The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Almost no humanitarian aid is entering the non-government-controlled areas in Ukraine due to Covid-19 lockdown measures
Since the third week in March practically no humanitarian aid has reached eastern Ukraine beyond the “contact line” that separates the government-controlled and non-government-controlled areas of the country.
During a virtual press conference at the UN in Geneva, Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that “this closure of the ‘contact line’ has limited the ability to organize humanitarian convoys into non-government-controlled areas and only two UN organized convoys delivering Covid-19 related supplies have crossed into Donetsk since the beginning of the Covid crisis”.
Laerke added that “some humanitarian exemptions have been made for crossings both ways. 325 people were granted such exemptions between the 21 March and the end of April. But that – as I mentioned – is compared to 900,000 crossings normally every month”.
In 2014 Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimea peninsula and a full-scale conflict between Government forces and separatists took place in the country’s east. The current measures introduced by the Ukrainian government and the Russia-backed separatists to control the coronavirus have exacerbated the humanitarian situation near the contact line in eastern Ukraine.
About half a million Ukrainian pensioners from territories regularly crossed the contact line into government-controlled areas. All of them received a state pension.
OCHA’s Jens Laerke explained that “Ukraine, as you know, is a humanitarian situation with a particular caseload of elderly people who are very vulnerable because they cannot access their pensions or family support on the government-controlled side of the contact line”.
The Government of Ukraine and the de facto authorities in Luhansk and the have recently approved deliveries of health supplies into Luhansk through one entry point, called “Stanytsia Luhanska”. However, humanitarian aid must be delivered on foot as the passage of trucks is not allowed.
OCHA’s spokesperson said that “across Ukraine, there are 15,648 confirmed cases, there are some 408 deaths as of yesterday”. He added that “in Luhansk, the non-government-controlled area, there are 232 confirmed cases and in Donetsk, again the non-government-controlled area, there is 184, a total of 416 confirmed cases in the non-governmental controlled parts of eastern Ukraine”.
Humanitarian agencies continue their operations on both sides of the contact line with existing stockpiles, targeting a total of some 2 million people.
- Wide shot: exterior, United Nations Geneva, main entrance with UN flag and building in background.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “This closure of the contact line has limited the ability to organize humanitarian convoys into non-government-controlled areas and only two UN organized convoys delivering Covid-19 related supplies have crossed into Donetsk since the beginning of the Covid crisis”.
- Medium shot: UN Geneva and UN flag alley behind gates at UN Geneva, filmed from the Place des Nations. A motorcyclist passes from left to right.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Some humanitarian exemptions have been made for crossings both ways. 325 people were granted such exemptions between the 21 March and the end of April. But that – as I mentioned – is compared to 900,000 crossings normally every month”.
- Wide shot: flag alley, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Ukraine, as you know, is a humanitarian situation with a particular caseload of elderly people who are very vulnerable because they cannot access their pensions or family support on the government-controlled side of the contact line”.
- Medium shot: UN Geneva flag alley, with UN flag in background.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “Across Ukraine, there are 15,648 confirmed cases, there are some 408 deaths as of yesterday”.
- Close up: UN Geneva building.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “In Luhansk, the non-government-controlled area, there are 232 confirmed cases and in Donetsk, again the non-government-controlled area, there is 184, a total of 416 confirmed cases in the non-governmental controlled parts of eastern Ukraine”.
- Medium shot, UN palais building with UN flag
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNFPA
The UN in Lebanon appealed for an additional $331.5 million on Friday to help 1.4 million people in crisis as already massive needs continue to grow, three months after deadly violence erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
UN Security Council meets amid rising Israel-Hezbollah tensions in Lebanon.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the biweekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson made the following remarks deplored the death in State custody of Brooklyn Rivera in Nicaragua.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Lebanon: Tyre hospital strikes leave patients without critical care – WHO
The UN health agency in Lebanon is verifying reports of strikes on a hospital in the southern city of Tyre on Monday, amid a concerning rise in attacks on healthcare in the country.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
El Niño confirmed, extreme weather events will be more intense, says WMO
The UN urged all countries on Tuesday to bolster early warning systems after confirming the onset of El Niño, warning that the Pacific Ocean-warming phenomenon will bring above-average temperatures “nearly everywhere” and fuel more extreme weather.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘A disease you get when you care for someone’: on the frontlines of the Ebola crisis with WHO
Two weeks into the latest Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) is estimating that there are 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including 223 suspected deaths.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on 29 May called for more robust measures by both states and tech companies to make online platforms safer for children, insisting on effective regulation, oversight and accountability. The digital world that connects children to learning, community and creativity also expose them to real risks, to their safety, to their privacy, and to their well-being. Online harms to kids’ safety, privacy, and well-being are not innate or inevitable.
See High Commissioner video: https://media.un.org/unifeed/en/asset/d357/d3579089
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: Life-saving medicines blocked as killing continues, disease gains ground
In Gaza, a dire humanitarian situation marked by continuing violence, rodent infestations and the spread of diseases is being made worse by blockages of essential medical supplies, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo, warned against the continuing trend of involuntary returns of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers from host countries to Afghanistan, in violation of international human rights and refugee law, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OHCHR
Lebanon's first responders face high risks amid conflict, with 116 killed since March.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC Ebola outbreak: hundreds of suspected cases, no vaccine
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.