Category: Europe

Catherine Russell, the newly appointed Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said on Monday that the situation for boys and girls caught up in the conflict grows worse by the minute.  Four-year-old Max and his mother Alona fled conflict in #Ukraine, leaving loved ones behind to seek safety in Romania. Children and families at borders need protection, no… Read More

The development in Geneva echoed the concern of the Security Council, which on Sunday called for an emergency session of the General Assembly on the crisis.  Addressing the Human Rights Council, Ukraine Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko, outlined the death and suffering caused, as talks were under way at the Belorussian border between Ukraine and Russia .  The Ukraine delegation also presented a… Read More

The measure convening the General Assembly session was adopted by a vote of 11 in favor, with Russia voting against, and China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining. Today’s request for the Assembly to urgently convene a meeting comes after Russia vetoed on Friday a US-led draft Security Council resolution that would have ‘deplored in the strongest terms the Russian… Read More

A readout issued by a UN spokesperson said that Mr. Guterres had spoken on the phone earlier in the afternoon with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “The Secretary-General conveyed to the President the determination of the United Nations to enhance humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine, according to the readout. It added that the UN chief had informed the President… Read More

Martin Griffiths, who also serves as the humanitarian affairs chief, told journalists on Friday that the UN and its partners had been responding to that need for these many years. “This year alone, for example, UN coordinated humanitarian convoys delivered over 150 tons of assistance to the most vulnerable people in the non-Government controlled areas in the Donbas,” he said.… Read More

While 11 of the Council’s 15 members voted in favour of the text, China India, and the United Arab Emirates abstained. A ‘no’ vote from any one of the five permanent members of the Council stops action on any measure put before it. The body’s permanent members are: China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The… Read More

“There have been major attacks in Kiev that have created greater fear and panic among the population, with families really scared, moving alongside their children into subways and shelters, and this is clearly a terrifying moment for children across the country,” said Afshan Khan, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Regional Director, Europe and Central Asia, speaking in Geneva.  Wrong but ‘not irreversible’  The development follows renewed… Read More

Despite a sustained UN-led and international diplomatic push to avert military action in Ukraine, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin did just that – triggering a barrage of reactions, beginning with the UN chief, condemning the move and appealing for peace. “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political… Read More

The Committee had considered three cases filed by a group of French nationals whose grandchildren, nieces and nephews are currently being held in the Rawj, Ayn Isa and Hawl camps, which are under the control of Kurdish forces.  The cases concern 49 children whose parents are alleged to have collaborated with the ISIL terrorist network, also known by the Arabic term Da’esh.… Read More

“There are no winners in war, but countless lives will be torn apart,” said Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.  Civilian lives and infrastructure “must be protected and safeguarded at all times, in line with international humanitarian law”, Mr. Grandi continued, adding that the UN is working with Ukrainian authorities and partners to provide humanitarian assistance “wherever necessary and… Read More