaders and civil society there.

“We need quick and decisive action to ensure a steady flow of food and energy in open markets, by lifting export restrictions, allocating surpluses and reserves to those who need them, and addressing food price increases to calm market volatility,” he said.

 “But let me be clear: a meaningful solution to global food insecurity requires reintegrating Ukraine’s agricultural production and the food and fertilizer production of Russia and Belarus into world markets, despite the war.

“I will do my best to help facilitate a dialogue to help make this a reality,” he said.

Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told the council that the destruction of civilian infrastructure has come to characterize the Russian war in Ukraine.

“Apartment buildings, schools and hospitals in populated areas have been attacked. They must not be.

Over 13 million Ukrainians have now been forced to flee their homes, of whom 7.7 million are internally displaced. Lives uprooted, ripped apart. Never the same again.”

“The threat of gender-based violence—including conflict-related sexual violence, sexual exploitation and abuse and human trafficking—has risen hugely since the war began. Allegations of sexual violence against women, girls, men and boys are mounting,” Griffiths said.

“Roads are heavily contaminated with explosive ordnance, putting civilians at risk and stopping humanitarian convoys from reaching them,” he said.

Griffiths said the UN now has more than 1,400 staff deployed across Ukraine and operating out of eight hubs beyond Kyiv, with staff, warehouses and supplies in 30 locations. He said the UN teams have reached more than 4.1 million people with some form of assistance across all the country’s 24 oblasts.”

Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the council information and  reports received so far showed violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, which called for the need for accountability.

“It pains me to say that all our concerns remain valid, and the situation keeps deteriorating,” she said. “Reports of deadly incidents, such as attacks on hospital No 3 and the drama theatre in Mariupol, on the railway station in Kramatorsk, on residential areas in Odesa, have become shockingly frequent. There seems to be no end in sight to the daily reports of civilian deaths and injuries.”

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New York, April 26 – For the first time in its history, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a resolution to increase accountability whenever one of the world powers like the United States, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China cast a veto to block a call against military aggression or to provide humanitarian aid. Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on February 25 that demanded an end to its invasion of Ukraine.

Those five countries are known as permanent members of the 15-nation Security Council with power to stop a resolution even if the measure is adopted by a majority of its members, including 10 other countries that are each elected for two-year term. The council tried but failed to stop Russia’s February 24 invasion and was denounced as ineffective in carrying out its world peace and security responsibility.

 The 193-nation assembly adopted by consensus, meaning without a recorded vote, a resolution sponsored by 83 countries that allows it to convene within 10 days a formal meeting to debate after one or more of the permanent members have cast a veto. The resolution is titled “Strengthening of the United Nations System.”

Of the five permanent members, the US, United Kingdom and France supported the resolution while Russia and China did not. Other countries among the 83 countries that supported the resolution include the Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Germany, Guatemala, Ireland, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Myanmar, Romania, Singapore, Turkey and Ukraine.

 “While not legally binding, it will allow the entire UN membership of 193 countries to have a say on vetoed resolutions, helping to increase accountability,” said United Kingdom Ambassador Barbara Woodward. “By doing so, the resolution seeks to give a voice to the entire UN membership on vetoed resolutions and make permanent members who have used their veto more accountable for their actions.”

“The founding members of the United Nations vowed to save generations that followed them from the scourge of war,” she said. “They conferred the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security on the Security Council. The UN Charter gives the permanent members the power of veto. This is a heavy responsibility, to be used in the interests of securing the peace and security that people around the world seek and the UN was established to provide.It is not to be used lightly. And should not, we believe, be used without accountability. It should not prevent the Council from fulfilling its mandate – which is why we have supported this resolution today.”

Woodward said Russia has used its veto 22 times in the last 10 years – to block aid to civilians and defend war crimes and in 2020, Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution to extend cross-border aid access from Turkey into Syria for a year, essentially cutting off humanitarian aid from millions of Syrian civilians.

UN member nations have tried for years but failed to reform the working procedures of the council, including reining in the veto power and expanding the number of permanent members for a more equitable representation of the membership.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his first virtual address to the Security Council on April 4, urging the body to stop the war or failing that to disband itself.

“Russia was turning ‘the right of veto in the UN Security Council into a right to kill’,” Zelensky said, adding allegations of arbitrary killing of civilians, torture and rape and he called for investigation of war crimes.

“Are you ready to close the UN?” he asked. “Do you think that the time of international law is gone? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately.”

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Geneva/New York, April 22 – The United Nations condemned the indiscriminate uses of military forces by Russia and “horrors” committed against civilians in Ukraine while the organization’s leader, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, is preparing to meet separately with leaders of Russia and Ukraine in their capitals, UN spokespersons said.

Guterres will be in Moscow on April 26^th and will have a working meeting and lunch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov before meeting with President Vladimir Putin, said Eri Kaneko, an associate spokesperson in New York. Guterres will visit Kiyv on April 28 where he will have a working meeting with Foreign Minister Minister Dmytro Kuleba and will be received by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The requests were made in letters sent separately to the Russian and Ukrainian UN missions in New York on April 19 following unsuccessful calls by UN officials for a humanitarian cease-fire to bring aid to the millions of people caught in the war started by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

“The Secretary-General said, at this time of great peril and consequence, he would like to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine and the future of multilateralism based on the Charter of the United Nations and international law,” said spokesperson Stephane Dujarric when the requests were made. “He noted that both Ukraine and the Russian Federation are founding members of the United Nations and have always been strong supporters of this Organization.”

In Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet provided details of what she called a “horror story” of possible war crimes and abuses committed in Ukraine, citing indiscriminate shelling and bombardment of civilian residential areas, widespread destruction of properties and hundreds of summary executions.

“International humanitarian law has not merely been ignored but seemingly tossed aside,” Bachelet said in a statement in which she condemned the “horrors” committed against civilians, including a missile strike on the train station in Kramatorsk that killed more than 50 civilians and injured scores. She said the attacks are “emblematic of Russian forces’ indiscriminate bombardment of civilian targets” which amount to war crimes. “Our work to date has detailed a horror story of violations perpetrated against civilians.”

OHCHR said 5,381 civilian casualties but actual figures are “considerable higher”

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 5,381 civilian casualties in the country: 2,435 killed and 2,946 injured from February 24, 2022 when Russian forces launched attacks against Ukraine to April 21, 2022. This included: a total of 2,435 killed (746 men, 469 women, 48 girls, and 66 boys, as well as 70 children and 1,036 adults whose sex is yet unknown)

a total of 2,946 injured (345 men, 274 women, 62 girls, and 67 boys, as well as 157 children and 2,041 adults whose sex is yet unknown)

OHCHR said it “believes the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration.”

In Lviv, West Ukraine, the UN Crisis Coordinator, Assistant Secretary-General Amin Awad told a news conference on April 21 that Ukraine has seen “suffering, devastation, and destruction on a massive scale” in the last two months, UN News reported.

“At least 15.7 million people in Ukraine are now in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection, over 5 million people fled Ukraine to seek safety in other countries and another 7.1 million have been internally displaced across the country,” Awad said. “This represents more than 25 per cent of the entire population of Ukraine.”

“The world is shocked by what is happening in Ukraine,” said Awad, calling “deeply disturbing” the treatment of war prisoners and that the fate of civilians in Mariupol remains unknown. He said people living in occupied Kherson are short on food and medicines; Mykolaiv has been without water for seven days; and the devastation of urban centres and civilian infrastructure across the oblasts – especially in Donetska, Luhanska, Khakvska, Kyivska and Chernivska – have disrupted critical services for millions, including water and health care.

The Norwegian Refugee Council: Ukraine Fears of besiegement, bloodshed and displacement in eastern regions

In Oslo, the Norwegian Refugee Council said in a press release that it is deeply worried that intensified fighting in eastern Ukraine till lead to besiegement of entire cities and towns. The immense suffering and bloodshed that engulfed Mariupol may be senselessly repeated elsewhere, as the country marks two months of war.

“The escalation of war in east Ukraine will result in horrific bloodshed and mass displacement from the eastern regions, including Luhansk and Donetsk, re-traumatising communities who have already suffered eight years of hostilities. In some places the escalation may also lead to entire cities being besieged,” warned Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), on a five-day visit to Ukraine.

“It’s heart-breaking to think about the horrors these people are forced to relive, and to know that we are unable to get lifesaving assistance into many affected areas. We call for an immediate ceasefire to stop this tidal wave of human suffering.”

Facts and figures:

NRC has ongoing operations in Lviv, Ternopil, Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Moldova. We plan to assist 800,00 displaced people over the coming months.

NRC has been working in Ukraine since 2014 assisting over 700,000 people through its legal aid, food security and livelihoods, WASH and shelter programmes.  

12 million people have been displaced since the war began on 24 February – over 7 million inside Ukraine and over 5 million to neighbouring countries.

12 million people inside Ukraine are estimated to need humanitarian aid.

At least 199 health facilities suffering attacks, while hundreds of thousands are now without water or electricity. 

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New York, April 13 – The Russian war in Ukraine not only has caused “terrifying levels” of death, destruction and suffering in Ukraine, it has also triggered food, energy and finance crises that particularly are impacting on scores of poor countries with a total of 1.7 billion people, the United Nations said in a first report on the Global Impact of War in Ukraine on Food, Energy and Finance Systems.

The 22-page report said preliminary assessments showed that the 1.7 billion people exposed to the war’s repercussions live in 107 poor economies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and in the Caribbean and Latin America regions.

“These are countries where people struggle to afford healthy diets, where imports are essential to satisfy the food and energy needs of their populations, where debt burdens and tightening resources limit government’s ability to cope with the vagaries of global financial conditions,” the report said. It said either of the Covid-19 pandemic, debt payments, climate change or food shortages and blackouts can collapse the economy. Of the 1.7 billion people, 553 million people are already poor and 215 million are already malnourished.

“Since the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, the world’s attention has been focused on the war’s terrifying levels of death, destruction and suffering” while less attention has been paid to impacts of poverty, hunger and social unrest, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in presenting the report.

Guterres said 36 countries, including some of the poorest countries, rely on Russia and Ukraine for more than half of their wheat imports and the war has made a bad situation worse. He said Russia is a top supplier of oil and gasoline but oil prices are up more than 60 per cent in the past year while gas prices have risen by 50 per cent while fertilizers have double in price.

“But now is also the time to turn this crisis into an opportunity,” Guterres said. “We must work towards progressively phasing-out coal and other fossil fuels, and accelerating the deployment of renewable energy and a just transition. “

“We need to pull developing countries back from the financial brink. The international financial system has deep pockets. I have been strongly advocating for its reform. But developing countries need help now, and the funds are there.”

Developing countries under the Sword of Damocles, the report said (excerpts):

Food

The report said the war has impacted on food production and caused rising food prices worldwide which will be felt through 2023. Russia and Ukraine are major wheat and maize producers as well as fertilizers.

“Food and energy import bills are already at record levels, and it seems inevitable that these will continue to rise. This will have widespread impacts that could be far-reaching, but the consequences for poorer and vulnerable people, will be particularly severe. Many food producers are not able to access the agricultural inputs they need.”

Energy

“Energy markets were already tight before the start of the crisis, following strong consumer demand and high GDP growth in 2021. Though crude oil and natural gas are still around 50 per cent above their level at the start of the year, they have witnessed volatile trading sessions following key announcements since the start of the war and, in particular, the commitment by the United States to release 180 million barrels of oil over the next six months.

“The significant increase in oil and gas prices may lead to counteracting effects in the longer term. On the one hand, it may shift investments back into extractive industries and fossil fuel-based energy generation, running the risk of reversing the trend towards decarbonization documented over the past 5-10 years. On the other hand, it can also accelerate the transition towards alternative sources of energy, especially in countries that wish to strengthen their energy resilience by sourcing from more local sources. The jury is still out on which trend will prevail. Much depends on political leadership and maintaining the momentum towards meeting the commitments of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.”

Finance

“We are on the brink of a global debt crisis. Even before the start of this crisis developing countries spent on average 16 per cent of their export earnings in servicing their debt obligations, with Small Island Developing States spending more than twice this figure. By comparison, after the Allied Powers restructured Germany’s debt in 1953, debt servicing payments never exceeded 3.4 per cent of export revenues in any year. On top of that, bond yields of developing countries have been on the rise since September 2021, given expectations of monetary tightening in developed countries. Rate hikes alongside financial disorder would be a double blow for developing economies, of “taper-tantrum-like” effects through interest rate rises and greater volatility in commodity futures and bond markets, leading to increased risk premiums on top of exchange rate pressures.”

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By J. Tuyet Nguyen

New York, March 24 – The United Nations General Assembly voted 140 against five to demand an immediate end of hostilities by Russian military forces in Ukraine, in particular against civilians and call for full protection of humanitarian and health personnel, journalists and persons in vulnerable situations, including women and children.

The five countries voting against are: Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea. A total of 38 countries abstained

The resolution adopted by the assembly demanded that “all parties” protect civilians fleeing the war and allow them unhindered access to humanitarian aid and personnel. It condemned all violations against international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights and called on “all parties to the armed conflict to strictly respect international humanitarian law.”

The resolution called upon member states to fully fund the UN flash appeal for humanitarian response in Ukraine and the regional response to refugees.

The Russian military invasion of Ukraine, which started on February 24, has forced millions of people out of their homes including more than 3.5 million have taken refuge in neighboring countries, hundreds of deaths and vast destructions of properties.

The vote took place during a resumed special emergency session of the 193-nation assembly at the request of 22 countries to discuss the resolution entitled “Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine.” The document called for an immediate cease-fire and urgent humanitarian aid to help desperate civilians caught under heavy bombardments and dire conditions that UN Secretary-General Antonio described as “appalling human suffering and destruction in cities, towns and villages. “

The UN chief said in an address to the UN Security Council on Ukraine March 22: “The terrorizing of civilians through systematic bombardments, the shelling of hospitals, schools, apartment buildings and shelters… all of it is intensifying — getting more destructive and more unpredictable by the hour.  Ten million Ukrainians have been forced from their homes and are on the move. “

“But the war is going nowhere, fast,” he said. “The only outcome to all this is more suffering, more destruction, and more horror as far as the eye can see.  The Ukrainian people are enduring a living hell – and the reverberations are being felt worldwide with skyrocketing food, energy and fertilizer prices threatening to spiral into a global hunger crisis.”

Guterres called for a cease-fire: “There is enough on the table to cease hostilities – now … and seriously negotiate — now.  This war is unwinnable.  Sooner or later, it will have to move from the battlefield to the peace table. This is inevitable.”

The UN General Assembly condemned Russian invasion in previous emergency session

The assembly held the first emergency session on February 28-March 2 and adopted a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A total of 145 countries voted in favor of the condemnation resolution, five countries voted against (Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea) while 35 countries abstained.

The resolution adopted by the assembly condemned Russia’s “special military operation” against Ukraine and “deplored in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine” in violation of the UN Charter. The resolution called for an immediate and complete cease-fire and for the immediate withdrawal of Russian military forces from Ukraine.

The resolution also condemned all violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of human rights, and it called on all parties to strictly respect relevant provisions of international humanitarian law.

More than 3.5 million refugees

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine to take refuge in neighboring and other countries, including about 2 million in Poland, since the Russian invasion started on February 24. It said the high number of refugees demanded massive needs in order to survive.

“This is really another tragic milestone for the people of Ukraine and it’s been achieved in just under one month,” said Matthew Saltmarsh, spokesperson for UNHCR.

The International Office for Migration said an estimated 6.5 million men, women and children are forced out of their homes inside Ukraine because of the war in addition to those who became refugees.  The office said many of those internally displaced people are particularly vulnerable, pregnant and breastfeeding women, elderly persons, those with disabilities, chronic illnesses and people directly affected by violence.

“The scale of human suffering and forced displacement due to the war far exceeds any worst-case scenario planning,” IOM Director General António Vitorinosaid.

The World Health Organization said the refugees need urgent assistance for chronic health and mental trauma.

“As you can imagine access to health care in Ukraine is very restricted,” Dr Paloma Cuchi said. “And on top of that, refugees are coming from a long, difficult and dangerous journey, you know, until they arrive at the border of Poland. Children are travelling for days without proper food, without the proper water. They are tired, they are worried.”

“There is a tremendous number of senior refugees…that have been without their medications for days, they come with decompensated diabetes, with blood pressure with other health problems, and of course, we have pregnant women, who are without prenatal care.”

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