The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNHCR , UNICEF
Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Ukraine war one year - UNICEF, UNHCR, IFRC
Children in Ukraine have endured violence, trauma, loss, destruction and displacement since the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022, leaving 4.1 million children in need of humanitarian assistance inside the country, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
“We have data that 487 children have been killed and 954 injured inside Ukraine and those are verified estimates alongside OHCHR (the UN human rights office and its monitoring mission in Ukraine), and the use of explosive weapons causing those child casualties,” said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, speaking to the media at the United Nations in Geneva.
Schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure on which children depend continue to be damaged or destroyed. UNICEF estimates that more than 800 health facilities were shelled in the last year, while an estimated 1.5 million children have suffered severe mental health trauma, having experienced the war.
“We see health facilities damaged or destroyed by shelling,” said Ms. Khan. “This has serious repercussions on the ability to provide basic services to children inside Ukraine. The mental health disorders for children who have witnessed family members killed and injured, losing friends, losing neighbours”.
Families have been separated and lives torn apart, UN humanitarians have warned, as fighting continues in the east and south of Ukraine. As part of the response, UNICEF has helped 1.4 million children with formal and informal education. The UN agency has also provided 224,000 households with multi-purpose cash assistance.
“We have focused very much on cash assistance to families inside Ukraine,” said UNICEF’s Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia. “The figure is several hundred million(s) of dollars in cash assistance, and we have targeted by focusing on children and families with large numbers of dependents and children with a disability.”
Children who have been separated from their parents are also at higher risk of abuse, exploitation and trafficking as they flee violence, UNICEF warned. It estimates that two million Ukrainian children have crossed into neighbouring countries as refugees and another 2.5 million are displaced inside the country.
On the overall number of displacements caused by the war in Ukraine, Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that “we are looking unfortunately at a situation where there are 13 million people who have been uprooted from their homes and among those there are eight million refugees who fled across Europe, and more than five million people who are internally displaced within the country”.
Providing mental health to the Ukrainian population is also one of the priorities of UN partner, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
“One of the top issues that we are seeing and need to highlight are the psychological wounds that are not only adding another cruel layer of pain to people already struggling to cope, the anguish and the torment of the last year has hit people very hard, and this continues,” said Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen IFRC’s Regional Director for Europe. She added that “people are right now living in freezing temperatures without power, heat and in some cases without water due to the damages of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure”.
For those Ukrainians who have left the country and are trying to settle elsewhere, they are burdened with administrative hurdles in addition to their suffering from the war. “Some are now facing what we can call a ‘red tape nightmare’ of providing qualifications – and of proving qualifications - and training in order to be able to find and get work”, said IFRC’s Europe Director. “Accreditations are needed, legal attestations of documents and in some cases, this is super complex and costly for people who are dealing with many other issues at the same time.”
-ends-
STORY: Ukraine war one year – UNICEF, UNHCR, IFRC
TRT: 2:43 mins
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 24 February 2023 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide shot, press room with moderator and screens with speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia: “We have data that 487 children have been killed and 954 injured inside Ukraine and those are verified estimates alongside OHCHR and the use of explosive weapons causing those child casualties”.
- Medium shot, camera women and journalists in the background
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia: ”We see health facilities as well damaged or destroyed by shelling. This has serious repercussions on the ability to provide basic services to children inside Ukraine. The mental health disorders for children who have witnessed family members killed and injured, losing friends, losing neighbors”.
- Medium shot, podium with speakers + screen and journalists
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia: “We have focused very much on cash assistance to families inside Ukraine. The figure is several hundred million of dollars in cash assistance, and we have targeted by focusing on children and families with large numbers of dependents and children with a disability”.
- Close up, journalist working with laptop
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Shabia Mantoo, Spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “We are looking unfortunately at a situation where there are 13 million people who have been uprooted from their homes and among those there are eight million refugees who fled across Europe, and more than five million people who are internally displaced within the country”.
- Wide shot, journalist from behind with Shabia Mantoo speaking at the podium
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen (Zoom from Budapest), IFRC Regional Director for Europe: “One of the top issues that we are seeing and need to highlight are the psychological wounds that are not only adding another cruel layer of pain to people already struggling to cope, the anguish and the torment of the last year has hit people very hard, and this continues”.
- Medium shot, journalists working at their laptops
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen (Zoom from Budapest), IFRC Regional Director for Europe: “People are right now living in freezing temperatures without power, heat and in some cases without water due to the damages of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure”.
- Medium shot, journalists in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Birgitte Bischoff Ebbesen (Zoom from Budapest), IFRC Regional Director for Europe: “Also, some are now facing what we can call a ‘red tape nightmare’ of proofing qualifications - and of proving qualifications - and training in order to be able to find and get work. Accreditations are needed, legal attestations of documents and in some cases, this is super complex and costly for people who are dealing with many other issues at the same time”.
- Medium shot, screen with speakers on the left, journalists sitting on the right
- Wide shot, camerawoman filming, journalists in the background
- Close up, hands typing on laptop
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
'Cabrini' film lead and Gomorrah star Cristiana Dell’Anna travelled to Geneva on Friday to highlight the age-old dangers confronting migrants – and the astonishing Italian missionary who travelled to New York City's slums at the turn of the last century, determined to protect them.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns of escalating danger for Sudanese civilians amid ethnic violence and war crimes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
UN health agency says 500 to 600 aid trucks a day could reach Gaza once ceasefire begins
Amid media reports that Israel’s Security Cabinet recommended the approval of a Gaza ceasefire on Friday, humanitarian aid agencies prepared to expand the flow of humanitarian aid assistance to Palestinians in the territory, devastated by 15 months of war.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA , UNHCR
UN stands with people of Ukraine for the long term insists UN aid chief at humanitarian appeal launch in Kyiv
The embattled people of Ukraine and those forced abroad need $3.32 billion in lifesaving and sustained humanitarian assistance to help them cope as a fourth year of war looms after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, UN aid chiefs said on Thursday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Syria: Tragedy ‘at every step’ as millions of children face landmine threat – UNICEF
In Syria, landmines and other explosives left over from years of conflict present an ever more lethal threat to children, accounting for over 100 child deaths and injuries last month alone, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO , WHO
LA wildfires: Climate change made the disaster worse says WMO
The powerful dry winds and tinderbox conditions that have been fuelling the continuing Los Angeles wildfire tragedy have been made worse by climate change, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada Al-Nashif on Wednesday updated the Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in Ukraine, outlining the findings of OHCHR’s latest periodic report covering 1st September to 30th November 2024.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are deeply troubled by the marked increase in executions in Iran last year. At least 901 people were reportedly executed in 2024, including some 40 in one week alone in December. At least 853 people were executed in 2023,” Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Avian flu risk still ‘low’ after first US patient dies – WHO
A day after the United States reported its first human death from avian flu, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) insisted that the risk to the general population remains “low”.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.