The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Over the past 11 months, 30 United Nations inter-agency convoys have delivered crucial aid supply to the most vulnerable people in acute need across Ukraine. While several trucks reached areas close to the frontlines, the lack of safe access to Russian-held zones in Ukraine has prevented aid deliveries to the population there.
“A six-truck convoy reached the Donetsk region with water, medicine, emergency shelter material and other supplies to the town of Toretsk which is approximately 10 kilometres from the front line there”, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). “The convoy also delivered trauma and emergency surgery supplies”, said Mr. Laerke while referring to the delivery on 31 January.
Approximately 15,0000 people out of the 75,000 residents who lived there before the war are still in that town and nearby communities.
The planning of the convoys, so OCHA, is a constant process, which is conditioned by the security on the ground which may allow or not a humanitarian aid delivery. Via a notification system the parties to the conflict are informed where the convoy intends to go and what material will be transported so that the fighting parties will adhere to their obligation under International Humanitarian Law so that humanitarian assisstance can reach those in need.
So far, the lack of safe access to Russian-held zones in Ukraine has prevented aid deliveries in these areas.
“A number of notifications, as I have mentioned before, has gone out to reach areas under the current control of the military of the Russian Federation”, said Mr. Laerke. “Up until today, none has been provided in the sense that we have not been given the adequate assurances of security to go to these areas”.
On 2 February (yesterday), five inter-agency trucks delivered medications, materials for emergency shelter repairs, tool kits and hygiene items to the Zaporizhzhia region in the south-east of the country. The tools for emergency repairs are urgently needed for the damaged homes to survive the harsh winter.
“Yesterday’s supplies are intended for people in the Huliaipole community, where around 3,000 people remain close to the front line”, OCHA’s spokesperson said. “They are exposed to regular shelling, and their access to basic services is disrupted. Since March last year, the residents here have had no electricity as the facilities were damaged by fighting and they cannot be repaired because the fighting continues”.
Mr. Laerke added that “yesterday, the convoy delivered medicines, including a pneumonia kit and hygiene items and that is particularly to support the most vulnerable people and that, when we speak about vulnerable people here, it is the elderly people with limited mobility and families with children”.
The supplies are provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNICEF, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Representatives from local communities and volunteers help distributing directly to the people in need.
-ends-
- Wide shot, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide shot, press room with spokespersons and journalists in the room.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for OCHA: “A six-truck convoy reached the Donetsk region with water, medicine, emergency shelter material and other supplies to the town of Toretsk which is approximately 10 kilometres from the front line there. The convoy also delivered trauma and emergency surgery supplies”.
- Medium shot, spokespersons on the podium and screens on the sides
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for OCHA: “Yesterday’s supplies are intended for people in the Huliaipole community, where around 3,000 people remain close to the front line. They are exposed to regular shelling, and their access to basic services is disrupted. Since March last year, the residents here have had no electricity as the facilities were damaged by fighting and they cannot be repaired because the fighting continues”.
- Close up, Jens Laerke on laptop screen
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for OCHA: “A number of notifications as I have mentioned before, has gone out to reach areas under the current control of the military of the Russian Federation. Up until today, none has been provided in the sense that we have not been given the adequate assurances of security to go to these areas”.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for OCHA: “Also yesterday the convoy delivered medicines, including a pneumonia kit and hygiene items and that is particularly to support the most vulnerable people and that, when we speak about vulnerable people here, it is the elderly people with limited mobility and families with children”.
- Wide shot, camera tripods with spokespersons in background
- Medium shot, journalists getting filmed by camerawoman
- Close-up, journalist
- Medium shot, camera people behind cameras
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNMAS , WHO
Just how many people are still trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher?
That’s the burning question for relatives of the many thousands of people believed to still be there, since paramilitary fighters overran the regional capital of North Darfur last month, after a 500-day siege.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on the ongoing violence in the occupied WestBank.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, the UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk made the following remarks on the situation in El-Fasher, Sudan.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC
UN Human Rights Council holds special session on Sudan as mass atrocities reported in El Fasher
The UN Human Rights Council convened an emergency session on Friday on the situation in and around El Fasher, Sudan, following reports of mass killings in the North Darfur capital. States passed a resolution that will mandate an investigation into likely mass atrocities during the capture of El Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 26 October.
1
1
2
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Sudan: Women’s bodies ‘a crime scene’ as tens of thousands flee El Fasher atrocities – UN Women
In war-torn Sudan, rape is being systematically used as a weapon and simply being a woman is “a strong predictor” of hunger, violence and death, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).