Weekly Update #159
March 17, 2025

Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities

WHO, UNICEF and the Government in Ukraine are working together in cross-sectoral collaboration to ensure drinking water safety for the Ukrainian people

On 12-13 March, the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the WHO in Ukraine, in collaboration with UNICEF in Ukraine, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and key governmental stakeholders, held a National consultation on water safety planning in Kyiv.

According to the World Bank's Fourth Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment in Ukraine, before the war, approximately 70% of the population of Ukraine had access to the centralized water supply. The ongoing war in Ukraine has significantly exacerbated existing challenges in ensuring adequate access to safe drinking water, putting the health of the population at risk. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Cluster estimated that 9.6 million Ukrainians were in need of essential water supply and sanitation services in 2024. The total cost of reconstruction and rehabilitation is estimated at 11.3 billion USD for 2025-2033 (World Bank).

In order to build and maintain resilient drinking-water supply systems, safeguard sustainable access to safe water for all, and ensure that drinking water is safe and properly managed, this consultation brought together all stakeholders concerned with public health and water supply. It is aimed to support Ukraine’s efforts to develop a national Water Safety Planning (WSP) programme in line with the requirements of the European Union Drinking Water Directive (2020/2184) in preparation for Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and to guide defining priorities in recovery and inform future investments.

Water safety planning (WSP) is a comprehensive risk-based approach recommended by the WHO Guidelines for drinking-water quality as the most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety and adequacy of a drinking water supply. Successful implementation of WSPs can provide many benefits, including improved drinking-water quality, greater regulatory compliance, improved public health protection, and strengthened emergency preparedness and response. 

In 2023, WHO supported a national awareness raising and capacity building workshop on risk-based approaches to safe drinking-water, during which the need for a national action plan (or “roadmap”) for the uptake of WSP in Ukraine was agreed. Further, national and international stakeholders were brought together to further the dialogue on WSP in the context of strengthening water, sanitation and hygiene in the time of crisis, and longer-term sustainable recovery. 

A Consensus statement was reached on the needs and future priorities to help ensure more resilient and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services in Ukraine to safeguard public health. During 2024, certain actions outlined in the Consensus statement have been implemented by WHO and other partners.

This national consultation reviewed and agreed on strategic steps needed to support the sustainable and effective deployment of water safety plans in Ukraine, and identified future support needs from WHO and other international partners. It will be a key step towards developing a tailored roadmap for implementing the Water Safety Planning programme in Ukraine. This roadmap would support accelerated progress towards aligning Ukraine’s national drinking water quality management with the requirements of the European Union Drinking Water Directive.

The event was financially supported by the German government.

Source: UNICEF, WHO

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UNHCR provides insulation kits to help displaced Ukrainian families stay warm

The freezing temperatures in Ukraine during the winter months make an already dire humanitarian situation even worse for many displaced families.

Due to the destruction of a big portion of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, hundreds of thousands of people across the country have suffered from power outages and lack of heating, which can prove life threatening during cold wintertime.

With the support of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has been distributing Rapid Thermal Kits and heaters to more than 6,400 people before winter to help them survive and stay warm during the cold season.

UNHCR’s Rapid Thermal Kits include items which are commonly used by people in Ukraine to improve home insulation easily and cost-efficiently. This includes reflective insulation screens, transparent plastic sheets for window repairs, foam draft blockers, and building tape.

Source: UNHCR

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Guide for risk management in the context of emergencies, armed conflict and crises

Safe access to reliable information can be the difference between life and death in crisis, emergency and armed conflict. Just like crisis protocols for the physical world, protocols for the digital sphere can save lives. Social media platforms have become crucial digital infrastructures for accessing and sharing information and play a key role in promoting reliable information and combating disinformation and hate speech in conflicts like the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

For Ukraine, social media platforms are critically important amid the full-scale invasion; 84% of Ukrainians use social media as their primary news source and 42% view it as their only channel for information.

The intention of the Guide for Risk Management is to provide guidance and mitigation recommendations for social media platform companies. The guide offers a context-specific framework enabling social media platform companies to safeguard human rights in the Ukrainian information ecosystem, particularly freedom of speech and access to information, whilst placing a specific emphasis on groups such as women, minorities and marginalised groups that are commonly targeted.

Source: IMS, Internews

Here’s what Russia has demanded to end its war in Ukraine

More than three years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained inflexible, maximalist conditions for any potential agreement that would end the war. Putin said Thursday he supports in principle the idea of a 30-day ceasefire — proposed by the United States and to which Ukraine has agreed — but noted that its implementation raises many questions, particularly regarding verification across a long front line. Such a tactic could allow Russia to engage in protracted negotiations without immediately rejecting an offer.

Here is what Russia has said about the conditions it would need to reach a peace deal.

Territory

Three years into the war, Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine. It wants to keep that and then some. The Kremlin has ruled out ceding any of the land it has seized.  Kremline claims Crimea, Sevastopol, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk as Russian territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky long emphasized that Ukraine would not surrender sovereign territory but has more recently moved to an emphasis on security guarantees rather than the immediate return of territory.

Russia’s terms also include demilitarizing Ukraine, which would leave the country with a small army incapable of deterring future attacks.

NATO peacekeepers

Ukraine membership in NATO, a defense alliance that requires member states to defend fellow members if they are attacked, is a nonstarter for Putin.

The Kremlin has also ruled out the presence of foreign peacekeepers in Ukraine — a proposal European nations have considered as a possible security guarantee.  European countries, including Britain and France, have suggested sending thousands of troops to Ukraine after fighting ends. Earlier this week, Russia reiterated that it would not accept peacekeeping troops from any NATO country on Ukrainian territory “under any conditions,” rejecting a proposal floated by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Diplomatic missions

Russia has used renewed contacts with the United States to address issues beyond the war in Ukraine, including long-standing grievances over frozen diplomatic compounds dating to the Obama administration.

Russia demanded the return of six diplomatic compounds that it said had been seized illegally by the United States between 2016 and 2018.  But Washington raised concerns regarding access to banking and contracted services as well as the need to ensure stable and sustainable staffing levels at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Sanctions relief

U.S. sanctions imposed by the Biden administration after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 have weakened the Russian economy and hindered its military sector. Trump has signaled a willingness to discuss easing sanctions as part of a potential peace deal.

Russia is particularly interested in lifting restrictions on transnational payments and the sale of gas and oil, especially recent curbs on its oil tanker fleet.

One of the most significant measures Russia faced was the freezing of over $300 billion in Russian central bank assets held in the West. The European Union last year adopted a plan to use the interest generated from these frozen assets to support Ukraine.

Source: Washington Post

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IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine

Ukrainian firefighters have gained full control over the situation at the Chornobyl site following last month’s drone strike that caused extensive damage to the large confinement structure covering the reactor destroyed in the 1986 accident, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said today.

The drone attack in the early hours of 14 February pierced a big hole through the roof of the New Safe Confinement (NSC) and set off fires within its structure that continued to smoulder for more than two weeks.

Working around the clock to contain the aftermath of the drone strike, Ukrainian emergency personnel have gradually managed to extinguish all the smouldering, with no new fires detected for around ten days. Last Friday the site was able to downgrade the event from an “emergency” to a “controlled situation”.

Further underlining constant nuclear safety risks during the conflict, the IAEA staff at the Chornobyl site have continued to report multiple air raid alarms over the past week.

In addition, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) informed the IAEA that the Chornobyl site recorded drone flights in the area during the night of 8 March.

The precarious nuclear safety and security situation was also evident at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), with the IAEA team there hearing explosions on most days at different distances from the site.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the IAEA teams based at the country’s three operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) – Khmelnytskyy, Rivne and South Ukraine – have continued to monitor the nuclear safety and security situation at these sites. The teams report hearing air raid alarms on most days.

Over the past week, the IAEA has carried out rotations at the Rivne, South Ukraine and Chornobyl sites, with new Agency teams replacing colleagues based there for the past several weeks.

Source: IAEA

Starmer says military planning for future Ukraine peace deal moving to 'operational phase'

Highlights

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hosted a virtual summit of Ukraine allies to discuss future security guarantees in the event of a peace deal.

• He says planning for those arrangements is now moving to an "operational phase", with military leaders due to meet in the UK this week.The prime minister said now is the time to apply "maximum pressure" on Russia and "the world needs actions...not empty words and conditions". Moving into an "operation phase" will see military forces meeting on Thursday to back up a possible ceasefire.

• Representatives from 26 countries were in attendance at the meeting, according to Downing Street, including Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron He said the so-called coalition of the willing has grown over the last two weeks and new commitments were made this morning - though he did not give specific examples.  Starmer says the "coalition of the willing" brings together partners from across the EU, as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand and backing from others including Japan.

• He adds that the efforts of those supporting Ukraine must continue, including keeping "military aid flowing" and continuing sanctions to "weaken Putin's war machine and bring him to the table". Starmer said military leaders will meet on Thursday to move to an "operational phase" of logistical planning and to "accelerate practical work".". He described Ukraine as the "party of peace", while Putin continues to "delay" steps towards a ceasefire.

• Earlier this week, Putin set out conditions for a ceasefire in Ukraine, but Zelensky called his response "manipulative.

Source: BBC

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EU diplomats suggest doubling military aid for Ukraine this year

The European Union should be prepared to go as far as doubling its military aid to Ukraine this year to 40 billion euros ($43 billion) if necessary, according to a discussion paper by the bloc's diplomatic service seen by Reuters on Friday.

The paper, an updated version of an earlier proposal which set out Ukraine's requirements but did not name a target figure, also says each EU country participating in the effort should contribute "in line with its economic weight".

With the future of U.S. backing for Ukraine uncertain, EU countries have expressed a broad willingness to continue supporting the country in the war triggered by Russia's 2022 invasion, but diplomats say several states oppose fixed targets.

The paper says the EU gave about 20 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine last year and encourages EU countries to do at least the same again in 2025, with the total "potentially reaching" 40 billion euros, depending on Kyiv's needs.

EU leaders are likely to discuss the proposal by the European External Action Service (EEAS), headed by former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, at a summit next week.

It suggests that some of the costs of the plan could come from a scheme that takes windfall profits from Russian assets inside the EU and uses them for the benefit of Ukraine.

Source: Reuters

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Additional SEK 100 million to Ukraine via the World Bank

Sweden will contribute an additional SEK 100 million to Ukraine via the World Bank. The support, which will help the reconstruction and upcoming necessary infrastructure projects, was presented during World Bank President’s visit to Stockholm on 6–7 March.

World Bank President Ajay Banga visited Stockholm on 6–7 March to participate in the meeting with ministers of development assistance and finance from the Nordic and Baltic countries. The emphasis of the meeting was the importance of continued support to Ukraine and a well-functioning multilateral economic cooperation. The World Bank is a significant player in helping countries with their economic development and is the single largest channel for Swedish development assistance. The World Bank has a special role in Ukraine, having mobilised nearly USD 60 billion over the past three years and providing support in various ways, such as broad rebuilding funds, guarantees and other financial instruments. The support aims to enable access to continued basic public services, boost the private sector and help with the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Sweden has contributed a total of SEK 73 billion in civil and military support to Ukraine The World Bank fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction and reform

The new Swedish support will be channelled to the World Bank’s Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF). The fund is a flexible platform that enables the World Bank to prioritise the most acute funding needs identified by the Ukrainian Government. After three years of war, the needs for reconstruction are estimated to exceed USD 524 billion.

Source: Govt. Sweden

JRS team in Ukraine (Sergi Camara/Jesuit Refugee Service)