Weekly Update #51
February 20
Weekly Update #51
February 20
Embedded Files
February 20
REFUGEE SITUATION
REFUGEE SITUATION
(as of 31 January 2023)
(as of 31 January 2023)
General Figures
General Figures
Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe
8,073,182
Last updated 15 Feb 2023
Refugees from Ukraine registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe
4,848,209
Last updated 13 Feb 2023
Border crossings from Ukraine (since 24 February 2022)
18,606,941
Last updated 14 Feb 2023
Border crossings to Ukraine (since 28 February 2022)
10,297,001
Last updated 14 Feb 2023
Source: https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine
Refugees from Ukraine across Europe
Refugees from Ukraine across Europe
(as of 7 February 2023)
(as of 7 February 2023)
Source: UNHCR Flash Update #40
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
(As of February 13, 2023)
(As of February 13, 2023)
Civilian casualties from 24 February 2022 – 12 February 2023
Civilian casualties from 24 February 2022 – 12 February 2023
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 18,955 civilian casualties in the country.
This included 7,199 killed:
2,888 men, 1,941 women, 226 boys , and 180 girls, as well as 32 children and 1,932 adults whose sex is not yet known
Injured 11,756 injured:
2,616 men, 1,856 women, 341 boys, and 253 girls, as well as 260 children and 6,430 adults whose sex is not yet known
In Donetsk and Luhansk regions: 10,167 casualties (4,189 killed and 5,978 injured)
On Government-controlled territory: 7,946 casualties (3,679 killed and 4,267 injured)
On territory controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups: 2,221 casualties (510 killed and 1,711 injured)
Civilian casualties from 1 to 12 February 2023
Civilian casualties from 1 to 12 February 2023
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 262 civilian casualties in Ukraine:
59 killed (28 men, 19 women, as well as 12 adults whose sex is not yet known); and
203 injured (63 men, 43 women, 5 boys, 6 girls, as well as 86 adults whose sex is not yet known).
Source: OHCHR
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION OVERVIEW
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION OVERVIEW
The humanitarian situation in Ukraine deteriorated drastically and rapidly in 2022, following the dramatic escalation of eight years of conflict in east of the country into a full-scale war. Since the Russian Federation's 24 February invasion of Ukraine, the number of people in need of humanitarian aid and protection increased from approximately 3 million people to nearly 18 million, and hostilities and fighting spread across the country. Throughout the year, millions of Ukrainians endured intense hostilities, which killed and injured thousands of civilians, forced millions from their homes, destroyed jobs and livelihoods, and left many struggling to access food, water, health care, education, a safe place to live and other essential services. For people in the east of the country – in Donetska and Luhanska oblasts – this only further exhausted their coping capacities, already limited by the years of fighting in the region.
Massive destruction of civilian infrastructure across the country decimated essential services, including energy, water supply, and heating. During the last quarter of 2022, continued attacks on energy infrastructure caused an energy crisis, testing the whole country’s resilience and creating a new dimension of the humanitarian crisis, as the country entered the cold winter season. Millions have been left without power, heating and water for days on end across Ukraine. The energy crisis also exacerbated challenges for those close to the front lines, already dealing with lack of access to water, electricity and gas for months.
With a number of large-scale attacks reported throughout the first ten months of the war, the year ended with several major strikes, including in the front-line city of Kherson on 24 December, which reportedly led to over 70 civilian casualties. Among the injured were two aid workers from a local implementing partner of the World Food Programme. Furthermore, the Kherson authorities reported two health facilities damaged by missile strikes. Since Kherson was retaken in early November, the city and other parts of the oblast have been subject to constant bombardment. Aid workers and aid distribution facilities have been impacted by attacks in Khersonska oblast and other parts of Ukraine throughout the year. Similarly, civilians on the other side of the front line endured constant shelling, and humanitarian facilities were also hit in areas under Russian control in December 2022.
SITUATION UPDATE
SITUATION UPDATE
Several explosions were heard in Kyiv as officials reported high-voltage facilities across Ukraine being struck by Russian missile attacks on 10 February. Ukraine’s power grid operator Ukrenergo confirmed that several power stations and transmission facilities in eastern, southern and western Ukraine had been hit with drones and missiles, which caused disruptions to power supply in those regions. The Russian forces have waged a campaign of mass missile strikes targeting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure since last October.
Zaporizhzhya became the target of the Russian Federation’s largest missile strike since the start of the war, with 17 incoming missiles targeting energy infrastructure facilities reported in the area within just one hour.
“Shelling in Kherson continues non-stop. Brave people have stayed behind to support the population and the UN will provide support here as long as this war continues,” said UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown, who led a new convoy on 8 February to deliver vital supplies to the people of Kherson.
THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Humanitarians reached 15.8 million people in Ukraine with various forms of humanitarian assistance in 2022, ranging from food packages to hygiene supplies to shelter, health services, education support, legal aid, counselling, cash assistance and more. Almost 9.5 million people were able to receive medicine and various health-care services in the ten months of the war, and 7.4 million people were reached with assistance related to water, including access to drinking water, hygiene and sanitation. Almost 6 million people received US$1.21 billion in cash assistance, giving people the flexibility to tailor to their own specific needs. Around 7.4 million people were reached with different kinds of protection services (renewal of legal documents, psychosocial support, specialized assistance to people with disabilities, adequate housing solutions, etc.), including more than 3.2 million with child protection (case management, family tracing and reunification, legal assistance, etc.). At the same time, more than 12.2 million people received food assistance and livelihood support across all 24 oblasts of Ukraine, including areas close to front-line fighting. The UN also delivered over 1,400 generators to hospitals, shelters, heating points, water pumping facilities, schools, and places hosting displaced people.
Humanitarian Response Expansion
Humanitarian Response Expansion
Humanitarians reached 15.8 million people in Ukraine with various forms of humanitarian assistance in 2022, ranging from food packages to hygiene supplies to shelter, health services, education support, legal aid, counselling, cash assistance and more. Almost 9.5 million people were able to receive medicine and various health-care services in the ten months of the war, and 7.4 million people were reached with assistance related to water, including access to drinking water, hygiene and sanitation. Almost 6 million people received US$1.21 billion in cash assistance, giving people the flexibility to tailor to their own specific needs. Around 7.4 million people were reached with different kinds of protection services (renewal of legal documents, psychosocial support, specialized assistance to people with disabilities, adequate housing solutions, etc.), including more than 3.2 million with child protection (case management, family tracing and reunification, legal assistance, etc.). At the same time, more than 12.2 million people received food assistance and livelihood support across all 24 oblasts of Ukraine, including areas close to front-line fighting. The UN also delivered over 1,400 generators to hospitals, shelters, heating points, water pumping facilities, schools, and places hosting displaced people.
Humanitarian Access
Humanitarian Access
Humanitarian access in Ukraine significantly deteriorated after the start of the full-scale war in February 2022, hampering aid operations, particularly in the east. In the first months of the war, aid organizations had to quickly expand operations to meet the fast-growing humanitarian needs, at the same time as navigating increased challenges imposed by the complete stoppage of flights – both passenger and cargo – damage to road and rail services, and shortage of fuel. This exacerbated the access challenges imposed by the constant threats from air, ground and sea missiles, by ongoing ground fighting, mines and unexploded ordnance in areas of active conflict, as well as military tactics—including encirclement—which prevented humanitarians from accessing areas where civilians were in desperate need and impacted people’s ability to flee or access assistance.
The situation is particularly concerning in areas under Russian military control. The restrictions on movement of humanitarian staff to or within areas under Russian control and the blockage of the movement of relief supplies across the front line imposed tremendous challenges and limited humanitarian assistance in these parts of the country. Since the escalation of the war on 24 February 2022, no inter-agency humanitarian convoys have been able to cross between the two areas, despite repeated attempts and notifications to the Russian Federation. Interference in implementing humanitarian activities by Russian-installed authorities in all areas beyond Government control, including the suspension of permissions to operate in certain areas, imposed additional obstacles for independent humanitarian action in this part of the country.
Some bureaucratic impediments have also been reported in areas under Ukrainian control. These included visa delays, mainly due to Government systems being overstretched, a lack of clarity over the registration process for newly established national and international NGOs, risk of mobilization for male staff of humanitarian organizations, and unresolved issues around the value-added tax (VAT) exemptions for humanitarian aid.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Ukraine Humanitarian Fund
Ukraine Humanitarian Fund
OCHA-managed pooled funds have been a critical source of funding to enable aid organizations to quickly scale up their operations and support millions of people whose lives have been devastated by the war. By the end of December 2022, the funds had allocated over $252 million for life-saving operations in Ukraine, including $192 million from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF) and $60 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
With five different allocations in 2022, the UHF supported 56 humanitarian partners, with enabled the implementation of over 100 projects, reaching nearly 4 million people with life-saving assistance.
Around $63 million (33 per cent) in net funding was transferred to national and local partners, including $44 million (23 per cent) directly to support 38 projects of national NGOs. Some $20 million was allocated to support more than 300 civil society organizations, community-based organizations and volunteer groups assisting people impacted by the war in Ukraine, especially in areas close to the front line. They will receive grants, in-kind assistance, training and other capacity-building activities to enable them to sustain critical assistance and services that they have been providing to millions of people since the war began.
The UHF’s partnership has also grown from 51 eligible implementing partners before February to 92 eligible partners by the end of 2022, including 45 international and 35 national NGOs and 10 UN agencies.
Russia’s federal government has systematically relocated at least 6,000 children from Ukraine to a network of re-education and adoption facilities in Russia-occupied Crimea and mainland Russia. The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) identified 43 facilities involved in holding children from Ukraine since Russia’s 24 February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The majority are recreational camps where children are taken for ostensible vacations, while others are facilities used to house children put up for foster care or adoption in Russia. These findings indicate the majority of camps have engaged in pro-Russia re-education efforts and some camps have provided military training to children or suspended the children’s return to their parents in Ukraine.
Key Findings:
More than 6,000 children in Russia’s custody
At least 43 facilities in network
Network of children’s facilities stretches from Russia-occupied Crimea to Russia’s eastern coast
Primary purpose of the camps appears to be political re-education
Children from two of the camps have been placed with foster families in Russia
Consent is collected under duress and routinely violated
Children’s returns from at least four camps have been suspended
All levels of Russia’s government are involved
Joint Launch of the Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan and the Regional Refugee Response Plan for Ukraine (February 15 meeting notes)
Joint Launch of the Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan and the Regional Refugee Response Plan for Ukraine (February 15 meeting notes)
Notes taken by Emilee Rae Haselton, ICMC intern.
Meeting Content
Summary of the Humanitarian Response Plan
Summary of the Regional Refugee Response Plan
M. Griffiths: Almost 40% of the population in Ukraine now, urgently need humanitarian assistance. Infrastructure and energy are central to everything else, heat, water, etc. The importance of work, business, and employment – the private sector’s role in the heart of the emergency is important. More than 650 organizations are inside of Ukraine providing critical aid – they need our support and that is why we are launching this plan today. 11.1 million of the population will be targeted with this plan.
F. Grandi: Civilians and civilian infrastructure are continuously targeted. Yet, they have so much resilience. Very good leadership within Ukrainian authorities – which allows for aid to be more effective. While my organization focuses on displaced people, it is important to focus on everybody – humanitarian assistance is needed by everybody, specifically on the front line. President Zelenskyy is focusing on recovery (rebuilding when they can). This is the largest refugee crisis – but let’s emphasis this is not the only one (horn of Africa, South Sudan, Afghanistan). Let’s not just thank your governments for financial support but also your communities for sponsoring and supporting Ukrainians. There is an estimated 8 million of Ukrainians outside of the country at any given time. 243 partners are a part of this appeal. $1.7 billion – slightly less than last year. $1.8 billion last year, with 71% being funded (this is because it was based on estimates – there is evidence now).
Yevheniia Filipenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN in Geneva: Russia’s attack on critical infrastructure has left over 50% of Ukraine without energy, heat, water. Ukraine supports this appeal & is asking States to give both plans full support. We are hoping that donors come through in 2023, as they did in 2022. Continued focus and support on IDPs and refugees, as they need cash assistance, housing, and other critical assistance. Ukrainian orphans and unaccompanied youth -> we need to ensure that they make it safely back to Ukraine, prevent all unlawful adoptions to Russian couples. Psychosocial support is necessary. Generators and energy are necessary. President Zelenskyy created a 10-piece Peace plan.
Denise Brown, UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine: While Ukrainians stay strong and start rebuilding, they still need support. The need for humanitarian assistance is not decreasing – it is increasing critically. Through 14 partners, hundreds of NGOs have received the funds to provide humanitarian assistance. I acknowledge that the structure of humanitarian assistance is elitist – we are working to open it up. We are pushing forward to the front line – it is complicated, it is dangerous. We are working our way through the 53 communities near the front line and started that in November. We continue to request data across both front lines – whatever happens on one side, happens on the other. Ukraine always responds yes, in need of humanitarian assistance. Russia always responds no. We are stepping into humanitarian assistance PLUS.
Marta Barancsikova, Founding Member of UA Unity: I may be Ukrainian, but I have no clue what is like to be forced to flee our home. Ukrainian refugees are the ones helping Ukrainian refugees, they know what they need. Power of social media to locate one another. We had started by focusing on the feeling
of safety and familiarity in a new country. International school has opened the school on Saturdays for free, to provide additional education to Ukrainian children in Hungary. Our priority for the next year is social cohesion. We are a little baby NGO; our capacity is small. You are all like big adults, please keep helping us.
Joanna Garbalinska, NGO Forum Coordinator for Ukraine: What I have seen so far is an outstanding CSO community, that was able to quickly stabilize. Yet, it is not enough. Durable solutions are urgently needed for IDPs. A large portion of elderly people will not leave because they do not want to leave their homes; disabled persons cannot leave because they do not have the means to; children on the front lines are often stuck inside – missing out on school. We need to help anybody who needs it – regardless of what side of the front line they are on. The international system is difficult; let’s all support each other because then we can efficiently help as many people as possible.
Interventions:
Poland: Multidimensional - currently acting in three fronts 1) hosting Ukrainians 2) acting as a hub for humanitarian assistance 3) providing humanitarian assistance directly. In 2022, Poland spent 8.36 billion EURO on assisting Ukraine = 1.5% of Poland’s GDP.
Czech Republic: Housing the largest Ukrainian refugees per capita in the world (0.5 million to a population of 10 million).
Republic of Moldova: A million of Ukrainian entries. 800,000 refugees. We are not discussing only recovery – we welcome flexibility to the approach of this proposed plan. We must acknowledge the burden on local authorities – Moldavian and Ukrainian. Our government just released the fourth round of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Sustainability of host communities – social cohesion. We will continue to keep our borders open to Ukrainians.
Slovakia: More than 1.2 million entries through Slovakia.
Lithuania: More than 70,000 have sought shelter. In 2023, we are going to implement social and economic programs to improve the lives of IDPs. We are going to provide humanitarian and military assistance for as long as it takes.
Estonia: 23.1 million euros in humanitarian assistance. 4% of our population is made up of Ukrainian refugees. In 2023, we need to provide psychological aid, assist those who have lost connection to education and livelihood.
Bulgaria: 52,500 that have applied for temporary status are children.
Hungary: Carrying out its largest humanitarian assistance mission ever. Those who have entered their country can work, get free healthcare, go to school, and other social services. 89% of those who have applied for temporary protection have been approved.
European Union: Mobilized more than 1.8 billion euros – this is all fresh money. It has not been taken from any other humanitarian crisis. Provided goods – tents, seeds. Mobilized 140 million euros already – for Moldova and Ukraine, expect more throughout the year. About 25% of the people who need humanitarian assistance are in hard-to-reach areas. Multi-purpose cash assistance.
USA: 1.9 billion USD in assistance thus far. We must escalate humanitarian assistance to ensure all of those who need aid in Ukraine can get it. We are going to start providing direct funding to local organizations.
Japan: 1.5 billion USD. (Work being done in Cambodia too).
Germany: 400.68 million euros in humanitarian assistance – fresh money. We have committed over 40 million euro already – there is more to come. Ambulances, recovery equipment, generators. We welcome more refugees and patients who need medical help here in Germany.
France: There will be no impunity and no forgetting.
United Kingdom: 200 million pounds (sterling) reaching millions of people in Ukraine and across the region. Will focus on three areas 1) access 2) national and local actors 3) more coordinating of humanitarian and development – this is critical of the sustainability of the response.
Türkiye: Continue support if needed.
Sweden: 150 million euros last year. 97% of the Swedish population stands behind Ukraine. In the coming weeks, Sweden’s humanitarian assistance plan will be coming out.
Switzerland: We stay concerned about the hard to access locations receiving humanitarian assistance. Other ways to access or provide this assistance may need to be explored. We must, at all costs, duplicating services to ensure all needs are being met.
Canada: 320 million in funding. Launched programs to help Ukrainians find safety in Canada as well as reunite families.
Ireland: Concerned about food security. Access remains impossible for some areas of Ukraine. In 2023, we will provide 32 million euros to direct assistance in Ukraine and surrounding area. 73,000 refugees receiving temporary protection.
Norway: First pledge is 37 million euros in 2023. Will be able to commit quickly for UN agencies. In coming weeks, Norway will release another plan for providing assistance.
Luxemburg: Over 5,000 sought temporary protection. We are currently working on another package for humanitarian assistance that we hope to adopt soon.
Netherlands: Concerned about mental health, the need for psychosocial support, and Ukraine children being illegally adopted.
Finland: Humanitarian and development aid. Humanitarian assistance have been focused on disabled bodies and victims of GBV. Temporary protection for over 50,000.
Greece: Medical supplies to both inside the country and refugees in surrounding regions. Also provided tents and other live-saving products.
Spain: 37 million euros distributed through our UN partners – the largest amount that we have ever provided. 166,000 Ukrainians hosted so far. Durable solutions. Children’s rights – education. Geneva convention – humanitarian law: civilians MUST be protected.
Summary of the Humanitarian Response Plan
Strategic Objectives:
1. Provide principled and timely multi-sectoral life-saving assistance to IDPs, non-displaced people and returnees, ensuring their safety and dignity.
2. Enable access to basic services for IDPs, non-displaced people and returnees.
Summary of the Regional Refugee Response Plan
Strategic Objectives:
1. Ensure refugees access to protection and assistance on a non-discriminatory basis, including the rights associated with temporary protection or similar legal statuses in host countries.
2. Pave the way toward solutions and expand access to social and economic opportunities to facilitate social inclusion of refugees through a whole-of-society approach and in line with the GCR, recognizing in particular the critical role played by national and local actors.
3. Assist and engage with refugees with specific needs to ensure that they have access to targeted support and assistance, while also engaging with and strengthening community-level protective mechanisms.
4. Advance social cohesion among refugees and host communities through targeted interventions.
HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE
HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE
General Audience - February 15, 2023
General Audience - February 15, 2023
E, fratelli e sorelle, non dimentichiamo la cara e martoriata popolazione Ucraina, pregando affinché possano finire presto le sue crudeli sofferenze. A tutti la mia benedizione.
Links to the full text in ITALIANAngelus - February 12, 2023
Angelus - February 12, 2023
Dear brothers and sisters!
Let us continue to stay close, with prayer and concrete support, to the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey. I saw on the television programme “A Sua Immagine” the images of this catastrophe, the pain of these peoples who are suffering as a result of the earthquake. Let us pray for them, let us not forget them, let us pray and think about what we can do for them. And let us not forget tormented Ukraine: may the Lord open ways of peace and give those responsible the courage to follow them.
Cari fratelli e sorelle!
Continuiamo a stare vicini, con la preghiera e con il sostegno concreto, alle popolazioni terremotate in Siria e Turchia. Stavo vedendo nel programma “A Sua Immagine”, le immagini di questa catastrofe, il dolore di questi popoli che soffrono per il terremoto. Preghiamo per loro, non dimentichiamolo, preghiamo e pensiamo cosa possiamo fare per loro. E non dimentichiamo la martoriata Ucraina: che il Signore apra vie di pace e dia ai responsabili il coraggio di percorrerle.
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