Humanitarian crisis worsens
KYIV: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Friday informed that the humanitarian situation in Ukraine is deteriorating at an alarming pace.
An estimated 1.9 mn have been internally displaced and more than 2.3 million people have crossed international borders out of Ukraine, according to the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR.
Between February 24 and March 9 at the end of the day, 1,506 civilian casualties were recorded and this includes 549 people killed, 41 of them children, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The real figure could rise considerably as reported casualties are confirmed.
"Three things are critical in the short term, as Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has stressed: civilians, whether they stay or leave, must be respected and protected; safe passage is needed for humanitarian supplies; and we
need a system of constant communication with parties to the conflict," the OCHA said in a daily briefing.
In terms of response, humanitarian organisations are deploying additional staff across the country and are working to move supplies to warehouses in different hubs including in to serve people in need.
So far more than 500,000 people are being reached by the UN and partners with some form of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, including life-saving food,
shelter, blankets, and medical supplies.
"If humanitarian access is secured, the UN and partners are set to reach much higher numbers given the scope and scale of the humanitarian operation being deployed," OCHA said.
The UN Refugee Agency reports that by March 9, it had delivered 85 metric tonnes of humanitarian assistance to reception and transit centres in Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, which is hosting people who have fled hostilities further east.