Ukraine aid and funding update, OCHA - UNICEF - UN Women, WHO 21 February 2025
/
3:18
/
MP4
/
374.8 MB
Download

Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , UN WOMEN

Ukraine aid and funding update, OCHA - UNICEF - UN Women, WHO 21 February 2025

Full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has sown ‘psychological terror’, warns top aid coordinator

In the nearly three years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the country’s people have endured continuous attacks, “psychological terror…displacement and hardship”, top UN aid coordinator Matthias Schmale said on Friday.

Briefing from Ukrainian capital Kyiv after another night of “air sirens and more loud explosions”, Mr. Schmale noted that the crisis began in 2014, with Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. “So, all children that were born since - all children up to the age of 11 - have never experienced their country at peace,” he said.

According to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, 2024 saw a 30 per cent increase in civilian casualties compared to 2023. “The humanitarian situation is worsening, especially in frontline areas,” it said in an update, highlighting that a full 36 per cent of Ukraine’s population - 12.7 million people - needs humanitarian aid this year.

“There are very strong pushes by the armed forces of the Russian Federation along the front line and evacuations are ongoing,” Mr. Schmale explained. “We are supporting people with essential goods, including cash assistance, as they are on the move to transit centres, collective sites and wherever they end up being.”

Speaking from Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine, Toby Fricker from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that more than 2,520 children have been killed or injured since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.

“The real number is likely far higher and it’s getting worse”, said Mr. Fricker, chief of communication in Ukraine. “There was a more than 50 per cent increase in child casualties in 2024 compared to 2023 and what we see is no place is safe: schools, maternity wards, children’s hospitals, all have been affected by attacks.”

Underscoring the essential role played by women in Ukraine “beyond the battlefield”, UN Women Geneva Director Sofia Calltorp explained that “there is another story unfolding, and that is the story of all those women and girls who are bearing the brunt of this war.”

In 2024, the number of people killed and injured in Ukraine increased by 30 per cent, Ms. Calltorp noted. “Of them, 800 women lost their lives and more than 3,700 women were injured last year in Ukraine. We also know that the vast majority of Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons are women, and 6.7 million women are in need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”

Responding to questions about the impact of the US funding freeze on humanitarian work, Ukraine Humanitarian Coordinator Mr. Schmale expressed “hope that US funding will become part of the equation. Last year, it made up 30 per cent of what we spent on the humanitarian side, 10 per cent on the development side.”

The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine added: “We are of course worried about the funding freezes; as we all know, it's not the end of the day yet, there are a lot of discussions going on. We have some of our partners, including within the UN, that have received some exemptions from the general freeze of funding, but so far, no money has been flowing as a result of those exemptions.”

In addition to repeated attacks on energy infrastructure across Ukraine, other public facilities have also been targeted, with 780 health centres and more than 1,600 schools damaged or destroyed, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

“In Odessa this week we saw a health clinic providing care for 40,000 children and a kindergarten serving 250 of the youngest children were severely damaged in an attack,” said Dr Jarno Harbicht, WHO Country Representative for Ukraine. “When a children's hospital is hit, a school shelled or electric grid destroyed, children suffer even when they survive.”

The mental stress faced by millions of Ukrainians because of the war is real and debilitating, the WHO official continued: “Imagine a young mother in Kharkiv region in Ukraine, her days interrupted by air raid sirens and her nights haunted by drones. Each day is a struggle balancing her children’s safety with their anxiety that has become her constant companion.”

ends

STORY: Ukraine aid and funding update - OCHA, UNICEF, UN Women, WHO

TRT: 3 min 18s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 21 FEBRUARY 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Speakers:

  • Matthias Schmale, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine (from Kyiv)
  • Toby Fricker UNICEF’s chief of communication in Ukraine (from Zaporizhzhia)
  • Dr Jarno Harbicht, WHO Country Representative for Ukraine (from Tallinn, Estonia)
  • Sofia Calltorp, Director, UN Women Geneva

SHOTLIST

  1. Exterior medium: UN Geneva flag alley.
  2. Wide: moderator at the podium in the Press room.
  3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Toby Fricker UNICEF’s chief of communication in Ukraine (from Zaporizhzhia): “Three years into the full-scale war, more than 2,520 children have been killed or injured, according to UN-verified numbers. The real number is likely far higher and it’s getting worse; there was a more than 50 per cent increase in child casualties in 2024 compared to 2023 and what we see is no place is safe: schools, maternity wards, children’s hospitals, all have been affected by attacks.”
  4. Medium-wide, podium speakers.
  5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Matthias Schmale, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine (from Kyiv): “We should remember that for three years now, civilians in Ukraine have endured continuous attacks, displacement and hardship. We must also remember that this began back in 2014. So, all children that were born since - all children up to the age of 11 - have never experienced their country at peace.”
  6. Medium-wide: Press room, TV screens showing external speaker; journalists.
  7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Matthias Schmale, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine (from Kyiv):This past night, all of us here in Kyiv were woken up yet again by air sirens and more loud explosions. And this of course has a serious psychological impact, I sometimes call this psychological terror from the sky and this is weakening resilience.”
  8. Medium-wide: Press room, TV screens showing external speaker, podium moderator, TV journalist.
  9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Matthias Schmale, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine (from Kyiv): “There are very strong pushes by the armed forces of the Russian Federation along the front line and evacuations are ongoing. We are supporting people with essential goods, including cash assistance, as they are on the move to transit centres, collective sites and wherever they end up being.”
  10. Wide, Press room, journalists, TV screens showing external speaker.
  11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Dr Jarno Harbicht, WHO Country Representative for Ukraine (from Tallinn, Estonia): “Imagine a young mother in Kharkiv region in Ukraine, her days interrupted by air raid sirens and her nights haunted by drones. Each day is a struggle balancing her children's safety with their anxiety that has become her constant companion.”
  12. Medium-wide: Press room, journalists.
  13. SOUNDBITE (English) – Sofia Calltorp, Director, UN Women Geneva: Behind the headlines, beyond the battlefield, there is another story unfolding and that is the story of all those women and girls who are bearing the brunt of this war.
  14. Medium-wide: Press room, podium, TV screens.
  15. SOUNDBITE (English) – Sofia Calltorp, Director, UN Women Geneva: “In 2024, the number of killed and injured in Ukraine increased by a staggering 30 per cent. And of them, 800 women lost their lives and more than 3,700 women were killed last year - were injured - in Ukraine. We also know that the vast majority of Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons are women and 6.7 million women are in need of lifesaving humanitarian assistance.”
  16. Medium, video journalist.
  17. SOUNDBITE (English) – Matthias Schmale, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine (from Kyiv): We are of course worried about the funding freezes as we all know, it's not the end of the day yet, there are a lot of discussions going on. We have some of our partners, including within the UN, have received some exemptions from the general freeze of funding, but so far no money has been flowing as a result of those exemptions.”
  18. Medium, journalist listening, wearing headphones.
  19. Wide, Press room.


Audio Files 1
Download Ukraine aid and funding update, OCHA - UNICEF - UN Women, WHO 21 February 2025 (Edited Story)
Download

Similar Stories

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Sudan attacks

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Sudan attacks ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on deadly attacks by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan 

Gaza City famine – UN OCHA, WFP, WHO, OHCHR 22 August 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNITED NATIONS , WFP , WHO

Gaza City famine – UN OCHA, WFP, WHO, OHCHR 22 August 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza: Famine “irrefutably” confirmed, UN humanitarians unite in plea for aid access

Famine has been confirmed in Gaza Governorate by the world’s top authority on food security and will spread further within the Strip unless fighting stops and much more aid is allowed in, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Myanmar

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Myanmar ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the eighth anniversary of military assault on the Rohingya in Myanmar

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on famine in Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on famine in Gaza ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the declared famine in Gaza Governorate

 

World Humanitarian Day Commemoration - 19 August 2025

3

36

1

2

Edited News , Statements , Images , Conferences | HRC , OCHA , UNOG

World Humanitarian Day Commemoration - 19 August 2025 ENG FRA

A record 383 aid workers were killed last year with hundreds more wounded, kidnapped and detained, the UN’s top aid official said on Tuesday in a call for accountability, at a solemn ceremony in Geneva to mark World Humanitarian Day.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on treatment of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi inside an Israeli jail

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on treatment of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi inside an Israeli jail ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following statement at today’s biweekly press briefing in Geneva: 

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on Gaza ENG FRA

In Gaza, the Israeli army has intensified its attacks in the north of the strip,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

Gaza aid blockages OHCHR - OCHA

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , OCHA

Gaza aid blockages OHCHR - OCHA ENG FRA

Gaza: Aid insufficient to avert ‘widespread starvation’ as Israeli military ramp-up forces more people to flee

The small trickle of aid entering Gaza is totally insufficient to alleviate starvation and displacement in the Strip, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Gaza health update - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza health update - WHO ENG FRA

Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO 

As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.

 

Sudan update UNHCR - WHO - UNMAS

1

1

1

Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS

Sudan update UNHCR - WHO - UNMAS ENG FRA

Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.

UNEP Press conference: Plastic Pollution (INC-5.2)- 05 August 2025

2

2

1

2

Press Conferences , Edited News , Images | UNEP

UNEP Press conference: Plastic Pollution (INC-5.2)- 05 August 2025 ENG FRA

Negotiations got under way at UN Geneva on Tuesday to agree on a legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution, with delegates from nearly 180 countries attending.

Gaza aid update OCHA - UNICEF

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF

Gaza aid update OCHA - UNICEF ENG FRA

Gaza: Hundreds of trucks per day of free aid needed “for months”, in addition to commercial supplies - OCHA

Despite the tactical pauses Israel introduced last week to allow some safe passage for humanitarian convoys, the amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient for the starving population, and UN trucks continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid.