The UN wants to increase its humanitarian assistance in Ukraine but needs more security guarantees and money significantly. “The United Nations has increased its humanitarian presence in Ukraine. We want to continue that,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council in New York yesterday via video. Earlier, U.N. refugee commissioner Filippo Grandi said the U.N. was preparing for up to four million refugees.
Grandi said 520,000 people had already fled Ukraine for surrounding countries, including Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Russia. The U.N. commissioner said he has rarely seen such a rapid increase in refugee numbers.
HE SAID the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) would remain in Ukraine to provide people there with necessities. He said that activities are still to be expanded, even though some staff and personnel had to be relocated because of the fighting.
“But we know that we are not even scratching the surface when it comes to what the people of Ukraine need,” Grandi called on the international community to act quickly. “If we don’t get this done, it could be too late for all of us.”
Griffiths lamented that freedom of movement for aid workers in Ukraine was “seriously restricted” because of ongoing fighting and a lack of security guarantees. He said a total of 119 humanitarian organizations are currently working in Ukraine.
- source: news.ORF.at/picture: Image by 995645 from Pixabay
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