Nearly five million children born in Syria since March 2011 have known nothing but conflict. After 11 years of war, the crisis continues to leave them struggling with physical and psychological scars, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
The war in Ukraine is the most severe test the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has faced since its creation in 1975, the top UN political affairs official told the Security Council on Monday, as the 15-member organ held its annual briefing on the OSCE’s work against the backdrop of intensifying bombardments of key Ukrainian cities.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday that it is working “day and night” to keep medical supply chains open and preserve the health system in Ukraine, where, it says, medical facilities are stretched to breaking point.
Ukraine is being “decimated before the eyes of the world” with Russia’s military offensive against civilians “reaching terrifying proportions”, said the UN chief on Monday, warning that a resulting meltdown of the global economy is provoking a hunger crisis that is hitting the poorest, hardest.
Yemen’s already dire hunger crisis is “teetering on the edge of outright catastrophe”, UN agency chiefs said on Monday, as new data analysis from the war-ravaged country indicated potentially record food insecurity.
Mister President,
Thank you for the invitation to join His Excellency, Foreign Minister Rau, Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to brief the Council on UN-OSCE cooperation.
The tragic conflict in Ukraine, which over the weekend has further worsened, vividly illustrates the importance of mechanisms to maintain and strengthen European and international peace and security.
Born out of the Cold War, the OSCE, has been at the center of efforts to bring its unique membership, spanning from Vancouver to Vladivostok, around one overarching goal: to resolve differences peacefully.
In line with Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, the OSCE works in complement to the UN, including to resolve conflicts in the region.
In 1993, the UN and the OSCE established a Cooperation Framework. Since then, our partnership has grown in scope and substance to help address acute crises and find solutions to common peace and security challenges.
Our shared commitment to preventive diplomacy, mediation, peacebuilding, and the Women, Peace and Security agenda, was reaffirmed through the Joint Declaration between the Secretary-General and the Chairperson-in-Office in 2019.
The coordination and complementarity guiding our efforts translate into action in various ways.
We work together in Central Asia, most recently to implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
In the Western Balkans, to advance reconciliation.
And in the Caucasus, where the UN co-chairs the Geneva International Discussions on Georgia along with the OSCE and the EU.
Further, the UN has sought to complement the OSCE’s leading role to address protracted conflicts regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh and Moldova.
Regarding Ukraine, and pursuant to Security Council resolution 2202 on the Minsk Agreements, the UN has consistently supported the work of the OSCE, especially the Special Monitoring Mission and the OSCE-led Trilateral Contact Group, while carrying out our humanitarian and human rights mandates on the ground.
I wish to pay tribute here to all OSCE staff for their important work accomplished under very challenging circumstances.
Mister President,
The war in Ukraine is the most severe test the OSCE and related regional frameworks have faced since their creation. The Russian invasion has shaken the foundations of the European security architecture to its core.
As we meet, the bloodshed continues to worsen. Russian forces have now launched deadly strikes in the west of Ukraine.
Ukrainian cities are under unrelenting shelling and bombardment, with many civilians killed daily.
As I said three days ago in this very chamber, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has received credible reports of Russian forces using cluster munitions, including in populated areas. Indiscriminate attacks, including those using cluster munitions, which are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, are prohibited under international humanitarian law.
We are deeply disturbed by reports that Ukrainian municipal officials in Russian-controlled parts of the country have been abducted. There are also reports of civilians, including journalists, being targeted, allegedly by Russian forces.
Mister President,
We must not allow any questioning of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. Such questioning would be inconsistent with the United Nations Charter and relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.
Amid these dire conditions, the United Nations continues to scale up not only its humanitarian support to the people of Ukraine, but also its engagement with key partners like the OSCE in support of an immediate ceasefire and a lasting diplomatic solution.
When the Secretary-General addressed this Council on the topic of “Conflicts in Europe” in 2017, he warned that, despite the achievements of the last 70 years, we should not take peace and prosperity in Europe for granted.
He cautioned that as serious conflicts persisted in Europe, new threats and risks made it even more pressing for multilateral institutions and regional organizations to address dangerous challenges to the international order.
The Secretary-General’s warnings then were informed in large part by the crises in Georgia in 2008 and in Ukraine in 2014, which demonstrated how real the risks of new outbreaks of conflict were.
Today, a devastating war is being waged in a continent that should be equipped to prevent such catastrophes.
We are concerned at the dismantling of longstanding confidence-building measures, arms control treaties and other frameworks that were designed and agreed to sustain regional security.
This includes the persistent use of regional mediation mechanisms as tools not to solve conflicts, but to manage them, which only helps ensure that those same conflicts continue.
OSCE-led processes supported by the international community are now openly questioned by parties involved in them.
Mister President,
It is more important than ever for all parties to recommit to the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris and other landmark agreements that form the bedrock of European security architecture.
In this context, we take good note of the efforts by the Polish Chairperson-in-Office under Minister Rau’s leadership to initiate a “Renewed OSCE European Security Dialogue”.
How the OSCE and other regional actors choose to secure the future of European security cooperation will have an impact beyond Europe.
The UN supports all efforts to restore mutual trust and respect among regional stakeholders, which is essential to preserving the continent from new conflict and the world from further instability.
We, therefore, all have a stake in the outcome.
Mister President,
For almost 50 years, the United Nations and the OSCE have partnered to promote European peace and stability. The challenges we face today, and those potentially ahead, demand that we work even more closely together.
Thank you.
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With the war in Ukraine now in its third week, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo warned the Security Council on Friday that direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects are prohibited under international law, and may amount to war crimes.
The UN rights office, OHCHR, reiterated deep concern on Friday at the increasing number of civilian casualties in Ukraine following the Russian invasion which began on 24 February, before issuing a reminder to Moscow that any targeting of non-combatants could be a war crime.
Madam President,
The war in Ukraine is now in its third week. Fighting continues unabated.
The Russian armed forces are pursuing their offensive operations and laying siege to several cities in the south, east and north of the country.
A large concentration of Russian forces is reportedly massed along several approaches to the capital, Kyiv.
The situation is particularly alarming in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv, where there is shelling of residential areas and civilian infrastructure, resulting in an increasing number of civilians killed and injured. The utter devastation being visited on these cities is horrific.
The numbers bear out the conclusion that civilians are paying the highest price for the conflict. As of 11 March, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded a total of 1,546 civilian casualties, including 564 killed and 982 injured, since the start of the invasion on 24 February.
OHCHR believes the real casualty figures are likely considerably higher, as information from locations where intense hostilities are ongoing has been delayed and reports are still pending corroboration.
Most of the recorded civilian casualties, which include children, have been caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.
OHCHR has received credible reports of Russian forces using cluster munitions, including in populated areas. Indiscriminate attacks, including those using cluster munitions, which are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction, are prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Direct attacks against civilians and civilian objects, as well as so-called area bombardment in towns and villages, are also prohibited under international law and may amount to war crimes.
As of 10 March, the World Health Organization has verified 26 attacks on health facilities, health workers and ambulances, causing 12 deaths and 34 injuries. This includes the bombing of the Mariupol maternity hospital on 9 March. We condemn such attacks without reservation. They cause not only death and destruction: they also deprive people of urgently needed care and endanger more lives.
We cannot emphasize it enough: The targeting of civilians, of residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, is inexcusable and intolerable. All alleged violations of international humanitarian law must be investigated and those found responsible held accountable.
Madam President,
Millions of people in Ukraine need urgent assistance. This includes 2 million internally displaced people.
We are scaling up humanitarian aid in areas where security permits. More than half a million people are now receiving assistance, including life-saving food, shelter, blankets and medical supplies.
The United Nations and our partners have developed operational plans to meet humanitarian needs where they are most acute.
This work needs funding. Over $1.5 billion was pledged to the appeals last week. We are grateful for this generosity and encourage donors to release the funding quickly.
Madam President,
It is critical to urgently achieve a cessation of hostilities to allow for the safe passage of civilians from besieged areas and to ensure that life-saving humanitarian supplies can reach those who remain.
On 9 March, over 51,000 people were reportedly evacuated through five out of six agreed-upon safe passages. These safe passages must continue. They should be implemented with clear principles and modalities. Civilians should be duly and timely informed of the possibility to leave the concerned areas and on a voluntary basis and in the direction they choose.
To expand life-saving assistance and services to those most in need humanitarian actors must also have safe, rapid, unimpeded and sustained access to all areas.
We commend the humanitarian actors on the ground who are staying and delivering in a highly volatile situation.
Madam President,
The number of refugees from Ukraine has reached 2.5 million people These numbers continue increasing by the day.
We also commend the countries that have kept their borders open to welcome and support refugees. All people fleeing Ukraine, including third country nationals, need access to safety and protection, in line with the principle of non-refoulement and without any form of discrimination.
Madam President,
The need for negotiations to stop the war in Ukraine could not be more urgent. We note the three rounds of talks held thus far between Ukrainian and Russian delegations. We call for such efforts to intensify, including to further secure humanitarian and ceasefire arrangements as a matter of priority. We urge the sides to build on their contacts, such as the meeting yesterday between the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and the Russian Federation in Antalya, Turkey. The logic of dialogue and diplomacy must prevail over the logic of war.
The Secretary-General is grateful to the many Member States working in pursuit of a diplomatic solution to this dangerous conflict. He is in regular contact with regional and other leaders and his good offices remain available.
Madam President,
Let me reaffirm the UN’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders.
As the war grinds on, there is already much reflection about its implications, beyond the tragedy it represents for Ukraine. We increasingly hear the use of terms such as “turning point”, “defining moment”, “end of multilateralism”. I believe this is not an exaggeration. Indeed, some consequences are already being felt, economically and politically. Perhaps most alarming are the risks the violence poses to the global framework for peace and security.
We must do everything we can to find a solution and put an end to this war. And we must do it now.
Thank you, Madam President.
Syria’s 11 years of brutal fighting has come at an “unconscionable human cost”, subjecting millions there to human rights violations on a “massive and systematic scale”, said the UN chief on Friday, marking yet another tragic anniversary
Humanitarians are deploying extra staff across Ukraine to aid the growing number of civilians sheltering from Russian bombardment, or fleeing the violence, the UN Spokesperson said on Thursday.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine compels Member States of the United Nations to unite in “cooperation and solidarity” to support all those impacted “and to overcome this violation of international law” said Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday, addressing the General Assembly in New York.
The global failure to deliver enough COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries “is prolonging the pandemic” and causing tens of thousands of preventable deaths every week, senior UN figures told the Human Rights Council on Thursday.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an independent, UN-backed body, is calling on governments to do more to regulate social media platforms that glamourize drug-related negative behaviour and boost sales of controlled substances.
At least two-thirds of households with children have lost income since the COVID-19 pandemic hit two years ago, according to a joint report published on Wednesday by the UN children’s agency (UNICEF) and World Bank.
The exodus of millions of Ukrainians from their country following the Russian invasion could overwhelm neighbouring countries, UN humanitarians warned on Wednesday, as the head of the UN Children’s Fund, expressed her horror over the reported destruction of a maternity hospital in the stricken coastal city of Mariupol, which has been under heavy bombardment for days.
Almost 500 million people have been infected with the coronavirus since March 2020 and new variants are still a threat. This Friday marks two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) characterised the global spread of COVID-19 as a pandemic.
New guidelines on abortion are now available from the World Health Organization (WHO), in a bid to prevent more than 25 million unsafe terminations that happen each year.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, has said that it is taking measures as best it can, to try and protect some of Ukraine’s priceless heritage from destruction in the face of the Russian invasion, noting that the international community also has a duty to help protect and preserve the country’s historic buildings, and other treasures.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has praised European countries welcoming people fleeing the war in Ukraine, whose numbers now surpass two million.
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the “deteriorating security situation” this week in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, where daily violence has claimed the lives of six Palestinians, including a child.
On day 13 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and amid rising numbers of civilian casualties, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday repeated her ceasefire call, with humanitarians on the ground describing conditions as increasingly “apocalyptic”.
Mariia Shostak, a 25-year-old woman living in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, started having contractions on 24 February, the day the Russian Federation launched a military offensive in Ukraine, and gave birth amid the sounds of air raid sirens.
Allowing civilians to safely leave areas under fire in Ukraine, and delivering desperately needed aid to these locations, are among immediate priorities for humanitarians, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council on Monday.
New York, 8 March 2022
On International Women’s Day, we celebrate women and girls everywhere.
We celebrate their contributions to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
Their ideas, innovations and activism that are changing our world for the better.
And their leadership across all walks of life.
But we also recognize that in too many areas, the clock on women’s rights is moving backwards.
The pandemic has kept girls and...
South Sudan’s unity government marked its two-year anniversary against a backdrop of stalled constitutional progress and ongoing cycles of community violence – often fuelled by political groups and armed militias – the senior UN official in the country told the Security Council on Monday.
Unaccompanied and separated children fleeing the conflict in Ukraine must be protected, two senior UN officials said in a joint statement on Monday.
A convoy from the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA) hit an improvised explosive device north of Mopti on Monday, killing at least two ‘blue helmets’, from Egypt, and wounding four others.
Ukraine addressed the UN’s highest court on Monday to reject as a “grotesque lie” Russia’s claims that genocide has been committed in eastern Ukrainian oblasts, or regions, before calling for emergency measures to halt Russian aggression.
Reports that Ukraine’s, and Europe’s, largest nuclear power plant is under the control of Russian forces is a cause for grave concern, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, said on Sunday.
UN chief António Guterres called on Sunday for a pause in fighting to allow civilians to escape conflict zones in Ukraine, as the UN rights body (OHCHR) announced it had recorded 1,123 civilian casualties since the beginning of Russia’s armed attack on the country.
Tropical Storm Ana left a trail of destruction in its wake in Malawi, particularly in hardest-hit southern districts, after it struck the country in late January. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has been at the forefront of efforts to help pregnant women and mothers by providing medical supplies, and reproductive services.
Amin Awad, the United Nations Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine, called on Saturday for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, as UN aid supplies arrive in the country.
