UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : UNHCR: Kelly Clements on Ukraine

Good morning. Welcome to the press briefing of the information

system of the UN in Geneva. Today is Tuesday, 12th of November.

We started a little bit earlier because we have the pleasure to have with us

Kelly Clements, who is, as you know, the Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees,

who is here as a special guest to tell us about

Ukraine.

And this terrible anniversary was coming up of the 1000

days of the full scale war in this country.

Kelly, please.

Thank you very much. And good morning to everybody.

Thank you for being with us online or here in the room.

Uh, yes. So last week I had a, um, a mission to Ukraine.

And as we are approaching 1000 days, as, uh, Sandra just mentioned,

uh, it is a grim reminder that the war continues and continues with a vengeance.

Uh, with civilians caught in the middle.

We have seen, of course, uh, 3.7 million internally displaced people

now 6.75 million refugees, uh, primarily in, uh, Europe

and 14.6 million people in need inside the country.

Um, the destruction, the level of destruction, the level of displacement

uh, the constant air alerts. Uh, and now the increased number of evacuations.

Uh, in fact, 100 and 50,000 just in the last two months

means that there are a number of civilians that, uh, are in great need

with a war that continues with with the use of glide bombs, drones.

Uh, and, uh, the the number of communities now impacted are increasing.

We have as UN HCR,

the UN refugee agency invested heavily in local capacity and local delivery.

Uh,

92% of our resources are currently going

through local partners and local authorities.

Uh, and 16 out of 20 of our fiduciary partners are Ukrainian,

uh,

450 community-based organisations across the country

and right now heavily involved in winter

preparations and winter response.

Uh, our trip last week coincided with the first snowfall.

Uh, it was already getting quite cold.

Uh, and this has been something that, of course, we're quite concerned about,

with 65% of the energy infrastructure impacted

and huge concerns that there will be another, uh,

catastrophic, uh, hit on energy as Ukraine faces the coldest months

that we see an operation right now. Where there is a, um it's basically two proned

in the West.

We're looking at, uh,

communities that are hosting large numbers of internally displaced,

some of them displaced more than once,

uh,

and and looking at recovery and and rebuilding in

terms of being able to restart their lives.

And, of course, an active emergency response in the East,

Uh, and other parts of the country,

The winter response in particular, we are aiming to reach, uh,

625,000 of the most vulnerable,

uh, Ukrainians, primarily aged. Uh, those that are are ready

in a fragile situation, looking at ways that they can, uh,

have alternatives to to energy other ways to insulate, uh uh, homes, uh and so on,

uh, and looking again at, um,

the what comes in terms of of the winter months with regard to energy capacity,

uh, and our support. And that was one of the reasons why I did go to Kharkiv.

Um, our support has has gone to some of the hardest hit areas incur,

including Kharkiv,

the, um,

the challenges, Of course,

as we go into the winter months with the full scale invasion,

uh, showing no signs of abating. Uh,

includes education for kids, and we did have an opportunity in Kharkiv to visit uh,

metro school.

We call it

an underground school, which is, uh,

we're trying to replicate across that city and other parts of Ukraine

so that, uh,

education can go on with some sense of normalcy in a very abnormal situation.

Um uh, energy, Of course we just spoke about.

And of course, uh, the winter,

the winter kits and winter supplies that become so necessary

funding remains a huge issue, not just for UN HCR,

but other humanitarian organisations.

Uh,

we currently,

our our refugee response plan is $1.1 billion and just over half of it has been met.

But we're almost to the end of the year,

which means large numbers of of large parts

of our programme will not be implemented.

And inside the country,

a humanitarian response plan that is just over $3 billion and again

with not much more support than that from the international community.

So the humanitarian needs continue to be, uh, quite at a high level,

Uh, and we're going into the most difficult part of the year.

Uh, with, uh, no signs of the war abating,

so I'll leave it at that. Take any questions.

Thank you so very much.

Kelly, to come and tell us about this on the eve of this anniversary.

I'll open the floor now to questions. I see Jeremy, Jeremy

is our correspondent of

Mr

Clemens.

You mentioned energy. I'd like to know if Ukraine is better off

this year than last year. In terms of energy, we saw that

there was a dam that was bombarded by the Russian forces a couple of days ago.

So I'd like to know,

is

Ukraine better off at the start of the winter than the previous year?

So, in terms of energy, I can tell you that having spoken with government officials,

this is probably one of their top priorities.

Um, and with a reduction between 60

65% already

going into this winter, um, I would say no.

In terms of that, that energy cap capacity, it's quite fragile.

Um, that is where we're trying to undergird.

And obviously we're not an energy agency, per SE.

But we're trying to at least get some,

uh, of the most basic items.

Uh, including through local authorities and government officials to some of those

vulnerable families. But yes, energy is a huge concern for the government.

Jamie,

just to make sure the 65 per cent you mentioned

that is it 65 per cent

capacity less than

the energy

of the energy infrastructure?

Yes.

Yes. So

65 per cent of the energy capacity. This is the current status right now. 65 per cent.

Ok? And do you know,

you said you're not an energy

an energy agency, but

do you have any idea? What was it last year at that time of the year, like 65.

Was it more or less?

I can't go into those details. Thanks.

OK? Uh,

no.

Jamie, You wanna

Sorry I saw your hand first. And then Nina,

I'm gonna

answer

to the

press.

Hi. Thank you for coming to see us.

Um, I wanted to you mentioned that, uh, because of the budgetary, the funding issue,

you're not going to be able to implement all of the programmes that you wanted to.

Can you be specific about which ones those are that will not

be implemented by the end of the year because of this funding for

and just more broadly, um,

we're heading into a change of government in the United States, as you know, and, uh,

the, um, incoming administration, um, has or the pres

President elect Trump has

talked about, uh, you know, both

Ukraine trying to work out an arrangement for Ukraine and and talked about, um,

you know,

Well, le let's just take it has taken a less multilateral, uh, approach than, say,

his his than the current administration.

Um, my question really is, um

could you help us lift the veil a little bit as to whether or

not you expect a reduced funding both from the from the United States,

both for Ukraine

and,

um, and all of its humanitarian needs

as well as for UN HCR in general,

if you could tell us whether or not you've gotten

any signals that there may be less funding from,

uh,

from its largest donor,

thanks in terms of the the cuts or what we're not able to do without full support, uh,

for for the,

uh either the refugee regional response plan

or the humanitarian response plan.

What we tend to do of, of course,

is focus what resources we have on the most vulnerable.

So as you see a country with, uh, a a number of dynamics and in fact, a paradox,

I would say

where the West seemingly, uh,

seemingly quite calm, uh, normal.

But with high expectations in terms of being able to host

the the large number of displaced from elsewhere in Ukraine,

we would be unfortunately able to do less in those areas.

We would focus more on those, uh, areas that are subject to, uh,

current bombardment, uh, evacuation requirements

and other emergency needs.

Uh,

it doesn't mean that the requirements in the west of the country are not important.

Uh, it just means we have to put unfortunately,

too few resources in just a a limited number of places.

Um, we are, as we are able to get.

In fact,

we we got some very encouraging news from from a

couple of governments just in the last few days,

as we're able to even these last two months of the year,

we can implement quite quickly.

For example, um, the winter, the winter programme, which is underway.

We've reached about half of who we would like to, uh,

get to in terms of winter kits that would be

escalated with with additional resources as well as cash support,

uh, cash support so that families can,

for example, um, identify additional fuel sources and otherwise,

uh, to keep their homes warm.

Those are the areas where we can increase quite quickly with additional resources.

We can do unfortunately, um, less if we don't have them.

Um, in terms of the the change of of administration, obviously,

uh, UN HCR is a humanitarian organisation.

Uh, and a political one. We're used to working with,

uh, administrations of, of all sorts. And we work with,

uh, administrations, uh, in in countries.

Uh, that change, uh, change quite quickly as well.

Um, our at this stage, you know, it's, uh we can't speculate.

There's, uh we're just a few days into the results, uh, of the US election.

Um, we would aim to work constructively and and well, uh,

with the incoming trump administration,

as we have with past administrations and the first trump administration,

I would not be in a position at this point to give any indications in terms of funding,

whether that's for Ukraine,

uh, or for UN HCR, what I can say is that the US has been an extremely valuable partner.

Uh, over at our our 75 years of history as an organisation,

um, and providing that kind of support even, uh,

to operations very far from from the US shores

provides, uh, of course, Uh, not just meeting humanitarian needs,

uh, but important regional stability and international security needs

quickly because Kelly doesn't have much time. We want to take two more questions.

Just follow up.

You mentioned that in the last few days you've

got some encouraging news from a couple of governments.

Could you be a little bit more specific about that? And what was the impetus for that?

I mean,

is it partly because there's concern that there

may be short funding shortfalls in other areas,

So other countries are stepping up?

Can you?

Uh well, I was actually in, um,

in Saudi Arabia just before going to Ukraine and was able to sign an agreement

for $10 million including to deal with some of the winter requirements and the like.

This was a contribution that had been in the works for some time, so that was not,

uh, not necessarily new, but it certainly came at just the right time for us.

Um, the United Kingdom has also come in, uh, importantly, with support.

Uh, and we've received indications that Norway and a couple of others

for Ukraine specifically. Yeah,

thank you very much. Nina Larson. A

FP.

Uh, thank you.

Um, so, yeah, Jamie asked, uh, my questions, but I'll, I'll follow up.

So, uh, just, uh, on on the change of administration, if if there is any, uh, type of,

uh, contingency planning

and then I wanted on the energy issue.

Um, if you're saying that it's not better off, uh, this year than than last.

I mean, considering that that people have been

living through this now for,

uh, 1000 days. I mean, uh, given what level of

resilience do they have and how concerned are you?

I mean, what's the biggest concern when it comes to energy? Is it

households or is it hospitals or, you know what?

Could you just give some, uh, where you you're saying the biggest concerns.

What's what are you most most worried about? Thank you.

Uh, well, we do contingency planning on a lot of things, but it's normally about, uh,

potentially peace.

Not coming to parts of the world and and people moving.

Uh,

I wouldn't I wouldn't at this point talk about

contingency planning with regard to change of administrations.

Um, on the issues related to energy, it's across the board.

Honestly, uh, in terms of the households,

I think the the big concern is that there would be AAA catastrophic

hit, uh, in the middle of winter where you see freezing,

uh, pipes bursting in apartment buildings

with, uh, some of the most vulnerable who have not moved,

uh, trapped or unable to continue to to subsist and to live in in two cold places.

So it's it's dwellings.

But it's also, of course, uh,

importantly places that would be able to support those civilians and needs,

including hospitals and schools and other locations.

Thank you very much. I'll take the last question from the platform.

Emma Farge, Reuters.

Hi. Good morning.

Um, I was hoping for an update on the status of Ukrainian refugees in, uh,

european countries.

Have you, uh, seen any sign of their refugee status? Um,

maybe being revoked. Or maybe some of them being sent back. Is there any risk of that?

Is that something you're concerned about. And, um,

what can you do to help them? Thank

you.

Thank you. Thanks for the question.

So, importantly, of course,

announcements of the EU temporary protection directive

being extended until March of 26 is,

of course, most welcome news.

Uh, this is, uh, this is a country, uh, still at war. Uh, and

in terms of the ability for people to rebuild in some of those areas, impossible.

Um, uh, the the European Union generally, of course, has has looked at this, uh,

collectively, as something that needs to continue,

Uh, in the near term, I know that there are, of course,

active discussions about Are there areas, uh,

potentially within the country That might be safe

for return and and that sort of thing,

Uh, at this stage, the this is it's it's too early to go, I think into the into that, uh,

discussion.

Um, but in terms of the the support, you know, there were returns heavily in, uh,

2023. I think the concern more now,

uh,

is that there will be more people leaving the

country in the next few weeks and months,

uh, given winter and given the the the ongoing, uh,

ongoing war, Uh, as opposed to those that would be returning to Ukraine.

Thank you so very much, Kelly.

And, um, Matt tells me that your notes are already on the platform.

So for the journalists, please, uh, look at them.

I'll stop for one minute to say goodbye to Kelly,

and then we will start with the regular briefing.

Just one second, please.

UNHCR: Kelly Clements on Ukraine - 12 November 2024