At its 2-months mark, around 5 ½ million tons of grain and other foodstuffs were moved under the Black Sea Grain Initiative on about 255 ships from three key Ukrainian ports (Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi) to their final destinations worldwide. With the current pace, some 4-5 million tons of Ukrainian grain could be transported monthly through a safe maritime humanitarian corridor to the global markets.
“(The) Black Sea Grain Initiative for Ukraine, for me personally, for the city of Odesa, for the whole world it’s a very very important agreement”, said Dmytro Barinov, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Seaport Authority. “It gives the possibility to get Ukrainian farmers money for their products, for their workers, port workers to work and get their salary. The people around the world get their food, feed their families. For the international community to give some normalization to the food crisis. People open their stock as they realize that Ukraine returns on the agricultural market”.
The Black Sea Deal is not just significant to get food to the markets and bring prices down, but also providing an avenue for farmers who produce grain and other crops in Ukraine to see it exported so that it empties their warehouses and their next crop can come in.
“Having that corridor open, knowing that these huge stocks that are available can get to the market is impacting the market in many ways”, said Amir Abdulla, UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Grain Initiative. He added saying that “if we do not have these food stocks get out of the markets, if farmers don’t see their food exported, or they see the risk that their next harvest will be lost in the fields, that will lose the incentive for them and it’s just not the next harvest , it’s the one after that that is at risk and so we sometimes see the price not just as providing food to markets, but we see it as an initiative that will save the next crop”.
Although there are other ways of transportation to get Ukrainian commodities out of the country, the sheer volumes than can come on a maritime corridor shows that it’s the cheapest and most efficient way to move commodities in large quantities.
“We have alternatives, we have land borders, we cross it by railway, by trucks, at the Danube ports”, said the Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Seaport Authority. “But, for sure, we can’t change the Black Sea biggest port for the smallest port on the Danube River. That’s why for the world, for the World Food Programme, for the poor countries, it’s very very important that this corridor is still working”.
One part of the initiative, to move fertilizer as one of the key commodities along the corridor, hasn’t been managed yet.
“Getting fertilizer and ammonia - to produce fertilizer - through this corridor is going to be hugely important, not just because we need to get these commodities out, but they are going to be crucial to how much food is available, next year, next season”, said Amir Abdulla. “The seasons and the crops that have been planted now, when they come to their harvest season, if they have not had adequate and sufficient fertilizer at reasonable prices, we are going to see scarcer availability and higher prices of food”.
In 2 months, by mid-November, the current Initiative may extend beyond its initial 120 days after the signing date of 22 July, if parties so choose.
“If we can keep this corridor open, it will make a huge difference to the worlds market and prices availability and for everybody”, emphasized the UN Coordinator for the Black Sea Deal. “And to the people to whom it matters most, those who are really at the lower end of the economic scale that’s where it matters most, because when food prices go up, marginally or even significantly, the people who get impacted most are the people who have the least purchasing power”.
-ends-
STORY: Black Sea Grain Initiative – Part 2
TRT: 3:32”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATIVE
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 30 September 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire
UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Sudan war: Life-saving cholera vaccination campaign begins in Darfur
Amid the devastating war in Sudan, UN aid teams are overcoming major obstacles to curb a cholera outbreak claiming lives across the country, with young children particularly at risk.
2
1
2
Edited News , B-roll | UN WOMEN
Women and girls still reeling from Afghanistan's recent deadly earthquake face even greater suffering rebuilding their lives and livelihoods without much more help from the international community, UN Women said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Rising civilian casualties, growing ethnic violence and the grim humanitarian situation in Sudan underscore how the crisis there is deepening, according to a UN Human rights report published today.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS
United Nations agencies staff demonstrates on Place des Nations in Geneva to denounce the killing of their colleagues in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
The world’s water resources face growing pressure from climate change while emergencies related to the vital resource are increasingly impacting lives and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council during a meeting on the Israeli strike on negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday. “Israel’s strike on negotiators in Doha on 9 September was a shocking breach of international law, an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world,” he said.