Category: Europe

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay was in Ukraine to reaffirm support to the population amid the continuing full-scale Russian invasion, which began on 24 February last year.  She visited the capital, Kyiv, and the cities of Odessa and Chernihiv, during the two-day mission, which concluded on Wednesday.   Pillar of peace  “Since the very first days of the war, UNESCO has… Read More

“Since the escalation of the war, at least 501 children have been killed,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “This is another tragic milestone for Ukraine’s children and families.” OHCHR’s latest update recorded 765 civilian casualties in Ukraine, from 1 to 31 March, which included 178 deaths and 587 injuries. Since the invasion on 24 February 2022 to 2 April… Read More

Manfred Profazi, who is based in Vienna, Austria, has been touring some of the regions in Ukraine which have been most seriously affected by over 13 months of conflict following Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has told UN News what he’s been seeing across the devastated country and how IOM has provided comfort to people forced to flee their homes due… Read More

Some 13 months of often brutal fighting and attacks on civilians since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine began, have left millions displaced, with key civilian infrastructure in need of urgent protection. Ensuring nuclear safety Touring the area around Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the… Read More

“The international armed conflict has led to a wide range of human rights violations affecting both civilians and combatants”, the executive summary states, adding that the Office has “verified numerous allegations of arbitrary deprivation of life, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment, and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).” During the reporting period, a total of 5,987 civilian casualties were recorded, with 1,605 persons… Read More

UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner was among officials from across the UN system who participated in an international donors’ conference to support the two countries, held in Brussels on Monday. The UN is “committed to step up and deploy our assets across the development and humanitarian spheres to stand with; and deliver for communities in Türkiye and Syria,” he said. Staggering… Read More

The announcement was made in a Note to Correspondents, released by the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson’s office on Saturday, which emphasized that the Initiative allows for the “facilitation of the safe navigation for the exports of grain and related foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from designated Ukrainian seaports.” Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces in February 2022, the Initiative… Read More

“The contents of the warrants are secret to protect the victims,” said ICC President Piotr Hofmański. “Nevertheless, the judges decided to make the existence of the warrants public, in the interest of justice and to prevent future crimes.” The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II also issued a warrant for the arrest of Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. The… Read More

Martin Griffths, the UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed ambassadors on the eve of the expiration of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which has allowed nearly 25 million metric tonnes of foodstuff from Ukraine to reach global markets.  The accord was signed in Türkiye in July 2022, in parallel with a Memorandum of Understanding on Russian food and… Read More

The report, covering the period between May 2020 and December 2022, draws on interviews with 207 victims and witnesses and an analysis of more than 2,500 items of evidence, including photographs, videos, medical, and court records. ‘Unacceptable picture of impunity’ “Our report paints an unacceptable picture of impunity and the near-total destruction of civic space and fundamental freedoms in Belarus,”… Read More