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UN PhotoGENEVA / UKRAINE HUMANITARIAN REFUGEES
STORY: GENEVA / UKRAINE HUMANITARIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 02:52
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 15 JANUARY 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Med shot, UN flag alley, UN Geneva with snow
15 JANUARY 2024, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, speakers at the press conference
3. Wide shot, speakers at the press conference
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“14.6 million people, 40 percent of the population in Ukraine, will need humanitarian aid. 4 million people are internally displaced. That's in addition to those who are externally displaced.”
5. Med shot, speakers at the podium with journalists in press room
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“It's been as bad as it could be this last month, hasn’t it? And that's really been quite shocking. The number of attacks, the broad range across the whole of the country from Russia has been absolutely unrelenting.”
7. Med shot, journalists in press room
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“3.3 million people living in the middle of war zones, of daily bombardment, of uncertainty about where the day will end. And that's really a shockingly high number even these days.”
9. Wide shot, journalists in press room
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Griffiths, UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:
“In Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, families live in damaged houses with no piped water, gas or electricity in the freezing cold. Constant bombardments forced older people to spend their days in basements, children terrified, traumatized, still have lived for the last three years under these circumstances, trapped indoors and many, many, many, many of them with no schooling.”
11. Med shot, speakers at the podium with journalists in press room
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
“The total displacement today, I'll focus on that, is about 10 million people. If you add the almost 4 million estimated to be displaced inside Ukraine and the over 6 million, these are estimated to be refugees worldwide.”
13. Close up, journalist listening
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
“Of the people outside, especially those in Europe that are just over 5 million, so the bulk, some people do go back and forth. But the return has not been in very huge numbers. IOM (International Organization of Migration) estimates about 900,000 people have returned. This is an estimate because it's very, very difficult to count because of the pendulum movement.”
15. Wide shot, journalists in press room
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
“The number of refugees in working age who are employed – Ukrainians- depending on the country, ranges from 40 to 60 percent. So, there's an extra push to be made in terms of inclusion.”
17. Close up, journalist taking photos
18. Close up, journalist listening
19. Wide shot, camerawoman filming and technicians in control room
20. Close up, OCHA spokesperson listening
21. Med shot, journalists in press room
The UN and humanitarian partners launched today (15 Jan) a combined USD 4.2 billion appeal to donors to bring aid to some 10.8 million people in the war-affected communities in Ukraine but also to Ukrainian refugees and their host communities in the region throughout 2024.
A recent wave of attacks underscores the devastating civilian cost of the war, while a bitter winter is ratcheting up the urgent need for life-saving humanitarian aid.
“14.6 million people, 40 percent of the population in Ukraine, will need humanitarian aid”, said Martin Griffiths, the UN top aid Coordinator when briefing journalist at the UN in Geneva. “4 million people are internally displaced. That's in addition to those who are externally displaced.”
The UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator added that “it's been as bad as it could be this last month […] and that's really been quite shocking. The number of attacks, the broad range across the whole of the country from Russia has been absolutely unrelenting.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) coordinates the response inside Ukraine. This Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan requests USD 3.1 billion for 2024 and targets 8.5 million people.
According to Mr. Griffiths, “3.3 million people [are] living in the middle of war zones, of daily bombardment, of uncertainty about where the day will end. And that's really a shockingly high number even these days.”
The current humanitarian situation is likely to further deteriorate this year if hostilities persist and attacks targeting energy and other critical infrastructure increase during the ongoing winter, said OCHA.
“In Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, families live in damaged houses with no piped water, gas or electricity in the freezing cold,” said Griffiths. “Constant bombardments forced older people to spend their days in basements. Children terrified, traumatized, still have lived for the last three years under these circumstances, trapped indoors and many, many, many, many of them with no schooling.”
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, coordinates the Regional Refugee Response Plan (RRP), which requests USD 1.1 billion and targets 2.3 million refugees and host communities this year.
The full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War.
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees said that “the total displacement, […] is about 10 million people. If you add the almost 4 million estimated to be displaced inside Ukraine and the over 6 million, these are estimated to be refugees worldwide.”
He added that “of the people outside, especially those in Europe that are just over 5 million. So the bulk, some people do go back and forth, but the return has not been in very huge numbers. IOM (International Organization of Migration) estimates about 900,000 people have returned. This is an estimate because it's very, very difficult to count because of the pendulum movement.”
Ukrainian refugees in neighbouring countries also need increased and sustained support, said UNHCR. Despite efforts for inclusion, only half of school-age refugee children are enrolled in schools in host countries, while a quarter of refugees in need struggle to access health care.
According to Grandi, “the number of refugees in working age who are employed Ukrainians, depending on the country, ranges from 40 to 60 percent. So, there's an extra push to be made in terms of inclusion.”
Despite extreme access challenges, especially to areas occupied by the Russian Federation, aid workers reached nearly 11 million people in Ukraine in 2023, with the support of the international donor community. Humanitarian organizations made every effort to increase assistance in the front-line communities.
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