With more than 50 per cent of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the majority of Ukraine’s oblasts being without electricity while winter sets in, the humanitarian needs for the population are rising by the day.

“Ukraine is turning increasingly cold without power, without steady water supply and without heating”, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) when speaking to journalists at a press briefing at the United Nations in Geneva. Mr. Laerke added that “we and our partners are supporting the authorities with generators to critical facilities such as hospitals and schools. Nearly 400 generators have already been delivered by UN agencies and thousands more are in the pipeline.”

OCHA’s spokesperson stressed that according to international humanitarian law, critical infrastructure must be protected from harm.

“Yesterday, we had reports that 15 out of Ukraine’s 24 oblasts faced electricity outages and water cuts”, Jens Laerke said. “The day before, on Wednesday, our colleagues in Ukraine could report that a wave of attacks on the energy infrastructure had left millions of people across the country without electricity. Some regions, including Lviv in the West, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa in the South and Chernihiv in the north, were completely disconnected from electricity and many are still working to restore it.”

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the current displacement situation is worsening with 7.8 million Ukrainian refugees across Europe, and 6,5 million internally displaced people (IDP).

“The situation inside the country continues to deteriorate, and millions of Ukrainians are living in the country and damaged homes or in buildings that are ill-suited to protect them from the biting cold with disrupted energy, heating and water supplies and lost livelihoods”, said UNHCR’s spokesperson Shabia Mantoo. “UNHCR and partners are prepared for a range of possible scenarios and we're in constant dialogue with the relevant authorities in Ukraine and in neighboring countries. Possible scenarios include an increase in displacement within the country as well as in the number of people leaving the Ukraine.”

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has been helping the population to face the winter and procure winterization items. 30 trucks have entered the country with food parcels, heating supplies and generators. IFRC expects that more people will need support over the next few months. A host family programme had been established to provide housing, heating and electricity to half a million Ukrainians.

“We have a new wave of humanitarian needs”, said Violaine Des Rosiers, IFRC's Operations Manager, speaking from Kyiv. «Of course, we have been preparing for this since the summertime, but now we are seeing an increase because of the attacks that are happening on the infrastructure in the West part of the country as well.”

These increased attacks are having now also an impact on the health care infrastructure, according to IFRC’s Operations Manager.

“A lot of the medical facilities were referring patients to the West part of the country, but now with the power cuts across the country, we are seeing also more people having to wait for receiving medical care.”

In order to better support the health system, the IFRC has also scaled up its response providing infrastructure support and generators to medical centres.

“We are now at 75 mobile health units which are like ambulances or transporters that are going into the remote villages to reach out to the population that are completely cut off”, said Violaine Des Rosiers.

According to the latest verified numbers by the World Health Organisation (WHO) dating from 11 November, there had been so far 715 attacks on Ukrainian health care, killing 100 people and injuring 129 ones. Of these attacks, 626 had directly impacted health facilities.

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STORY: Ukraine Increased Humanitarian Needs - OCHA/UNHCR/IFRC

TRT: 2 mins 54s

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: NONE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 25 November 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST

1. Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
2. Wide shot, press room with panel of speakers.
3. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), OCHA spokesperson, Jens Laerke: “Ukraine is turning increasingly cold without power, without steady water supply and without heating. We and our partners are supporting the authorities with generators to critical facilities such as hospitals and schools. Nearly 400 generators have already been delivered by UN agencies and thousands more are in the pipeline.”
4. Medium shot, Jens Laerke speaking.
5. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), OCHA spokesperson, Jens Laerke: “Yesterday, we had reports that 15 out of Ukraine’s 24 oblasts faced electricity outages and water cuts. The day before, on Wednesday, our colleagues in Ukraine could report that a wave of attacks on the energy infrastructure had left millions of people across the country without electricity. Some regions, including Lviv in the West, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa in the South and Chernihiv in the north, were completely disconnected from electricity and many are still working to restore it.”
6. Medium shot, screen showing speakers.
7. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), UNHCR spokesperson, Shabia Mantoo: “The situation inside the country continues to deteriorate, and millions of Ukrainians are living in the country and damaged homes or in buildings that are ill-suited to protect them from the biting cold with disrupted energy, heating and water supplies and lost livelihoods. So, UNHCR and partners are prepared for a range of possible scenarios and we're in constant dialogue with the relevant authorities in Ukraine and in neighboring countries. Possible scenarios include an increase in displacement within the country as well as in the number of people leaving the Ukraine.”
8. Medium shot, screen showing speaker.
9. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), IFRC Operations Manager in Ukraine, Violaine Des Rosiers: “We have a new wave of humanitarian needs. Of course, we have been preparing for this since the summertime, but now we are seeing an increase because of the attacks that are happening on the infrastructure in the West part of the country as well.”
10. Close-up, staff monitoring.
11. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), IFRC Operations Manager in Ukrain, Violaine Des Rosiers: “A lot of the medical facilities were referring patients to the West part of the country, but now with the power cuts across the country, we are seeing also more people having to wait for receiving medical care.”
12. Medium shot, UNWOMEN taking notes with phone.
13. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), IFRC Operations Manager in Ukrain, Violaine Des Rosiers: “We are now at 75 mobile health units which are like ambulances or transporters that are going into the remote villages to reach out to the population that are completely cut off.”
14. Medium shot, screen showing speakers.
15. Close-up, hands of journalists taking notes.
16. Medium shot, journalists taking notes with speaker.