Welcome to the press briefing here in Geneva.
Today is Friday, 21st of February.
I will start the briefing with, unfortunately, an announcement that our dear friend and Dean of the journalist accredited to the UN office at Geneva, Mrs Lisa Schlein, our correspondent of Voice of America since 1981, passed away at the beginning of this week.
We all felt that we wanted to remember.
Lisa was a good friend of, I think of all of us.
So at the end of this briefing, we would be able to say a few words about her and remember her.
And I am really glad to single out the children of Lisa who are here with us today.
We will speak at length about the impressive record of Lisa and her compassionate and attachment for compassion and attachment for truth and, and, and, and what I could say we could call re reporting, truthful reporting and a lot for yeah, for truth, for truth that she had.
And we will speak about that at the end of this briefing.
So I start now with our regular announcements.
I would like to start with the announcement of the trip of the Secretary General, who will arrive in Geneva on this weekend, and he will take part in the opening of the 58th session of the Human Rights Council, which is, as you know, scheduled to pick out on Monday morning.
We'll hear more from Pascal in a moment.
He will also speak to the **** level segment of the Conference on Disarmament in the afternoon, and he will hold a number of bilateral meetings.
We will keep you informed in writing about his precise agenda, maybe on the Council.
Just a few housekeeping notes to remind you that the opening of the 58 session will begin at 9:00 AM on Monday.
The doors of Room 20 will open at 8:30 AM sharp, so 30 minutes before the start of the meeting.
So I strongly advise you to come in early, before 8:30, especially those of you who have all your visual equipment, so that you can secure entrance and the room and space inside Room 20, there will be a spillover room for those who cannot enter the room, and the spillover room is room 18, The running order for the opening of this 58 session, you will have the President of the Human Rights Council, followed by the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary General of the UN and the **** Commissioner for Human Rights.
And after this opening, you will have the first state to speak will be Switzerland.
The Foreign Minister, as the representative of the host country, will traditionally speak first.
And the **** level segment will continue until 4:00 PM.
There won't be any lunch break on the first day of this session.
At the end of the day, we'll have a panel discussion, the first one from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
That will be on the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, and Platform of Action will participate in this panel.
The Secretary General, the **** Commissioner, the President of the General Assembly and the Chair of the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
The Executive Director of UN Women will also participate through a video statement.
And on Tuesday morning, you will have a second panel discussion on the question of the death penalty.
I sent you an e-mail earlier this morning with all the latest updates regarding the A-Z Guide, the programme of work, the list of reports, the description of the 9 panels and the list of dignitaries for the **** level segment.
Just bear in mind that this list of dignitaries will be updated until Monday morning.
Pascal, is there any burning question?
Antonio, you have to unmute yourself.
I just wanted to be sure that there won't be any limits to enter with cameras in the **** level segment.
No, there won't be any limitation for accredited journalists with audio visual equipment.
But since all journalists will be subject to security screening, those of you who bring cameras and audiovisual equipment, so that's why I strongly advise you to come early to the door of Room 20.
Thank you very much, Gorky.
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Sorry, I switched to English UNHCR representative in Burundi who was brought to us by Olga.
Sorry, Olga Serrado, and we welcome Mrs Brigitte Mukanga Eno to hear about the appeal that the UNHCR is launching today on the situation in the RC and its impact on Burundi.
Good morning and thanks for having me today.
The escalating situation, security situation in the DRC has been having a serious impact on the Burundi side.
Over the past few weeks, we have observed a large number of people of Congolese who have been crossing into Burundi and we we have been working with the government of Burundi to receive the people who are crossing.
Mainly we have two main points of entrance.
You have those coming directly into Bujumbura, which is the official border point, but also those who a bigger number of people who are crossing have been coming through the Rosizi River, which is the triangle border between Burundi, DRC and Rwanda.
And at the Rossisi River, we have received a bigger number of people.
Currently we are talking of more than 36,000 people who have crossed through the Rossisi border.
While at the the main entrance official, I mean we have about 6000 people who have crossed on this side.
The government of Burundi has been generous enough and we are very grateful for that, to keep the borders open and also to declare a implementation of the prima facie recognition, which means that all those who are seeking protection in Burundi are automatically recognised as as as refugees in Burundi.
The situation is quite difficult because the this is the very first time that Burundi is is receiving this large number of people in, in a matter of few days.
Because the increase in numbers really started on, on, on the weekends of the 14th.
And we have seen particularly last week on Tuesday, we had more than 9000 people who prosper in one day.
So this kind of large influx is really the first time in many years for Kundi.
The last one was in the early 2000.
So everyone is overwhelmed, the government but also the humanitarian actors in the country.
We are trying our best, but the, the, the people who are arriving are coming quite in very, very bad shape, particularly for those coming through the, the, the seas in river because from what they are telling us, mainly have been already displaced within, within the Congo before crossing into into Burundi.
They say that some of them were around Goma and even in the southern Kivu, around Bukavu, where some of those displaced camps have been have been dismantled and they have been working for days, arriving in really a very bad shape.
The other day we had even a case of a woman who was transporting her children and not knowing that they were already dead.
Actually, when she dropped them in the camp, two of the children just passed on based on on exhaustment.
And so we have the conditions are very bad for the people who are arriving.
We have mostly women and so many children, so, so many children and elderly people.
The young persons are not as many, but mostly women and children who are crossing in this in this border.
And fortunately also the conditions for receptions are very limited.
The government has allowed us to to settle them for the moment in the stadium, in the Gombo Stadium, which is just in the open air.
And we have a few schools and the churches that have also accepted to receive them for the moment.
But these places are still very close to the border and yesterday, no, the day before yesterday, the government declared.
When the government declared the prima facie implementation for this population, they also decided to allocate land where we are going to start moving them and create a settlement which could also have all the necessary facilities.
But for the moment they are still at the stadium in Rubombo and in schools.
As I mentioned, there are so many gaps.
But of course I said most humanitarian.
We are trying to put in place inappropriate response.
Apart from the protection which is provided the the the government, the Ministry of Health, working with WHO, we have been able as of yesterday to vaccinate all the children under 15 systematically because of two cases of missiles that were identified as we're trying to do the medical screening.
But also the, the water tanks have been put in place with UNICEF trying to put just a few tanks have been put in place.
And WFP has also been able to deploy some, some food for us to make sure that we can provide hot meals to the people who are coming.
But of course, the the Russians are very limited for the moment considering this large number of people.
We also with MSF, there's a health clinic, a mobile clinic that has been established and which would continue because there are cases of of people who are arriving being sick already and the malnutrition that is observed among the children, but also the cyber social support for cases that have gone through a lot of violence in the country before reaching poverty.
So for the moment, we as a humanitarian community, we have a contingency plan that was prepared ahead of as we've vision and the contingency plan is we were targeting about 58,000 people who could cross.
But for the moment we are ready to, we have already received more than 40,000 and we are calling for support of course from various donors.
We have the we are calling from donors to support all the missions because there's no, there's no sufficient resources within the company to manage this situation.
I was supposed there and.
I think Olga wants to complete with a few more information.
And just to flag that while the movement elsewhere in the region have been smaller, around 15,000 new arrivals have been registered in neighbouring countries since January, to Uganda, to to Rwanda, to Tanzania and others.
So to respond to this worsening emergency unit TR is seeking 40.4 million U.S.
Dollars to strengthen preparedness and deliver life saving protection and assistance to 275,000 internally displaced people in South Kibu N Kibu, Manima, Antagonica Provinces of the DRC as well as to support a potential influx of of 258,000 refugees, asylum seekers and returnees in neighbouring countries including Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
So in the note that you will receive there are some maps.
I think this can be helpful because their arrivals are reaching Burundi and neighbouring countries from different entry points and also you you will have a link to B roll some footage from from the border in Burundi.
Thank you very much, both colleagues.
I'll open the first question in the room.
Hi, thank you for the briefing.
I was hoping it was a little bit unclear to me on the on the total number, I think it was you said more than 40,000 earlier.
If you could just clarify the exact number and then also the time frame that they've they've fled.
And when it comes to the contingency planning, could you also explain what the time frame is there and if you you think that 58,000 is, is a likely number or if you think it's, it could possibly be higher than that?
The contingency plan, the maximum we were targeting was 58,000 people.
We thought that would happen in a period like 3003 three months, but just for the first two weeks we have received more than 36,000 in Rugombo, which is the border I mentioned, and 6000 currently at the transit centre close to Bujumbura, which makes it around 42,000 people already seeking asylum out of the 58 land.
Don't see other hands on that in the room.
Just wait a second, then let me see if there's any other.
So I was just wondering if you're revising your contingency plan then given the speed with which the exodus is happening?
All the teams are working closely both at field level and the government of Burundi to review the contingency plan.
It's on top part de la frontier in is around the country supported kvidis and sit on security supported don't la priority for the for the de la frontier in some transit.
Merci buku Gabriela, your question is on what is it for UNHCR?
So I would like to know what is the situation of asylum seekers, refugees, principally refugees in the United States because they were prosecuted.
I mean, they were, they were a subject of persecution.
So if you can tell me what is the situation?
What if you are active there, you know, whatever you can say about that, Olga Gabriella, I don't know exactly which is incident specifically you are referring to.
So maybe we can touch base and, and follow up in parallel.
But of course the US is, is, is a close partner for you in ATR and, and they've been taking care and welcoming refugees throughout the years.
This continues, but I will follow up directly with you after the brief.
And I'd like to thank Brigitte also for being with us today from Bujumbura.
Let me ask all the colleagues who are going to brief on Ukraine to come to the podium or Char, UNICEF, WHO, UN Women.
And then Charlotte, where's Margaret?
Oh, and I can't see Charlotte, or maybe Charlotte is online too.
OK, maybe maybe Charlotte will will join us a little bit later.
So thank you very much, colleagues, for being here.
As you know, we are getting very close to the third anniversary of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and all colleagues would like to make a point of the situation there at this important anniversary.
So we are also having online colleagues.
Yes, you've come with the resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Assistant Secretary General Mathias Ashmal.
Mathias, I welcome you to the briefing here in Geneva.
James, you've brought Toby Fricke, who's UNICEF's Chief of Communication in Ukraine and who's talking to us from Zapor, Asia.
Sorry, I forgot to say that Matthias is in Kiev.
And then Margaret, you are accompanied by Doctor Yano Harbich.
Our colleagues know him well.
He's The Who country representative from for Ukraine.
And Sophia Kaltop is here in Geneva for UN Women.
And we will see if your needs joins us later on.
So maybe I'll start with Archer.
But yes, you want to say a word and then we go to Matthias.
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
And it's so good to see you, Mathias there online.
I will pass the floor to you.
But just to say from from here, thank you very much for taking time to speak to us.
These are busy uncertain times in Ukraine.
I know you have a fantastic team there that that you lead.
So over to you for the latest.
Thank you, Alessandra and Jens.
Good morning to you in Geneva.
As has already been mentioned, on Monday, the 24th is the third anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion into Ukraine and it is a sombre milestone.
We should remember that for three years now, civilians in Ukraine have endured continuous attacks, displacement and hardship.
We must also remember that this began back in 2014, so all children that were born since, all children up to the age of 11 have never experienced their country at peace.
Last year, there was a 30% increase in civilian casualties compared to the year before.
And the humanitarian situation is arguably worsening.
We think that 36%, so more than 1/3 of Ukraine's population, 12.7 million people, need humanitarian assistance this year.
Winter makes everything more hazardous and dangerous.
It's getting very cold again.
Last night it was -8 attacks Celsius here in Kiev and it's colder along the frontline.
Attacks on energy infrastructure risk leaving hospitals and homes without electricity and heating during these most cold months of the year.
Now, a few days ago in Nikolayev in the South, 100,000 people were left without access to electricity.
And there are other examples like this.
Allow me to mention that going into the fourth year of war, there's also the hidden crisis of mental health.
There are attacks every night.
This past night, all of us here in Kiev were woken up yet again by air sirens and loud explosions.
And this, of course, has a serious psychological impact.
I sometimes call this psychological terror from the sky.
And this is weakening resilience we often speak of.
I've seen enormous examples of strong people who get up and rebuild, but resilience is understandably weakening as this goes on.
Now allow me to mention that as Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, I have identified and pushed the following 4 priorities for this year.
The first line is to continue support along the front lines and delivering aid to some very vulnerable people who've chosen to stay near the frontline.
Last year we had 50 convoys bringing 580 metric tonnes of essential supplies to 1 torn communities, and we are continuing in this into this year.
The second priority is to support the management of evacuations from the frontline areas.
There are in particular vulnerable people among the older people and people with limited mobility that face serious difficulties.
There are very strong pushes by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation along the frontline and evacuations are ongoing.
We are supporting people with essential goods, including assistance as they are on the move to transit centres, collective sites and wherever they end up being.
Allow me to also mention the other side of the frontline, the occupied territories.
We continue to have no, basically no real access to those and we know though that there are some very vulnerable people in the occupied territories without support.
The third priority is to continue supporting in particular local organisations who respond to strikes, to military activity.
I have been to several impact sites, I've met many of the local first responders and it is really impressive how quickly they often act as more than 600 national and Ukraine local groups involved in this and and really with remarkable speed often within the hour they are on the been helping people who've just lost homes or loved ones.
And then finally, the 4th priority is ensuring contributing to more durable solutions for Idps, internally displaced people.
There are more than 10 million people who've been uprooted by this war and 3.7 of them, at least 3.7 million people are displaced within in Ukraine three years in into the 4th year.
This is becoming a protracted crisis going beyond the immediate humanitarian response.
And government is increasingly talking to me and others about more durable solutions, including, of course, employment, social housing, access to healthcare and education.
So let me finish by saying we, in order to do these, implement these 4 priorities this year, we need $2.6 billion to sustain assistance in these, around these priorities for at least 6 million people.
So of course, we urge the international community to continue to be generous.
We know the world's is divided, understandably among multiple crises, but the humanitarian needs in Ukraine continue unabated and are urgent, and we need the support of the international community.
Thank you for this opportunity.
Thank you so much, Matthias, for being with us.
We will open the floor to question.
Just in a moment, I'll go to UNICEF.
James, you want to introduce Toby or we'll give him the floor straight away.
OK, so Toby, can you please brief us on the situation of children and the tool of war on them?
And let me talk to, you know, to start by talking to a new survey that recently released.
It shows that a staggering one in five children in Ukraine reported losing a close relative friends since the escalation of the war three years ago.
One in three children reported feeling so hopeless and sad that they can't do their usual activities.
These are the responses of more than 23,000 children who took part in a UNICEF LED survey that we released today.
And it's a blunt reminder of the loss and grief that pervades childhood in Ukraine.
Three years into the full scale war, more than 2520 children have been killed or injured according to UN verified numbers.
The real number is likely far higher and it's getting worse.
There was a more than 50% increase in child casualties in 2024 compared to 2023.
And what we see is no place is safe.
Schools, maternity wards, children's hospitals, all have been affected by attacks.
Overall, some 780 health facilities and more than 1060 100 schools have been damaged or destroyed, according to UN data.
In a death set this week.
We just saw a health clinic providing care for 40,000 children and a kindergarten serving 250 of the youngest children were severely damaged in an attack.
When the Children's Hospital is hit, a school shell or an electric grid destroyed, children suffer even when they survive, their well-being and development impacted yet again.
Schools, for example, are places for children to learn their life lines that provide a sense of safety and normalcy, as we say and hope for the future.
Yet nearly 40% of children across Ukraine still study online or through a mixture of in person and remote classes.
Today I'm talking to you from an underground school here in Zaparita.
Classrooms in basements and shelters like these have sadly become the norm.
This should not be the norm.
The impact on education has been immense.
Assessments have shown that on average learning loss of two years in some subjects among some children.
UNICEF has been supporting the rehabilitation of shelters to make them as safe and child friendly as possible.
We've been training teachers, establishing catch up classes to help children recover learning losses.
But the impact on children's development and mental health as we just heard is equally worrying.
But let's not forget, as we also were just told, that children, young people across the East, have lived through nearly eleven years of war.
Like 18 year old Darina, who I first met five years ago in Zolote in eastern mining town close to the then frontline.
We recently reconnected near Denipro where she has been displaced and she said, you know, I had plans for the future but the war ruined everything.
Now the future doesn't exist.
And there are still 3.7 million people in Turning displaced, the more than 6.8 million outside the country.
In neighbouring host countries.
Half of Ukrainian school aged children are not enrolled in national education systems.
And while children and young people of all ages are at risk, those born when the escalation of war began are now turning 3 years old.
They've spent their critical early years when brains developed the fastest and the foundation for life is set amid extreme stress and loss.
And that has long term risks of psychological disorders, poorer physical health throughout life.
The consequences can also be intergenerational, which is why early intervention is so critical.
Like UNICEF supported mobile teams counts including counsellors who respond immediately after attacks like home visits, my frontline in frontline areas and other areas across the country that provide vital health and holistic care such as identifying developmental challenges and providing parenting guidance.
We know that when we invest in early childhood health and development, there is a longer term return on investment of nine to one.
Improving access to and the quality of such services will help create an environment also that people will want to return to.
We've seen how despite the extreme challenges, children's Ukraine's children, youth and families, as well as extraordinary social and health workers, teachers, water technicians have demonstrated incredible resolve and we were working together with them not only on our humanitarian response, but through development efforts.
This underground school here in Zaparicha is an initiative of the the local authorities here.
They're using best practises provided by Yousef.
The better Care Reform agenda to ensure every child grows up in a family, not an institution, is not only happening in Western Ukraine, but here in frontline areas.
Investing in children and young people across the country, as we say, is non negotiable, not even because it's the right thing to do for their protection and well-being, but the for the future of Ukraine.
What was ultimately needed is a real and sustained piece in which every child can realise their rights.
And I go now to WHO, Margaret, you want to start when I go to Yarno.
Yarno, please go ahead with your briefing.
Dear colleagues in Geneva and journalists, just to build on the two previous colleagues sharing imagine a young mother in Harky region in Ukraine, her days interrupted by air raid sirens and her nights haunted by drones.
Each day is a struggle, balancing her children's safety with anxiety that has become her constant companion.
In 2017, two years ago when the health reform started, one out of the 10 people in Ukraine said psychological stress was negatively impacting their health.
Now, three years into the war, most recent survey shows that that number is 6 out of 10 people, 60%.
Let's come back to Harkins.
Among her mainly many daily concerns, 1 is about access to and the affordability of healthcare.
Will the local primary healthcare clinic be open and will the doctor be available and the young mother afford the care that the child needs?
Will the pharmacy has the medicine that her elderly parents require for chronic diseases?
According to the latest of which a health needs assessment, 25% of people believe their access to medical services has worsened compared to the period before February 24th 2022 and Russian Federation invasion, 82% have experienced issues getting medicines mainly due to the price increase and 35% of population are postponing their care every third person.
And what about the young woman's husband who has just returned home with a traumatic life altering injury?
Will he get the rehabilitation he needs and how he can return to work?
This is the reality for countless families across Ukraine.
Three years into the devastating invasion, the regional disparities persist in public health's picture.
What we are seeing with areas of increased vulnerability and conflict affected areas with greater difficulties due to the security concerns and higher cost of care and medicines.
It is often said how resilient the Ukrainian people are, but however resilient, they shouldn't face these difficult choices.
Neither should health be a target.
Since the start of the full scale war, WHO has documented over 2200 attacks on health and it is ongoing.
Earlier this week, an overnight strike in Odessa damaged the region's largest children's clinic, disrupting vital services.
And many of you have seen and witnessed the pictures.
It's about lives disrupted, care denied, futures put on hold.
And it is about the immense pressure on healthcare workers exhausted by hierarchically working 24/7.
Dear Partners, this year in 2025, an estimated 9.2 million people in Ukraine will need some form of health assistance from humanitarian actors and Matthias was mentioning the whole appeal and the many sectors needs and support.
With the support of WHO and our partners, we aim to reach 3 million people mainly in the frontline areas, focusing the most critical needs in the all blasts impacted.
We collectively need over 130 million U.S.
dollars to continue to save lives the way how we would have been doing the last 36 months.
Despite the challenges, we have witnessed the health system transformation and recovery during last three years.
This is due extraordinary complementary financing and financial support such as budget support, investments, expertise and capacity building for health sector from many donors including European Union.
We acknowledge these partnerships and funding and gratefully ask you to continue.
The health of Ukraine's people will depend on this.
Dear journalists, we mark three-year full scale war.
It is WHO and the wider UN families role to continue the support to Ukraine with response, recovery and development efforts.
They all go hand in hand.
Our commitment is everywhere.
In Michelaya, we support to have clean water and sanitation in hospitals.
In Zaporosia, I was just talking to many mental health experts and the colleagues working to support with those invisible bones that many have mentioned in RQ.
We have just opened the heating station to ensure that the hospital can work and we have trained more than 8000 healthcare workers on the emergency care.
The rehabilitation services are gradually scaled up.
I witnessed that in NEPRO last week in hospital 16, where services are available and the new healthcare workers are trained.
And we met with hundreds of rehab colleagues in Kiev last week on the rehab forum to ensure that all the work across the Ukraine is coordinated.
The health financing team is working to make and primary care affordable and especially in the rural and war affected areas, together with the National Health Service of Ukraine.
These are just few glimpses of our work in Ukraine in all the oblast and various facilities.
We need stamina, solidarity and support more than ever.
The people of Ukraine are counting on us.
And ultimately, health may not be everything, but without health, everything is nothing.
I'll close with Sophia Calthop for you and women.
Charlotte had to disconnect, but she has sent you her notes for you.
And it's Sophia you're from.
You're calling in from Geneva?
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
Good morning to everybody and it's it's an honour to be here with colleagues from the rest of the UN system as we mark this sombering 3 years.
As we all know, we meet at the critical moment for Ukraine where the war continues to take an unimaginable toll on in particular, the lives of millions of women and girls of Ukraine.
And behind the headlines, beyond the battlefield, there is another story unfolding.
And that is the story of all those women and girls who are bearing the brunt of this war, but yet they are standing, resilient, leading their communities and working towards a better future for all Ukrainians.
And that's we Mark this three years since the beginning of the full scale war.
I would like to shed some light on the realities, the realities and the struggles and hardship, but also leadership of the women and girls of Ukraine and to reaffirm UN woman's very strong commitment to supporting them.
As as we have said before, the full scale war has pushed an entire generation of Ukrainian women and girls backward in terms of rights, in terms of safety and in terms of economic opportunities.
We have already heard from Matthias that in 2024 the number of killed and injured in Ukraine increased by staggering 30% and of them, those 800 women lost their lives and more than 3700 women were killed last year were injured in Ukraine.
We also know that the vast majority of Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons are women and 6.7 million women are in need of life saving humanitarian assistance.
Women's access to key health, energy and education services is compromised, with over half of the country's primary healthcare facilities damaged or destroyed.
Yes, we also heard the UN is not able to access occupied parts of Ukraine.
But I would like to stress our concern about the plight of women in detention and the vulnerability to sexual violence.
The UN has already verified nine 398 cases of conflict related sexual violence perpetrated by Russian forces.
So where since 2023 the cases of domestic violence have surged by staggering 36% in Ukraine, war related distress has contributed to this increase in gender based and domestic violence and well as well as to the higher rates of depression among women and girls.
So we already heard colleagues briefing about the hidden mental crisis in Ukraine.
And also when it comes to this mental health crisis, women and girls are of the midst of the suffering.
Further, women in Ukraine do not have equal access to the economy.
In 2023, women made-up 72.5% of the unemployed, and by 2024 only 48% of displaced women were employed, compared to 71% of them men.
Women also earned 41.4% less than men in 2023, which is a doubling of the pay gap in Ukraine since 2021.
Unpaid care and domestic work have also sharply risen, with the closure of childcare facilities has worsened the burden on women in terms of domestic unpaid care work.
But despite all those hardships, the Ukrainian women are showing extraordinary leadership.
They are driving economic recovery, leading humanitarian efforts and even enlisting themselves in the armed forces in record numbers.
Today we have more than 68,000 women that have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, with 5000 actively serving in combat roles at the moment.
But yet the women of Ukraine remain severely underfunded.
In 2022, less than one percent, 1% of all international aid in support of recovery in Ukraine included a gender equality focus.
Since the start of the full scale war, we at UN Women have been at the forefront providing life saving assistance to women and girls across Ukraine.
From humanitarian aid and psychosocial support to economic and political empowerment initiatives, we are working tirelessly together with our partners in Ukraine to ensure that women and women's organisations are not left behind.
In 2024 alone, we supported more than 180 thousand women and girls affected by the war.
And for the Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund, we have directed over 20 million U.S.
dollars to 54 women led and women's rights organisations, operating mainly in the hardest hit areas of the country.
But let me finally stress that I work at UN Women.
It's not only about meeting immediate needs, it's also about securing women's access to rights, strengthening the participation in decision making, and ensuring that they have a strong voice in shaping Ukraine's future.
Because we know that no lasting peace in Ukraine without women at the table is possible.
History has shown us that peace agreements are more durable and inclusive when women are involved.
This is not just a matter of fairness, it is a matter of effectiveness.
And I would like to take this opportunity as we mark the free year of the start of the war and the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
To call on all partners and decision makers for renewed financial and political support to the women's rights organisations and to the women leaders in Ukraine.
To deliver Your turn assistance to participate in early recovery and also to engage in peace processes.
We cannot save the women in Ukraine right now.
If we stand together, we can ensure that women and girls are not only survivors of this world, but that they emerge from it stronger, empowered and leading the way forward, but just an equal future for all the Ukrainians.
Thank you, Alessandra, and over to you.
And if Lisa Shine was still with us, she would ask all our speakers to send their notes.
Please send in, send in your notes to the journalist.
I'll open the floor to question.
There is also some in the chat, but I'll start with the room.
Christian Erich is our correspondent of the German News Agency and a good friend of Lisa.
Yes, for for more than 30 years.
My question is to Matthias Schmaler, Deutsche Presa, again to A Buntaga Schmaler, you were mentioning the mental health and others were also mentioning mental health.
What do the latest news out of Washington and the denigration of the Ukrainian president and the new developments do to the mental health of people that you meet in in Kiev?
Yeah, thank you for the question.
Unsurprisingly, the mood is very sombre here.
And it is not just the three-year mark, it is also what is happening globally.
I I sense that people are hopeful that the weapons will fall.
You know, who wouldn't want that given all the horror that my colleagues and I have described?
But what is clear also is that the the the citizens of Ukraine want justice.
And I think the main worry in terms of the latest developments around ending the war are that justice falls off the table, that that's what worries people.
It's not just the guns falling silent, but will there be a just future for everyone?
And unsurprisingly, if that weighs on your mind in in addition to the nightly strikes that are going on, mental health will further deteriorate.
Absolutely, If any colleague want to add anything, just show your hand.
I don't know if everybody knows you or it's our new correspondent of Reuters.
Yeah, hi, it's it's Olivia Podova from Reuters.
And thanks everybody for this briefing.
2 questions One thing that other organisations have been noting is that Ukrainians have been displaced both internally and out of the country, are facing grave financial difficulty.
Some are being forced to return to Ukraine, some to dangerous areas.
Is that something across the panel here today have been noting as well and have been seeing and other any further details you can maybe give on that?
And secondly, to that point of funding, you've all highlighted some pretty serious concerns about the challenge ahead.
Obviously, we're going into a climate or where or funding freezes.
How concerned are you about the year ahead and whether you're going to have the sufficient means to meet the needs on the ground?
Who would like to take this?
I'm looking at the platform Yarnos, Sophia, Mathias.
Mathias, maybe you want to start and then.
Also, yeah, those who want to speak, please show me because I I can't, I can't see who wants to answer.
For sure, if you're not, financial difficulties are increasing.
I, I remember when recently Tom Fletcher, the emergency relief coordinator, and Filippo Grandi, the **** Commissioner for Refugees visited the Prime Minister whom they met, spoke at length about this.
He mentioned that since 20, two 3.5 million jobs have been lost.
You know, that's a staggering volume of jobs and gives is 1 indication of how difficult things are.
We are in this context and very worried that cash assistance seems to be excluded from the assistance that the Americans may consider reopening for Ukraine and in other places of the world.
When you have increasing poverty in in against the background of a dire economic situation, people need all the support they can get and cash is a major form of support that in allows people to buy the most urgent needs and and to do so with dignity.
We are of course worried about the funding freezes as as we all know it's not the end of the day yet.
There are a lot of discussions going on.
We have some of our partners, including within the UN, have received some exemptions from the general freeze of funding, but so far no money has been flowing as a result of those exemptions.
So we hope that US funding will come become part of the equation if it doesn't.
Last year it made-up 30% of what we spent on the humanitarian side, 10% on the development side.
So of course, we're in the middle of not trying to understand the impact in these turbulent times, but also to see what we can do to compensate if the funding doesn't come back, or at least not to the extent we needed.
And we are in constant discussions with government that is setting priority, as well as other partners, notably from the EU.
I see Sophia would like to add something and then Yarno.
Just to note, I mean the question on returnees, just to note that over 7076% of all returnees to Ukraine are women and girls.
So also of course in terms of the situation which returnees, we think there is a need to look at the specific needs for women and girls.
Let me just stress again, you know, the severe, the severe funding conditions for women, local women LED organisations.
Very often, you know, at the very frontline at UN Women, we are very grateful for the funding that we've received, the 20 million U.S.
dollars that we've been able to, to disperse to frontline responders for the women, Human, Women, Peace and Humanitarian Fund.
But, but again, a staggering less than 1% of international aid for early recovery is, is having a gender lens on it.
So for us really to to, as Mattia said, have a severe underfunding of the crisis overall, but but within that the situation for women LED organisations and the gender perspective is really something that that we think need to be highlighted.
Thank you very much, Alison.
And and just to add also what Matthias and Sophia were mentioning, I think first what we have seen over the last three years that affordability or medical care and medicines becomes more of an issue.
And it is very good that you mentioned also what's happening related to the internally displaced persons.
We see that they have usually lower access to care and also less means to have access to medicines or services.
So what we have been doing is scaling up the vaccination programmes for them, ensuring that the services are more available, having the dialogue to ensure that I UPS have access to care.
And we are not the only ones.
I think Matthias and many other partners, we're doing the same to ensure because we need to look also at the poverty levels have increased tremendously several times during the war and people have less means available.
And on financing, I would say Ukraine has been very resilient because there is a complementary financing of humanitarian budget support, humanitarian support, budget support as well development projects and recovery projects and investments.
And it is important that all of those will continue so that we need to look how they complementary have helped Ukraine to be resilient and be sure that also government services are available across the country.
I'm looking particularly health services.
But the same way the teachers continue to teach, the doctors continue to work, the social workers are available.
And this is because of tremendous support.
And personally, I'm more concerned how all that complementary financing will continue, something that we discussed in March and April 2022.
Now it's a very critical time to see that all of that is continuing.
Toby, I'll give you the floor, but also maybe when you answer, you can also answer the question from BBC.
Imogen Fox is asking you if you could repeat the estimate of the number of children killed and eventually showed the notes of this survey.
Yeah, just to build really on what Yano was just saying is we, you know, yesterday for example, I was in in Denipra and this is about providing the services at a local level, community level where we also, you know, in some ways injecting into the economy.
So we have a social workers hub, training hub in Denipro.
And these are social, uh, workers who, who go, who are out, right out in the communities, rural areas near the frontline areas, but also a new programme that's just kicking in now where it's a small grants programme.
So it's about supporting community based services.
So the healthcare system can really build on that and, and use that training not not just for now, but in, in the long run.
And I think that's actually that kind of works absolutely critical for people who as you mentioned in in the question are returning to certain areas, you know, across the country about building that service, as I referred to in in my remarks around being able to provide the early childhood development and, and the holistic care for children, not just children, but for people as a whole.
And on the, the numbers of of children killed, the the latest we had was more than 2520 killed or injured.
But I can certainly follow up with the more with the specifics on that and the share their notes etcetera and survey.
Alexandra, you mentioned at the beginning, sorry, did you want to go first?
Just this question is for either for you or for Mr Smela.
Hopefully he will chime in.
You mentioned at the very beginning of this section about Ukraine that you you use the term Russian aggression in in Ukraine.
There's been some report.
What's that you use the word aggression?
But anyway, the, the, the anyway, anyway, the the, the, that issue is being discussed about a communicate for the G7 and there's been some reporting that that maybe the term Russian aggression may be lifted from a, a, a joint statement on Monday.
I'm presumably aware of that.
So I just wanted to clarify what the UN position is either from you or from Mr Smela about the term Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Is that, is that actually the the position of the United Nations?
May maybe my tongue is fouche this in French, but I I I was referring to this anniversary as a the third year anniversary since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine and 11 years.
Well, this I didn't say, but I say now 11 years since the legal annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and city of Sebastopol.
I don't know if Matthias would like to add anything.
Can't see him, so possibly yes, Yes, No.
You you would say no with your hand.
Let me just a quick go ahead, a quick refresh reflection.
I think as UN we have been very clear that the full scale invasion in 22 violated the UN Charter and the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Whether we call it an aggression or something else, it's a violation of what the UN stands for in terms of territorial integrity and the values enshrined in our Charter.
And the secretary General has repeated several times that his position is that he wants to see an end to this conflict in line with General Assembly resolutions, the territorial integrity of Ukraine and international law.
Sorry, BIS, I didn't see you.
I always try to give the floor first to those who make the effort of being here.
And today there are many people because of.
Our friend Lisa, but I give you the 1st and then we go to Gabriel.
Thank you for this briefing.
I just want to return to UNICEF and ask Toby if he can give us a better understanding of what this US funding cuts meaning regarding the education efforts in Ukraine.
He already mentioned the severe impact of the war and what it means such funding to keep schools running, the education running in the Ukraine.
Is there still is there any impact already or which programmes would it impact?
Toby Bass is our correspondent of the Turkish News Agency.
Thanks so much for the, the, the question.
I think the, you know, the impact was already just referenced to by the resident coordinator, but I, but I can talk in terms of education.
What I can say is the, the, the government is, is committed to education.
The government has put an extraordinary amount of of budget into the education system.
And as I referenced earlier, I'm here, you know, in this school, this underground school, which is initiative of, of the authorities, you know, units have support in different ways, but really the commitment to education is across the country here.
There's a realisation, of course, that the the future of Ukraine, of course, as we say, is a cliche that relies on their children, But but it really does.
And it's about building the, the skills, not only at the, in the early years to set that lifelong journey of education, but also among adolescents, teenagers, when they're looking now to their futures, you know, what are the skills, the relevant skills that they need to build to, to, for the jobs of, of today, of, of tomorrow.
And that's absolutely critical for the, for the development of the country.
And you need that we're here to be able to provide that support, to catch up classes, to support with shelters like, like we have done in, in some areas.
And and that work goes on on as best we can.
So does that funding cuts will have any impact on it or without it or with it?
It's going to continue in the same dedication you're trying to say?
Yeah, I mean, of course the funding cuts have an impact on, on, on new set on everyone.
And and right now as referred, it's still, you know, an evolving picture.
But in terms of education, you know, we have, you know, the resources that we we're using, we have resources that already committed and we continue to support the, you know, the education system as a whole.
So that that Technical Support, the policy level support as well as on the ground where we can in terms of the catch up classes, in terms of other work around, you know, turning around those, those learning losses that have been the case not just for three years, but for longer during COVID and before that across the east of Ukraine.
Thank you very much, Gabriella.
So, so I want to ask, are you going to be invited to the meeting between Mr Putin and Mr Trump?
Are you going to be, I mean, does your, the organisations, the UN organisations are going to brief them about the situation?
I mean, they didn't invite Ukraine, but I would like to know if they invited you in any level.
And then I would like to know a, a President Trump said that Mister Zelensky, it's a dictator.
So do you agree with this term?
I think he was elected in a democratic elections.
So that that will, I will also like to know what, what is your opinion on that?
And well, if you can answer, and I think I have another.
That Mister Trump said that Ukraine is guilty of the of the invasion, that they were guilty.
How they can be guilty of that, if you can clarify that or what is your opinion on that?
So very quickly for on your last question, I think if you listen to what we have said, and I think Matthias also repeated it, I think you understand from yourself what it means.
Who are we looking at in terms of invasion?
And on the on the participation in the negotiations, I think you will be the first to know if and when we will be invited.
What I can tell you is that when Mr Miros Lavianka, a couple of days ago, I think he was in the Council, spoke about the situation in Ukraine, he called for a dialogue to end the conflict, a dialogue that will obviously need to involve both Russia and Ukraine.
And I don't know if anybody wants to add something I'm looking at, but yes, but don't think so.
Oh, OK, Muhammad, the other correspondent of the Turkish news agency.
If there are no other questions on Ukraine, let's go to Gaza.
I'd like to finish the briefing in 10 minutes so we can talk about Lisa.
But yes, go ahead, please.
As you remember WHODG Mr Tedros has shared activity and that the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza is planned to begin on February 22.
My question is, have your preparation been complete for this and as WHO and other partners contacted with Israeli authorities will vaccination programme?
Yes, indeed all the preparations are underway.
WHO also UNICEF, very much involved in vaccination, polio vaccination campaigns, all vaccination campaigns and even though indeed it has been quite had to be done in a quite speedy manner, we are indeed doing all the necessary preparations.
So let me free our colleagues on the ground, Mathias Shmali from Keef.
But yes, thank you so much for being with us today to talk about us about the situation in in Ukraine.
I also like to thank Toby Freaker from UNICEF and yeah, Doctor Yarno Harbich from WHO.
I'll keep Sophia for a second because she has an announcement, then we have an announcement from David, and then we will wrap up.
Thank you to all the colleagues.
I had a question for Yance on another subject.
But let me free those who are, especially those who are on on the ground.
Thank them very, very much for this briefing.
And please come back anytime to brief the journalist here in Geneva.
So I think before I let Sophia go, I let her ask, I let her make a short announcement on Women's Day, and then I'll go to you, Nina.
Thank you very much, Alessandra.
We already heard heard about the celebrations of the of the bidding Class 30 during the Council that starts next week.
But I would also like to make a short announcement that, I mean, as we all know, the International Day of Women 8 March is this year a special day, not only because it's the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, but it's also the the 50th anniversary of the International Women's Day that was installed in 1975.
And you and Women Geneva are very pleased to partner with with you at United Nations office in Geneva with a number of agencies, member States and society to mark this very special day with a special commemoratum on the 7th of March.
So this will take place on the 7th of March in room 19 from 1:00 to 2:00.
And we will have a special commemoration focusing on intergenerational dialogue and very much looking into how we can push the gender equality issue forward in this pivotal moment through listening to the young people and making sure that that we use that we have a concerted collective action in this very, very difficult times for gender equality to push the bidding plus 30 agenda forward.
So everyone, please join us on 7th of March at 1:00 PM in Room 19 for this special commemoration.
We will remind you about the event and we will all wait for you there.
Thanks for the briefing goals on Ukraine.
Before I give the floor to David, Nina, you want to ask you a question to Yens.
I mean, it was linked to a little bit to Ukraine, but it's the general, I guess contingency plans by the agencies when it comes to the lacking funding.
And we saw after the IAC meeting that that Fletcher sent out some comments.
And I was wondering if you could say a little bit more about what specifically is is being looked at when in terms of I saw he mentioned something about other partnerships for for aid and for funding including 0.7% for each country, which was confusing.
I wasn't sure what that what that meant if you.
His statement and his message stand on its own what the priorities that they rallied around at that meeting are now and going forward including what you mentioned there.
As as you know the nought .7% is a very old, I believe from the beginning of 1970s agreement about how much in international assistance should should be giving by by developed countries.
So it's not a new, new figure, but it's approaching it in a new way.
I think what is important is that this was this was a meeting where I think it's very clear from his statement that they shook things up and they said we have to stop looking at all these issues from afar and admiring them and start getting on with it.
I think he mentioned also this is not a drill, right?
So they're very acutely aware of of the situation there, are committed to to doing something about it and pulling on all leavers that they have at their availability.
We will hear much more, I have no doubt in the weeks and months to come how all of this is going to pan out.
The international humanitarian system is very large.
It's a scroll over many, many years.
There was a lot of self scrutiny, as he also mentioned in in that message about looking at bureaucracy, how things have gotten slow and so on and so forth.
So there's a lot of of, I would almost say self criticism or self reflection in there, how to gear the system that is so necessary for the survival of so many people on a daily basis to ensure that that survives.
Absolutely, and I see John as racist.
Jens, with reference to the Interagency Standing Committee, did the principals also discuss the potential impact of cutbacks by other major donors besides the United States in the pipeline?
It is quite restricted who was at, at those meetings.
I and I think it is, I don't have the statement in front of front of me exactly, but he's talking about the international system being tested.
We know that it's not only one donor that has that is is pulling back and I think many of you have reported on other countries and I shall name no one who have recently indicated that they are perhaps not going to be as generous going forward as the as they have been in the past.
So I'll, I'll conclude now with David, David Hirsch from ITU.
Thank you very much, Jens.
And David, you have an announcement.
So next week in Abuja, Nigeria, beginning Wednesday 26th February, extending through Thursday the 27th of February, Nigeria's Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy will host the International Submarine Cable News Again Summit.
The event is being held in association with ANACOM, which is Portugal's National Communications Authority, ITU and ICPC, the International Cable Protection Committee.
For those of you with colleagues in Abuja or around Abuja beginning in the afternoon on Wednesday, the event is open to press coverage.
For those who can't make it to Abuja, there is a web cast to view the conference proceedings.
The event will feature panel discussions and expert LED discussions on technical topics.
Topics such as submarine cable resilience, regulatory frameworks, technological innovation and managing cable disruptions.
A full programme is online.
Also for those in Abuja, there's a press conference scheduled for Tuesday morning about 10 O clock details to follow.
That event is being organised by the ministry and will be for physical participation only.
It's expected that the event will conclude on Thursday with a summit declaration identifying actions that support submarine cable resilience generally.
Participants Participants will include government and industry representatives, academic and research experts, as well as representatives of UN agencies and other international organisations.
We'll send a note to correspondence with parapractical information that you can use and share with colleagues in the region.
Any question for ITUI don't see how do you have been me see on the pass for yeah, Paula, Paula Dupras.
Just a question about, sorry, I cut out at the beginning of what you were saying, but will there be specific discussion about what's been going on in the the North Sea regarding potential disruption to those cables and the the source of those those disruptions, you know why that's been happening and you know who may be responsible etcetera.
Yeah, the, you'll recall the IT Deputy Secretary General actually joined the briefing the latter part of last year to talk about the work of the international advisory body on submarine cable resilience, for which investigating and we're attributing disruptions that happened to submarine cables is not a function or within the mandate of that body.
The items that you mentioned specifically are not within the programme.
It's a technical programme based on building out a cooperation and the technical aspects of of strengthening submarine cable resilience.
Thank you very much, David.
So that was our last briefer of today.
Thanks, David, for being with us.
Good luck with the conference.
I only want to remind you the press conference of Wednesday, 26th of February at 11:00 by the group of human rights experts on in Nicaragua, which will launch their latest report that they will also present to the Council.
You've received the invitation.
