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 | WFP
Afghanistan’s hunger crisis intensifies as millions go without food aid – WFP
Afghanistan’s dire hunger crisis now affects 14 million people including babies fed on weak tea and a little bread by their despairing and dirt-poor parents.
In a new alert on Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that one in three Afghans is now in the grip of acute food insecurity and that it lacks the resources to contain the deepening crisis.
1
1
2
Edited News | IOM
From fake jobs to forced crime: IOM sounds alarm on human trafficking behind online scams
A job offer can conceal a criminal network and a single click can lead to a nightmare. Lured by false promises of legitimate employment abroad, hundreds of thousands of people are being trafficked each year, held captive and forced to carry out online scams.
Ahead of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons marked on 30 July, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is raising the alarm over a rapidly expanding multibillion-dollar criminal industry that turns job seekers into victims of forced cybercrime.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In Sudan’s El Obeid, women risk drone attacks by day and rape by night to access water
As war intensifies in the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan state, filling up a jerrycan of water comes at a high risk for women and girls: by day, drones strike water points and by night, women who venture out to fill a bucket risk rape. UN Women warns of a dual terror that has turned access to water into a deadly gamble.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo made the following remarks on stranded Hormuz seafarers abandoned for months at sea, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Danielle Bell, head of UN Human Rights’ Ukraine team, spoke of the deepening impact of the war on the civilian population.
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 Intensified Israeli attacks in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DR Congo: Ebola outbreak continues to expand, WHO sees signs of stabilization
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the virus has taken hold. As of 19 July, the DRC Government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases, including 967 deaths and 469 patient recoveries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokeperson Jeremy Laurence appealed for calm in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir amid a wave of unrest ahead of regional elections at the end of the month.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
UN humanitarians working in war-torn Sudan warned on Friday of growing dramatic needs among the more than 100,000 displaced people now sheltering in camps in the city of El Obeid. "We are providing even not the full food ration to the people, but even that reduced food ration is being shared by the recipients with other families, because they know that they don't have any other source of income," said World Food Programme (WFP) Sudan Country Director Abdallah Alwardat.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘This is a fire’: DRC Ebola outbreak is fastest-growing ever, warns WHO
Infections of the Bundibugyo species of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have reached record highs and a majority of new cases are coming from “unknown chains of transmission”, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In war-torn Sudan, a deadly new cholera outbreak has already claimed more than 100 lives, heightening serious concerns for vulnerable communities including in besieged El-Obeid, where daily drone attacks reportedly continue to hamper aid access.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
Ceasefire reduces violence in South Lebanon, but challenges remain as communities face devastation.