Weekly Update #83
October 2
October 2
REFUGEE SITUATION
(as of 26 September 2023)
General Figures
Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe
5,834,400
Last updated September 26 2023
Covers those granted refugee status, temporary asylum status, temporary protection, or statuses through similar national protection schemes, as well as those recorded in the country under other forms of stay
Refugees from Ukraine recorded beyond Europe
369,200
Last updated August 19 2023
Covers those granted refugee status, temporary asylum status, temporary protection, or statuses through similar national protection schemes, as well as those recorded in the country under other forms of stay
Refugees from Ukraine recorded globally
6,203,600
Last updated September 26 2023
Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities
STATUS OF THE CONFLICT
Continuing conflict
Russian drone strikes on Odesa region hit port area and cut ferry service to Romania. Russia struck the Black Sea region of Odesa in a drone barrage that damaged a warehouse, charred dozens of trucks and injured two drivers in fiery explosions that led to the suspension of the ferry service between Romania and Ukraine.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 26 of 38 drones launched by Russia overnight. Russian forces targeted the area of Izmail in the Odesa region, in what has become a sustained campaign to target Ukraine’s ability to export grain. Attacks on Monday killed two people in a grain warehouse in Odesa and badly damaged an abandoned high-rise hotel, officials said.
Russian aviation is increasingly active in the Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Kherson oblasts and apparently less active in areas of western Zaporizhia Oblast where Ukrainian forces are conducting counteroffensive operations. Russian forces have been increasingly conducting airstrikes against targets in the west (right) bank of Kherson Oblast and against rear Ukrainian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) in the Kupyansk direction in the past week.
Russian forces have reduced the tempo of their localized offensive operations on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line in recent days. Russian and Ukrainian officials are increasingly reporting fewer Russian ground attacks in the Kupyansk and Lyman directions, indicating that Ukrainian offensive operations have drawn Russian forces away from the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line and significantly degraded the Russian offensive effort on this line.
After Moscow pulled out of a U.N.-brokered grain deal this summer, the strikes on Izmail and cities located in the southern part of the Odesa region became routine. Attacks on the cities on the Danube have been especially damaging because the route has emerged as the most promising for continued Ukrainian exports.
Russia plans to raise defence spending by almost 70% next year, funnelling massive resources into its Ukraine offensive to fight what it calls a “hybrid war” unleashed by the west. With Moscow’s “special military operation” now approaching another winter, both sides have been digging deep and procuring weapons from allies in preparation for a protracted conflict.
The announcement came as Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg and the defence ministers of Britain and France visited Kyiv, where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy lobbied for more air defence systems. Their visits came in advance of Kyiv’s first Defence Industries Forum, where Ukrainian officials were to meet representatives from more than 160 defence firms and 26 countries.
The EU has extended the right of refugees from Ukraine to stay in the bloc by a year to March 2025, as Russia’s war against their country continues. The EU triggered its temporary protection directive days after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion to allow the millions of people fleeing Ukraine to remain.
France is stepping up its support to Ukraine by setting up industrial partnerships between the two countries. French defence minister Sebastian Lecornu said France would “offer innovative solutions to the Ukrainian army and increasingly be in a position to make fewer transfers, but rather direct acquisitions, sometimes under French subsidy, for the Ukrainian army.”
This support was stated during a meeting between senior NATO and Western defense officials met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on September 28 to discuss Ukraine’s military needs. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, and French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu discussed defensive cooperation and strengthening Ukrainian air defenses with Zele
Ukrainian authorities are calling on ordinary Russians to oppose the forced deportation of children to Russia and help bring them home to Ukraine. The mass deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-occupied territories over the course of the war have resulted in the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova and Putin.
The UN's Joint Coordination Centre says 57% of the foodstuffs exported from Ukraine under the deal went to developing countries, and 43% to developed countries. The biggest recipients were China, Spain, Turkey and Italy.
But the UN says Ukraine supplied 725,000 tonnes of grain to the World Food Programme (WFP), which was sent as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
Since the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the grain deal, Ukraine has found other routes to continue grain distribution. This September, two ships have left a Ukrainian port on the Black Sea, carrying grain:
a small cargo vessel called Resilient Africa
a full-size vessel called the Aroyat
Both ships travelled around the western coast of the Black Sea - through Romanian and Bulgarian territorial waters - to be safe from Russian attack.
This route was previously used as a humanitarian corridor, to allow passage for empty ships which had been trapped in Ukraine's Black Sea ports since the start of the conflict.
Ukraine has also been exporting an increasing amount of grain from Reni and Izmail, on the Danube river.
Sources: ISW
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
(As of September 24)
Total civilian casualties 24 February 2022 to 24 September 2023:
From 24 February 2022, which marked the start of the large-scale armed attack by the Russian Federation, to 10 September 2023, OHCHR recorded 27,449 civilian casualties in the country:
9,701 killed and 17,748 injured.
The largest number of casualties took place in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Civilian casualties from 1 to 24 September 2023
From 1 to 24 September 2023, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 554 civilian casualties in Ukraine:
111 killed
443 injured
83% of this number occurred in territory held by the Ukrainian government.
Source: OHCHR
THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Durable Solutions Analysis: Progress towards local integration for IDPs in collective sites - Uzhhorod and Mukachevo | Ukraine (September 2023)
Background
Recognizing the unique dynamics of the internal displacement in Ukraine, the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster, composed of various humanitarian organizations within the coordination of the UN, and an international non-profit organization, REACH, undertook a study of IDPs in Uzhhorod and Mukachevo and Dnipro.
While internal displacement has declined since August 2022, it was noted that displacement is prolonged, with 80% of IDPs being displaced for over eight months. Notably, a significant portion of IDPs (60%) do not have clear intentions to move from their current settlement in the short term. In this context, collective sites (CSs), initially established as temporary shelters at the early onset of the full-scale invasion, have eventually hosted displaced people for extended periods of time. As of August 2023, it concerned approximately 112 thousand IDPs across the country.
These circumstances require that durable solutions, including support for local integration, for those who choose to remain in their current place of displacement. The objective was to collect baseline data to evaluate the progress towards local integration for IDPs at risk of extended residence in CSs. It was done by comparing their situation with the non-IDP population. These two studies a an initial phase of similar studies to be undertaken in other locations.
Key Findings
The study generated the following findings.
DNIPRO
UZHHOROD AND MUKACHEVO
In-depth details of these findings are found in the full reports.
It was further noted that further assessments are needed to likewise explore the long-term viability of IDPs to return to their original location or re-settle in other parts of the country.
Ukraine Health Cluster: Health Context and Response Update (September 2023)
WHO released an Update report on Ukraine’s health system based on the reports of partners at the end of June. This synthesized report provides a). understanding of the partners’ presence and achievements and gaps in the provision of humanitarian aid and b) strategic guidance on the response.
As of 30 June, 94 partners, composed of local and international organizations, reported reaching 5,000, 005 people in 2,248 settlements across 24 oblasts and supporting 935 individual health care facilities through the provision of humanitarian health assistance.
The main activities reported by partners between January and June 2023 by number of people reached have been:
Donation of medicines and medical supplies: 3,868,918 people reached;
Provision of integrated comprehensive PHC via mobile or static approaches; and
MHPSS activities by non-specialized staff.
Quantitatively, these activities translate into 1,045,093 PHC consultations, 44,514 MHPSS consultations, 88 771 people reached by awareness sessions/Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE)/Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) activities, 547 physical rehabilitation consultations, 29,118 staff trained, and 1862 health facilities supported by humanitarian aid.
Challenges Faced by Partners
1. Access to people in need in hard-to-reach areas
Security constraints, in areas close to the front line, and presence of mines and unexploded ordonnance in areas that experienced active conflict, particularly in the East and South of Ukraine, remain the most relevant concern.
2. Consistent availability of human resources, in particular health care staff, in the country.
Very few medical workers are available to work full-time for international organizations, as the majority are rostered in public health care facilities and partners are careful to avoid taking critical resources from functioning facilities.
3. Funding.
From 15 to 35% of partners across different hubs have reported difficulties in securing funding for the humanitarian health response.
4. Lack of coordination of partners’ operations and the lack of availability of coordination tools (maps, rosters, tables for partners presence).
Ultimately, Health Cluster partners faced some challenges due to the lack of understanding some communities, health authorities, and other local stakeholders had regarding humanitarian principles and the scope of work of specific partners, raising expectaons that could not be fulfilled.
The Way Forward
Based on the analysis of the current context and health how to best reach the people most in need of humanitarian health response, the following may be helpful to guide support:
1. Holistic approaches through multisectoral integrated strategies and synergies
People-centred approaches that embrace all determinants of health can contribute to guarantee access to all basic services, and improve the overall health and wellbeing of the people in need; target the individual, across the complexities of the humanitarian needs, through mulsectoral programming.
2. Targeting of marginalized groups
A holistic, person-centred approach is essential to reach the “invisibles” and the most vulnerable, particularly older persons, persons with disabilitties, people affected by chronic conditions, women and girls (particularly pregnant and lactating women), children and youth, and other groups at risk of being marginalized and excluded from humanitarian aid provision, such as people who are unregistered and outside the existing and humanitarian aid systems.
3. Engagement with communities and local actors
Community engagement is the starng point for any effective programming that aims at being accountable to affected populations, contextually adjusted, capable of identifying marginalized groups, and sustained in time.
Establishing close connections with communities is the entry door to gaining an in-depth understanding of the context and specific population needs, to develop meaningful participation and engagement of the local population in the design and implementation of activities, and to guarantee that there is equitable access to humanitarian aid.
Partnerships with local actors and civil society organizations that have extensive networks, knowledge of the local context, and the ability to identify invisible needs are imperative to develop an inclusive, holistic, accountable, and sustainable response.
Sources: Health Cluster, WHO
This issue of the Forced Migration Review, a pubIication of the Refugee Studies Centre, is dedicated the specific migration issues arising from the Ukrainian war. It addresses questions that have arisen out of the crisis, reflecting on the lessons learned from the immediate response and the implications for the international refugee and asylum system. The Note from the Editors cites the particular directions of the various articles featured in the issue.
A key concept in this issue is the ‘temporary protection’– permission to stay that falls short of asylum – afforded to Ukrainian refugees. Where temporary protection can be revoked at the discretion of a government, asylum grants permission to stay for as long as the conditions that gave rise to a need for it persist.
Exploring this and other provisions for Ukrainian refugees, several articles examine the situation of Ukrainian refugees in various European countries, the USA and Russia. Some discuss positive examples, such as innovative hosting initiatives and access to rights, while others reflect on Ukrainian refugees’ needs for greater integration, including access to decent work, education, and social and financial services.
Another set of articles addresses the displacement experiences and gaps in support for different marginalised groups, including stateless people, minority language speakers, youth, children, older people, internally displaced people, people with disabilities and nationals of other countries. These articles collectively highlight the importance of inclusion and equity in forced displacement response.
Finally, several articles consider issues that intersect with forced migration, such as gender-based violence, trafficking, localisation, and the role of media, communications and digital technologies – the latter atheme we will revisit in our forthcoming feature on Digital disruption and displacement.
The ultimate implications of the war on Ukraine, both locally and globally, are unclear. Amid this uncertainty, we hope the articles in this issue will generate discussion and fresh insights and, most importantly, improve policy and practice for people affected by forced migration.
Source: Forced Migration Review
Policy Brief: A Gender Responsive Recovery for Ukraine
The UN Women released this Policy Brief to call attention on the issues affecting Ukrainian women brought about by the war.
Little attention was paid to issues of gender equality at the Second Recovery Conference for Ukraine in June 2023. A third conference will be held in 2024, during which UN Women would be strongly promoting how recovery and reconstruction could better address the needs of Ukrainian women, as they rebuild new lives in a different environment.
Despite the war, the Government of Ukraine has demonstrated that women’s rights and gender equality remain a priority. Over several years, Ukraine has made important international commitments and developed national policies in support of gender equality. In 2022, Ukraine passed into law key texts that provide the normative basis for a gender responsive recovery.
While the challenges in the country are considerable and cannot be underestimated, Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction provides significant opportunities to integrate gender-responsive initiatives.
This policy brief provides general recommendations on how to plan for and implement such a program. These include the following:
Collect and analyze quality data on target groups with distribution by gender and other characteristics at the stages of design and implementation of recovery and reconstruction initiatives.
Conduct gender impact assessments of draft regulatory acts being designed and passed to determine how they address gender inequality to inform initiatives on recovery and reconstruction prior to their adoption and implementation;
Conduct gender audits of government institutions and organizations involved in the recovery and reconstruction process to ensure that the institutional structures, mechanisms and procedures ensure equal rights and opportunities for women and men while identifying problems;
Compile gender profiles of the territorial communities and/or regions based on gender disaggregate data to inform the design and implementation of sustainable reconstruction projects in a manner which addresses preexisting gender gaps and inequalities exacerbated by the war;
Support capacity building in gender responsive planning and budgeting of government institutions at all levels and of women’s rights organization to take part in recovery’s design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases, and
Urge private sector actors to adhere to existing codes of conducts of advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community
Support the participation of women’s rights women led civil society organization in the recovery process through long term, flexible financing including to support the organizations’ capacity building.
Source: UN Women
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Global Leaders Plead for Peace in Ukraine at UN
As it did last year, the 2023 United Nations General Assembly has been debating what role the United Nations and its members should play in the crisis in Ukraine.
The United States and its allies still insist that the UN Charter requires countries to take Ukraine’s side in the conflict, “for as long as it takes” to restore Ukraine’s pre-2014 internationally recognized borders.
They claim to be enforcing Article 2:4 of the UN Charter that states “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”
By their reasoning, Russia violated Article 2:4 by invading Ukraine, and that makes any compromise or negotiated settlement unconscionable, regardless of the consequences of prolonging the war.
Other countries have called for a peaceful diplomatic resolution of the conflict in Ukraine, based on the preceding article of the UN Charter, Article 2:3: “All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.”
They also refer to the purposes of the UN, defined in Article 1:1, which include the “settlement of international disputes” by “peaceful means,” and they point to the dangers of escalation and nuclear war as an imperative for diplomacy to quickly end this war.
Even with wars, drought, debt and poverty afflicting their own continent, at least 17 African leaders took time during their General Assembly speeches to call for peace in Ukraine. Some voiced their support for the African Peace Initiative, while others contrasted the West’s commitments and expenditures for the war in Ukraine with its endemic neglect of Africa’s problems.
All 50 statements by countries can be found at this link on the CODEPINK website: https://www.codepink.org/unurkaine23
Source: IPS
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Norway to provide NOK 350 million to support work of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in Ukraine
On September 28, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced that Norway will provide NOK 350 million to support the work of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in Ukraine. Prime Minister Støre made the announcement at a meeting with Director General of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society Maksym Dotsenko, and the Norwegian Red Cross.
The funding from Norway will be used to help provide services such as health care, shelter, psychosocial support, food, water and fill other essential needs for the population. The funding will also be used to help protect civilians, particularly the most vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and people with disabilities. The Ukrainian Red Cross Society is the largest humanitarian organisation in the country and plays a key role in meeting Ukraine’s vast humanitarian needs. Altogether, the organisation comprises some 10 000 employees and volunteers.
The funding will be used to support the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and will be channelled through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has a unique network in Ukraine and has access to the capacity, tools and expertise needed to assist and protect civilians who are affected by the war.
The ICRC is an impartial, neutral and independent organisation that works to protect civilians and uphold humanitarian law through ongoing dialogue with parties to a conflict.
Source: Govt. Norway
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NATO’s Stoltenberg vows more air defense systems in Ukraine visit
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will ask NATO member countries to send additional air defense systems to Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said that in the context of expected Russian attacks on the critical infrastructure, the possibility of supplying additional air defense systems by NATO member states was discussed.
Stoltenberg added that NATO has secured €2.4 billion of contracts for ammunition aimed at helping allied countries replenish their stocks while assisting Ukraine. These deals, which include €1 billion of firm orders, cover weapons such as anti-tank guided missiles and 155-millimeter artillery, Stoltenberg said standing beside the Ukrainian president.
The NATO leader also emphasized Europe’s part in pitching in financially, amid calls from some quarters of the U.S. Republican Party to reduce support. Around half of the nearly €100 billion in military support committed to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion has come from the United States, and the other half has come from European NATO Allies and Canada, Stoltenberg pointed out.
Separately, new United Kingdom Defense Secretary Grant Shapps also met Zelenskyy on Thursday in Kyiv.
Source: Politico
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UNIDO assists in greener production in Ukraine
The war in Ukraine has meant a massive change for thousands of companies, compelling many to overhaul their business, transfer their operations and production lines, and become more agile in the face of emerging challenges. Throughout this upheaval, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has been able to leverage its long history of collaboration with companies in the country to adapt its operations and provide support in response to the deteriorating situation.
As one example, UNIDO and the Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production (RECP) Centre in Kyiv have been working together under the EU4Environment Action programme to help the country preserve its natural capital and unlock opportunities for green recovery and growth. This programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by a consortium of partners, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UNIDO and the World Bank.
Stopping climate breakdown and recovering from the adverse environmental impacts of the ongoing war are directly linked to curbing the inefficient use of natural resources. This issue is especially critical in the industrial sector, where the high costs related to resource depletion have only increased the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises.
The introduction of RECP has been a central task for UNIDO’s work in Ukraine since 2007, when the Amalgamated Territorial Communities of Slavuta in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Davydiv in Lviv Oblast were selected to undergo industrial waste mapping exercises. In 2023, responding to the grave new challenges faced by the private sector in Ukraine and drawing on the stakeholder network established within the programme, UNIDO conducted a survey of relocated companies to understand their most pressing needs and inform response actions. The survey revealed that the companies were in need of significant financial, equipment and knowledge support to be able to rebuild their operations; and that many of the companies also were willing to rebuild with a greater focus on sustainability and circularity.
UNIDO, in collaboration with the RECP Centre in Ukraine, has offered support and consulting to 15 companies of different sizes that have been forced to relocate operations. This experience has demonstrated first-hand that efficiency, environmental sustainability, and resiliency are essential for ensuring a strong recovery from the consequences of the war.
Looking forward, UNIDO will continue to work on circular economy issues through the preparation of an online training course for civil servants and officials at different levels of government in the country, as well as an exploratory foresight study to support developing a circular economy roadmap for Ukraine.
Source: UNIDO
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STATEMENT BY THE HUMANITARIAN COORDINATOR FOR UKRAINE, DENISE BROWN, ON AN ATTACK THAT DESTROYED THE CARITAS-SPES WAREHOUSE IN LVIV
I condemn in the strongest terms a Russian airstrike that destroyed the warehouse of the non-governmental organization Caritas-Spes in Lviv, western Ukraine, in the early hours of today. The vital humanitarian facility, which contained approximately 300 tons of relief supplies, was burned to the ground.
Attacks impacting humanitarian assets have escalated throughout the year and ultimately impact those who are suffering the horrific consequences of the war.
Humanitarian workers, facilities and assets are protected under international humanitarian law. Direct attacks or indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited. International humanitarian law is not an option, it is an obligation and must be upheld.
Source: United Nations
HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE
Angelus - October 1, 2023 (Sunday)
Today begins the month of October, the month of the Rosary and of the missions. I encourage everyone to experience the beauty of praying the Rosary, contemplating the mysteries of Christ with Mary and invoking her intercession for the needs of the Church and of the world. Let us pray for peace in battered Ukraine and in all those lands wounded by war. Let us pray for the evangelization of peoples. And let us also pray for the Synod of Bishops during this month in which the first Assembly on the theme of synodality in the Church takes place.
Oggi inizia il mese di ottobre, il mese del Rosario e delle missioni. Esorto tutti a sperimentare la bellezza della preghiera del Rosario, contemplando con Maria i misteri di Cristo e invocando la sua intercessione per le necessità della Chiesa e del mondo. Preghiamo per la pace, nella martoriata Ucraina e in tutte le terre ferite dalla guerra. Preghiamo per l’evangelizzazione dei popoli. E preghiamo anche per il Sinodo dei Vescovi, che in questo mese vivrà la prima Assemblea sul tema della sinodalità della Chiesa.
Links to the full text in ITALIAN and ENGLISHGeneral Audience - September 27, 2023
[Saluto cordialmente i pellegrini polacchi. Domenica scorsa è stata celebrata la Giornata Mondiale del Migrante e del Rifugiato il cui tema era: “Liberi di scegliere se migrare o restare”. Ricordatevi dei vostri fratelli e sorelle dell’Ucraina, costretti a lasciare la propria patria, afflitta dalla guerra, che cercano l’aiuto, il rifugio e la benevolenza nel vostro Paese. Manifestate loro l’accoglienza evangelica. Dio vi benedica.]
Links to the full text in ITALIANMEMBER PHOTOS
“Today as a result of a night attack by Russian troops, the humanitarian aid warehouse of Caritas-Spes Ukraine in #Lviv was destroyed. The employees haven`t got injured, the warehouse and everything in it burned to the ground. 300 tons of humanitarian supplies were burned.” (courtesy of Caritas Spes)