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	Ukraine: Humanitarian impact of intensified strikes and hostilities by UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs, agencies   21 Oct. 2024   Russia’s relentless systematic attacks in Ukraine have continued to bring immense suffering to the people and put global food security at risk, a senior UN official told the UN Security Council on Monday.   Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenca, whose portfolio straddles both Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, voiced concern over attacks on energy infrastructure as winter approaches.   Mr. Jenca said at least 208 Ukrainian civilians were killed and 1,220 injured in September, making it the month with the highest number of civilian casualties this year.   Overall, at least 11,973 civilians have been killed, including 622 children, since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR. During this time, nearly 26,000 people have been injured, including 1,686 children.   Civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure are reported daily in Ukraine, with the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Sumy regions bearing the brunt, he said.   The latest attacks took place that morning and over the weekend, resulting in casualties in Zaporizhzhia and Kryviy Rih. Ongoing hostilities have also led authorities in the Kharkiv region to further expand mandatory evacuations to some 7,000 people.   While the worst impact of the war continues to be felt in frontline communities in eastern and southern Ukraine, “death and destruction is also a daily occurrence away from the areas of active fighting,” he said.   This includes residential areas of the capital, Kyiv, which was again targeted with drones that same morning and over the weekend. He noted that Kyiv was reportedly attacked by over 130 drones on 16 October. The western city of Lviv as well as Odesa in the south have also been repeatedly hit, resulting in multiple civilian casualties.   “We are also concerned about the impact of continuing fighting across the Russian-Ukrainian border, particularly in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, following Ukraine’s August incursion,” he said.   Russia has also resumed attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports in recent weeks. Since 1 September, six vessels as well as grain infrastructure in the ports have been damaged, according to local authorities.   This led to wheat prices increasing more than six per cent between 1 September and 14 October, while prices of risk insurance for Ukrainian exporters have surged, affecting the agricultural sector.   Mr. Jenca reminded ambassadors that the safety and sustainability of agricultural exports passing through the Black Sea remain critical for global food security.   In this regard, the UN continues engagement with Ukraine, Russia and Turkiye, as well as other stakeholders, in support of freedom and safety of navigation through this crucial channel.   Continuing, he said that “systematic Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have become one of the defining, abhorrent hallmarks of this war."   The large-scale destruction and interruption of power and water supplies throughout the country will likely worsen the living conditions for millions of Ukrainians through a third winter of war.   “Vulnerable groups - including older persons, people with disabilities, and the internally displaced - are likely to be disproportionately affected. Many may soon find themselves trapped in their homes without heating and other essential utilities,” he warned.   These conditions are also expected to magnify the already dire humanitarian situation in Ukraine, where some 7.2 million people received humanitarian aid during the first eight months of this year.   He expressed deep concern over the 1.5 million people who the UN has been unable to properly reach in parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, currently occupied by Russia.   “We renew our call for the safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief to all civilians in need, in accordance with International Humanitarian Law,” he said, before urging donors to step up support for the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan which is just over half funded.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1155961 http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-situation-report-30-october-2024-enuk   26 Aug. 2024   “It is crucial to keep attention on the human rights situation in Ukraine”, says Danielle Bell the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.   The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation is well into its third year. How would you describe the human rights situation in Ukraine?   The invasion is having an immense impact on the Ukrainian people. More than 10,000 civilians have been killed and more than 20,000 injured. Relentless attacks continue to destroy homes, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure. Entire neighbourhoods and villages have been destroyed. A major children’s hospital in Kyiv was recently attacked. Millions have been forced to flee, separating families. Summary executions, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, and sexual violence have occurred with impunity.   In the Russian Federation, the conflict has also affected increasing numbers of Russian civilians, and there has been destruction and damage of civilian infrastructure. It’s easy to become numb to the scale of these figures, but our public reports are not just statistics. Every single figure we report has a human story behind it, often with dreadful suffering.   What recent trends in violations have you observed?   We have been seeing an alarming increase in civilian casualties since March this year, with July being the deadliest month for Ukraine’s civilians since October 2022. This surge is due to coordinated attacks launched by the Russian armed forces across Ukraine, including air strikes on a hospital complex in Kyiv, and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, which are causing the most harm in territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine.   Also, large-scale attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have drastically reduced the country’s electricity capacity, leading to daily power cuts for millions of people across Ukraine.   These outages, often lasting many hours, limit access to water, mobile networks and internet, and public transportation, and disrupt children’s ability to study, as many in Ukraine attend school remotely. Those who will be most impacted are the vulnerable groups. And in the Russian Federation, the conflict has recently led to large numbers of civilians displaced from their homes.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1155961 http://news.un.org/en/tags/ukraine http://www.acaps.org/en/countries/archives/detail/ukraine-quarterly-humanitarian-access-update-q3-2024   Mar. 2024   UN human rights experts urge international community to step up efforts to forge peace between Russia and Ukraine. (OHCHR)   UN experts call for greater efforts by the international community to end Russia’s war against Ukraine in line with the UN Charter and find a path of peace without delay. They issued the following statement to mark two years since the Russian full-scale invasion:   “The lives of millions of civilians continue to be at stake. They are children, women and men who must always be treated with humanity and respect for their dignity. For them, peace is neither an empty word nor an abstract concept. It is the essential precondition for restoring normality to everyday life.   There is no normality when people are killed, tortured, forcibly disappeared, sexually assaulted, displaced, deported, arbitrarily detained, or exposed to toxic or radiological substances.   There is no normality when people are in fear of constant shelling and when air raid sirens sound every day, day and night, forcing people to escape to shelters.   Life is disrupted when people cannot live in their homes, use hospitals, schools and roads, because these places are under attack or destroyed. Survival is at stake when farmers are not able to work their lands because they are contaminated by landmines and explosives.   War is savagery and brutality, everywhere and in all circumstances. It affects everyone.   As time passes without any prospect of peace, the trauma of war entrenches and will lead to even more suffering and devastation.   We call for peace to be established without delay. War and aggression violate the basic principles of coexistence between peoples and nations, human rights and the UN Charter.   We support all efforts of the international community aimed at achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine consistent with the principles of the UN Charter and ensuring the protection of human rights for all. Rehabilitation, recovery and redress for victims and survivors must be provided, and the rights of minorities respected.   All perpetrators, including those exercising superior authority, must be held accountable for war crimes and other atrocities which are alleged to have been committed on a large-scale.   The missing and disappeared must be found, prisoners of war and others arbitrarily deprived of liberty released, and the forcibly deported, including Ukrainian children, returned home. These are necessary for peace, reconciliation and justice.   To date, Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine has caused over 10,000 civilian deaths, an estimated 20,000 civilian injuries and an undisclosed number of combatant casualties.   Some 18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance – almost 40 percent of Ukraine’s population. This includes over three million people living in frontline communities who face severe shortages of resources and constant bombardment.   While millions of people remain internally displaced in Ukraine, some 6 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have sought refuge abroad, which was one of the fastest and largest refugee exoduses in history and they currently make up the third largest refugee population in the world.   The impact of this war continues to be felt beyond Ukraine’s borders, as businesses and supply chains have been disrupted and prices of food, energy, fertiliser and other essential commodities have soared around the world, fuelling a severe global cost of living crisis.”   42 civilian casualties every day in two years of war. (Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine)   Two years since the escalation of war in Ukraine, more than 10,500 civilians have been killed, including 587 children, as constant bombardments, mines, and drone attacks have left a generation traumatised, displaced and fearful for their lives, said 51 members of the Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine.   With an average of 42 civilians killed and wounded per day, and recent months being particularly deadly, the group, made up of local and international organisations working in the country, is calling for the immediate protection of civilians, and reminds member states of promises made to tackle dire humanitarian needs of people in Ukraine.   More than 87% of the people killed, or 9,241 people, are casualties of explosive weapons, with many of the injuries life-changing in nature, including the loss of limbs or eyesight. The number is understood to be a vast undercount, as the UN continues to corroborate the figures. At the same time, people across Ukraine far from the frontlines also need support to rebuild their lives and recover.   “My daughter is growing up in the basement now,” says Sviatlana. She and her 7-year-old daughter decided to stay in Kherson, an area that comes under heavy bombardment... “The longest time we had in the dark without electricity was 1.5 months, so now when there is a blackout I try to joke with my daughter, ‘what is one day, we already had way worse’. …Now there is only waiting and surviving. She is just a kid and wants to play outside on the playground, but she cannot leave the basement.”   Two years of renewed fighting has destroyed lives, homes and livelihoods, leaving 14.6 million people, including nearly 3 million children, in desperate need of humanitarian assistance across Ukraine. Nearly 80% of those in need of aid also require mental health support. The poverty level in Ukraine increased five-fold – 24 percent up from 5 percent – in 2022 alone.   Because of ongoing violence, about 4 million people are still displaced within Ukraine and more than 5.9 million were forced to flee to neighboring countries. Even though 67% of those internally displaced say they want to return home someday, many are unable to return to their homes as the war has shattered their communities, and livelihoods.   Many displaced people struggle to integrate in their new communities, where it is difficult to find jobs and housing. Women make up 58% of the internally displaced, and are more likely than men to experience unemployment and dependency on humanitarian aid.   Vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected by the ongoing war - with children, older people and people with disabilities impacted by the long-term compounding effects of the crisis.   Joanna Garbalinska, Director of the Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine, said: “As the war continues, life is far from normal. Civilians are living day-to-day under the threat of missiles and shells, which continue to hit populated civilian areas, inflicting death and destruction to areas near and far from the frontlines.   “The Humanitarian NGO Platform in Ukraine calls for all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure to cease immediately, particularly in dense urban areas, as they may amount to grave violations of international humanitarian law. Civilians must always be protected from violence.   Today marks a grim milestone of the war in Ukraine. As the fighting heads into its third year since the escalation, humanitarian agencies in Ukraine remind member states of promises made to tackle this crisis. Today, humanitarian support is more needed than ever. Long-term funding commitments for humanitarian and recovery efforts – with Ukrainian civil society in the lead – are critical for the safety of civilians and for Ukraine’s future.”   Feb. 2024 (UN News)   United Nations General Assembly President Dennis Francis urged countries to stand with the people of Ukraine “in their quest for justice and peace” marking two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.   “As we reflect on the two years of anguish and hardship, let us emerge from this place with a resounding message of solidarity and unwavering support to the resilient people of Ukraine,” he said, as fresh strikes were reported on the cities of Odesa and Dnipro, just one day after deadly attacks in the Donetsk region, located in the east.   Addressing representatives of the UN’s 193 Member States gathered in the General Assembly, Mr. Francis stated that they “can neither be blind to the ongoing destruction and devastation, nor ignore the plight of the people of Ukraine.”   “This is especially so, because this year also coincides with the tenth anniversary of the 2014 attempted illegal annexation of Crimea and other Ukrainian territories by the Russian Federation,” he added.   Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022. Since then, thousands of people have been killed and injured, millions more uprooted, and schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure damaged. Scores of Ukrainian children have also been forcibly deported to Russia.   Mr. Francis said the impact of this “needless war” extends far beyond the borders of Ukraine as the environment is also “the silent victim of the conflict”, while the real risk of a nuclear accident persists.   “And, ultimately, the war has affected every Member State – whether in the form of the soaring food prices or in the context of energy insecurity.”   The conflict has been a significant catalyst in undermining global geopolitics and geoeconomics, directly harming the countries involved while also impeding progress in many others, especially developing nations.   “It is actively undermining the very foundations of our UN Charter – threatening the principles of sovereignty, and territorial integrity we all committed to hold dear and to defend,” he said.   “It has disrupted international relations – at a time when unity, solidarity and cooperation are absolutely crucial to multilateral problem-solving.   Mr. Francis noted that while the 15-member UN Security Council has been paralyzed by division over the conflict, the General Assembly has condemned Russia’s aggression and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of its forces from Ukrainian territory.   “Beyond condemnations, we, the United Nations, must actively work towards a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in line with the Charter of this organization,” he said.   The Assembly President called for redoubling efforts “to end wars and usher in a future of hope elsewhere, without exception.”   Russia’s full-scale invasion has taken a devastating toll on the mental health of Ukraine's youngest citizens, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).   The agency said boys and girls in frontline areas have been forced to spend between 3,000 and 5,000 hours – equivalent to between four to seven months – sheltering in basements, bunkers, or a hole in the ground.   Seeking safety from missiles and drones is coming at a great cost for these children, said UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder who was in the city of Kharkiv this week, where he spoke to families.   “Around three-quarters of young people have reported needing support; a fraction of those are getting it," he said. "So, the ongoing shelling, the increased use of drones - all this is building into an awareness that children continue to be killed, and it’s hindering families’ capacity to overcome the stress and trauma inflicted by this war."   Mr. Elder added that despite education being a fundamental source of hope and stability, it is chronically disrupted and beyond reach for a substantial segment of Ukraine's children.   "Children in frontline areas have been inside a school for a single week over the past four years - two years of COVID-19 and two years of full-scale war. In the Kharkiv region, two out of 700 schools are delivering in-person learning," he said.   http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-42-civilian-casualties-every-day-two-years-war-enuk http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2024/02/un-experts-urge-international-community-step-efforts-forge-peace-between-russia http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/02/1146887 http://news.un.org/en/interview/2024/02/1146752 http://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iicihr-ukraine/index http://www.nrc.no/news/2024/february/ukraine-two-years-on-destruction-and-displacement-the-devastating-impacts-of-the-escalation-of-war-revealed-in-new-nrc-report/ http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/full-scale-ukraine-war-enters-third-year-prolonging-uncertainty-and-exile http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/escalation-attacks-infrastructure-leaves-ukraines-children-without-sustained-access http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/ukraine-frontline-children-battling-mental-trauma-underground http://www.unocha.org/news/remember-ukraine-un-relief-chief-urges-attention-country-faces-3rd-year-war-and-occupation http://reliefweb.int/topics/ukraine-humanitarian-crisis   Jan. 2024   "Remember Ukraine" - UN relief chief Martin Griffiths urges attention as country faces 3rd year of war and occupation. Remarks to the press at the joint OCHA-UNHCR launch of the 2024 Ukraine Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan and the Regional Refugee Response Plan for Ukraine (Extract):   Next month, we will enter a third year and an unexpected, in my view, a third year of full-blown war and occupation. It started, of course, ten years ago in the east of the country. But the escalation in 2022 rushed in a whole new level of death, destruction and despair and, of course, of outflow of refugees.   Forty per cent of the population will need humanitarian assistance this year. That is 14.6 million people, 40 per cent of the population in Ukraine will need humanitarian aid. Four million people are internally displaced. That is in addition to those who are externally displaced; 3.3 million live in frontline communities in the east and south where the war goes on, under relentless bombardment – 3.3 million people living in the middle of war zones, of bombardment, of uncertainty about where the day will end. And that is really a shockingly high number, even these days.   No place in Ukraine is untouched by the war and the wave of attacks that began just before the new year, to the devastating civilian cost of the war. Add to that the harsh winter, which is sweeping across Ukraine and ratcheting up people's need for lifesaving support, heating, proper shelter, warm clothes and a sufficient calorie intake because of the winter.   In the small towns and villages on the front lines, people have exhausted their own meager resources and rely on aid coming in through the convoys of our partners to survive. In the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, families live in damaged houses with no piped water, gas or electricity in the freezing cold.   Constant bombardments force older people to spend their days in basements. Children – terrified, traumatized, still – have lived for the last [two] years under these circumstances, trapped indoors and many of them with no schooling.   Across Ukraine, homes, schools and hospitals are repeatedly hit. Basic services are not spared. Water, gas and power systems. Indeed, the very fabric of society, how we live – employment, schools, care centers, shopping, safety of access to those places daily – is under threat.   But it is worth taking a moment to remember that Ukrainians refuse to buckle under this extraordinary onslaught. And they refuse to resign. People step up for each other. Community spirit remains high. They volunteer to help deliver relief to those who cannot move, some warm shelter, care for children.   No less than 60 per cent of our 500 humanitarian partners are Ukrainian organizations. So, 500 humanitarian organizations operating inside Ukraine, delivering aid inside Ukraine, more than half of them are Ukrainian organizations. A testament really to the community spirit of so many people in that country.   We aim to reach more than 8.5 million people this year with water and hygiene services, materials to repair homes, winter clothes, supplies and things that I have already referred to. The plan for 8.5 million focuses, as you know from the math, on the most vulnerable. Those who are close to the frontline are the top priority. And every day, convoys are sent out to reach those in danger, as are the convoys in danger. Aid will be delivered across the country to areas we can reach by these comprehensive programmes on these convoys, in partnership with local NGOs, local partners I referred to and complementing the Ukrainian Government's own efforts.   And our relationship with the Ukrainian Government remains steady, strong, supportive, and we act under their guidance, under their leadership and often under their direction. We are asking donors for more funding for 2024.   No one wants to depend on assistance from outsiders to cover life's basic needs. This is true across the world, whether in Gaza, Sudan or Syria or elsewhere. No one wants to depend on such assistance. But there is no choice for those 14 .6 million who need assistance, 8.5 million of whom we are targeting. They need help. They need this funding because humanitarian aid remains the lifeline without which they will perish.   As the war continues unabated, without signs that I am aware of, of coming to some conclusion, and amid everything else happening across the globe, we must stay the course for the people of Ukraine.   http://www.unocha.org/news/remember-ukraine-un-relief-chief-urges-attention-country-faces-3rd-year-war-and-occupation   Jan. 2024   The people of Ukraine have suffered another vast wave of airstrikes today, continuing a pattern of Russian attacks against densely populated cities and towns across the country that intensified on 29 December. Today’s overnight strikes have shaken the capital Kyiv, with residents reporting heavy sounds of explosions for several hours, particularly early in the morning.   The aerial assault also seriously impacted civilians in Kyivska Oblast and Kharkiv City, leaving behind a path of death and injury as well as destruction of homes, energy and other civilian infrastructure.   According to preliminary data shared by the Ukrainian authorities, nearly 100 people have been injured and at least 4 killed today, adding to the death toll reported over the past few days. In total, nearly 70 civilians have reportedly been killed and at least 360 injured due to airstrikes across the country since 29 December. The numbers are pending verification and might increase further as rescue operations continue. Russian authorities also reported new attacks in Belgorod Region, on the border with Ukrainian’s Kharkivska Oblast.   The new attacks and relentless hostilities have left hundreds of thousands of people without electricity and water supplies, at a time when forecasts indicate that temperatures might drop to -20 degrees Celsius in the coming days. In Kyiv and Kyivska Oblast alone, more than 250,000 people have been temporarily cut off from power supplies following today’s strikes, which also impacted the water supply in several districts of the capital, according to Ukrenergo, the state-owned energy operator and Government sources.   Damages to energy infrastructure due to hostilities have left over 440 towns and villages without power supplies, mainly In the east, according to the Ministry of Energy. In addition, since 29 December, the World Health Organization’s Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) has verified that at least 10 health-care facilities have been damaged across Ukraine.   The bombardments and destruction not only expose millions to the risk of death or injury, but also other serious protection risks.   In Kyiv, humanitarian workers in the city counted over 30 explosions, and damages have been reported in nine of the capital’s ten districts. Teams from the emergency services rescued some 20 people from under the debris, as search and rescue operations continue. The city authorities informed that nearly 50 residents have been injured and nearly 40 hospitalized.   Across Kyivska oblast, several areas have been impacted, reportedly leaving over 30 apartment buildings, at least two schools damaged, according to local authorities.   The city of Kharkiv, was badly impacted again, adding to the damage and loss caused by almost daily attacks over the past few days. Humanitarian workers in the city have witnessed significant damage in residential areas, and preliminary findings of assessments indicate over 70 buildings have been damaged in the city since 29 December. Gas and heating supply facilities were damaged today, leading to power cuts and heating disruptions in some parts of the city. At the time of the reporting nearly 50 civilians, including 5 children, had been injured, and most of them had to be rushed to hospitals.   Bombardments have also damaged homes and impacted civilians in other parts of Ukraine, including in Lvivska Oblast in the west, where education facilities and residential buildings have been hit.   Over the past few days, children have been killed or injured in Kherson and Odesa, as well as Donetska Oblast, the south and east of Ukraine.   Homes have also been hit Chernihivska and Sumska in the north, where cross-border shelling and has been relentless, while intense hostilities reportedly killed and injured several civilians and damaged homes and energy facilities in front-line communities of Dnipropetrovska, Donetska, Khersonska, Odeska and Zaporizka oblasts, including in the Russian occupied areas.   Humanitarian partners continue to provide aid to people impacted by these waves of strikes, in close coordination with local authorities, and in support to teams from the State Emergency Service working to rescue people trapped from under the rubble.   22 Jan. 2024   Ukraine: UN rights office deplores attack in Russian-occupied Donetsk. (UN News)   The UN human rights office (OHCHR) strongly condemned a weekend attack on the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine which left scores dead and injured.   At least 27 civilians were reportedly killed and a further 25 injured in the Donetsk attacks that struck local markets and a nearby residential area in the city, according to media reports.   OHCHR is trying to obtain more information about the attack, despite its lack of access to the city and other occupied areas in Ukraine, Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.   “It is crucial that thorough, prompt and independent investigations be carried out to determine the facts and responsibility for this attack,” she said. “The investigation should establish whether this attack violated applicable law on the conduct of hostilities, with a view to ensuring accountability.”   Ms. Shamdasani also stressed the need to ensure strict respect for international humanitarian law and for the parties to the conflict to take all necessary precautions to protect civilians from harm.   Addressing the UN Security Council in New York, Adedeji Ebo, Deputy UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, reiterated the “duty” of warring sides to protect civilians.   “This is an unambiguous obligation,” he said. “Let me say it again: attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law. All such attacks must stop immediately.”   OHCHR has verified 10,287 civilians killed and a further 19,444 injured sine Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began on 24 February 2022. The actual figures are likely far higher.   Mr. Ebo said continued attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure were seriously distressing, adding that the use of aerial drones and missiles had resulted in many deaths and injuries.   “Just like any other weapons or weapons systems, armed uncrewed aerial vehicles and missiles must not be used in a manner inconsistent with international humanitarian law,” he said.   “The only way to end the suffering and devastation is by ending this war,” Mr. Ebo said.   The war continues to inflict “immeasurable human suffering” and putting millions at risk of serious violations and generating grave humanitarian needs, according to the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).   Millions across Ukraine have been forced from their homes, including nearly six million living as refugees outside its borders. Prolonged displacement has pushed many to the brink. In 2024, 14.6 million people – about 40 per cent of the Ukrainian population – require humanitarian assistance.   http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-humanitarian-response-2023-winter-attacks-humanitarian-impact-intensified-strikes-and-hostilities-flash-update-4-2-jan-2024-enuk http://tinyurl.com/494npftk http://reliefweb.int/country/ukr http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/least-two-children-reportedly-killed-and-15-injured-latest-wave-deadly-attacks http://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/secretary-general-condemns-strongest-terms-overnight-large-scale-attacks-russian-federation-ukrainian-cities-civilians-critical-infrastructure http://dppa.un.org/en/mtg-sc-9523-asg-khiari-ukraine-29-dec-2023 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/12/comment-un-high-commissioner-human-rights-volker-turk-attacks-ukraine http://news.un.org/en/tags/ukraine Visit the related web page
	Social media companies are failing to tackle violent extremism, child safety concerns by UN News, FRA, OHCHR, agencies   Social media’s dangerous currents, by Julie Inman Grant - Australian eSafety Commissioner. (Extract from speech to National Press Club; 24 June 2025):   "I’d like to touch on some remarkable changes we’ve seen the online world undergo, driven by rapid advances in technology, seismic shifts in user behaviour, and of course, the exponential rise of artificial intelligence. Just as AI has brought us much promise, it has also created much peril. And these harms aren’t just hypothetical - they are taking hold right now.   In February, eSafety put out its first Online Safety Advisory because we were so concerned with how rapidly children as young as 10 were being captivated by AI companions - in some instances, spending up to five hours per day conversing with sexualised chatbots.   Schools reported to us these children had been directed by their AI companions to engage in explicit and harmful sexual acts.   Further, there is not a week that goes by that there isn’t a deepfake image-based abuse crisis in one of Australia’s schools. Back in 2018, it would have taken hundreds of images, massive computing power and high levels of technical expertise to create a credible deepfake pornographic video.   Today, the most common scenario involves harvesting a few images from social media and plugging those into a free nudifying app on a smartphone. And while the cost to the perpetrator may be free, the cost to the victim-survivor is lingering and incalculable.   And herein lies the perpetual challenge of an online safety regulator – trying simultaneously to fix the tech transgressions of the past and remediate the harms of today, while keeping a watchful gaze towards the threats of the future.   There is little doubt the online world of today is far more powerful, more personalised, and more deeply embedded in our everyday lives than ever before. It’s also immeasurably more complex and arguably much wilder.   The ethos of moving fast and breaking things has been ratcheted up in the age of AI, heightening the risks and raising new ethical, regulatory, and societal questions – as well as adding a layer of uncertainty about what even the near future might hold.   But behind all these changes, some things remain the same. Very few of these platforms and technologies were created with children in mind, or with safety as a primary goal. Today, safety by design is not the norm, it is the exception.   While the tech industry continues to focus on driving greater engagement and profit, user safety is being demoted, deprecated or dumped altogether. So, while the tech industry regresses backwards, we must continue to move forward.   The relationship between social media and children’s mental health is one of the most important conversations of our time. It naturally generates much debate and emotion. Therefore, it is important we ground these discussions in evidence and prioritise the best interests of the child from the start. And, even more importantly, that we engage young Australians in these discussions throughout the policymaking and implementation process.   There is no question social media offers benefits and opportunities, including connection and belonging - and these are important digital rights we want to preserve.   But we all know there is a darker side, including algorithmic manipulation, predatory design features such as streaks, constant notifications and endless scroll to encourage compulsive usage, as well as exposure to increasingly graphic and violent online content.   The potential risks to children of early exposure to social media are becoming clearer and I have no doubt there are parents in this audience today who could share stories of how it has affected their own children and families.   That is why today, I’m presenting some of our latest research for the first time which reveals just how pervasive online harms have become for Australian children.   We surveyed more than 2,600 children aged 10 to 15 to understand the types of online harms they face and where these experiences are happening. Unsurprisingly, social media use in this age group is nearly ubiquitous - with 96% of children reported having used at least one social media platform.   Alarmingly, around 7 in 10 kids said they had encountered content associated with harm, including exposure to misogynistic or hateful material, dangerous online challenges, violent fight videos, and content promoting disordered eating.   Children told us that 75% of this content was most recently encountered on social media. YouTube was the most frequently cited platform, with almost 4 in 10 children reporting exposure to content associated with harm there. This also comes as the New York Times reported earlier this month that YouTube surreptitiously rolled back its content moderation processes to keep more harmful content on its platform, even when the content violates the company’s own policies.   This really underscores the challenge of evaluating a platform’s relative safety at a single point in time, particularly as we see platform after platform winding back their trust and safety teams and weakening policies designed to minimise harm, making these platforms ever-more perilous for our children.   Perhaps the most troubling finding was that 1 in 7 children we surveyed reported experiencing online grooming-like behaviour from adults or other children at least 4 years older. This included asking inappropriate questions or requesting they share nude images.   Just over 60% of children most recently experienced grooming-like behaviour on social media, which just highlights the intrinsic hazards of co-mingled platforms, designed for adults but also inhabited by children.   Cyberbullying remains a persistent threat to young people but isn’t the sole domain of social media - while 36% of kids most recently experienced online abuse from their peers there, another 36% experienced online bullying on messaging apps and 26% through online gaming platforms. This demonstrates that this all-too-human behaviour can migrate to wherever kids are online.   What our research doesn’t show – but our investigative insights and reports from the public do - is how the tenor, tone and visceral impact of cyberbullying affecting children has changed and intensified.   We have started issuing “end user notices” to Australians as young as 14 for hurling unrelenting rape and death threats at their female peers. Caustic language, like the acronym KYS – short-hand for “Go Kill Yourself” - is becoming more commonplace.   We can all imagine the worst-case scenario when an already vulnerable child is targeted by a peer who doesn’t fully comprehend the power and impact of throwing those digital stones.   Sexual extortion is reaching crisis proportions with eSafety experiencing a 1,300% increase in reports from young adults and teens over the past three years.   And, our investigators have recently uncovered a worrying trend. We have seen a 60% surge in reports of child sexual extortion over the past 18 months targeting 13-15 year olds.   As I mentioned before, the rise of powerful, cheap and accessible AI models without built-in guardrails or age restrictions are a further hazard faced by our children today.   Emotional attachment to AI companions are built-in by design, using anthropomorphism to generate human-like responses and engineered sycophancy to provide constant affirmation and the feeling of deep connection.   Lessons from overseas have highlighted tragic cases where these chatbots have engaged in quasi-romantic relationships with teens that have tragically ended in suicide.   In the Character.AI wrongful death suit in the US, lawyers for the company effectively argued that the free speech outputs of chatbots should be protected over the safety of children, clearly as a means of shielding the company from liability.   Thankfully, the judge in this case rejected this argument – just as we should reject AI companions being released without proper safeguards.   As noted earlier, the rise of so-called “declothing apps” or services that use generative AI to create pornography or ‘nudify’ images without effective controls is tremendous cause for concern.   There is no positive use case for these kinds of apps – and they are starting to wreak systematic damage on teenagers across Australia, mostly girls.   We need Government legislation to shift the burden of reducing harm away from parents and back onto the companies who own and run these platforms and profit from children. We must treating Big Tech like the extractive industry it has become.   Children have important digital rights - rights to participation, the right to dignity, the right to be free from online violence and of course, the right to privacy".   http://www.iwf.org.uk/news-media/news/full-feature-length-ai-films-of-child-sexual-abuse-will-be-inevitable-as-synthetic-videos-make-huge-leaps-in-sophistication-in-a-year/ http://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/10/technology/ai-csam-child-sexual-abuse.html   Mar. 2024   Big Tech companies grilled on failure to tackle violent extremism by Australian eSafety Commissioner.   Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has issued legal notices to Google, Meta, Twitter/X, WhatsApp, Telegram and Reddit requiring each company to report on steps they are taking to protect Australians from terrorist and violent extremist material and activity.   The spread of this material and its role in online radicalisation remains a concern both in Australia and internationally, with 2019 terrorist attacks in Christchurch NZ and Halle Germany, and more recently Buffalo NY, underscoring how social media and other online services can be exploited by violent extremists, leading to radicalisation and threats to public safety.   The online safety regulator issued the notices under transparency powers granted under the Online Safety Act, which will require the six companies to answer a series of detailed questions about how they are tackling the issue.   eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said eSafety continues to receive reports about perpetrator-produced material from terror attacks, including the 2019 terrorist attack in Christchurch, that are reshared on mainstream platforms.   “We remain concerned about how extremists weaponise technology like live-streaming, algorithms and recommender systems and other features to promote or share this hugely harmful material,” Ms Inman Grant said.   “We are also concerned by reports that terrorists and violent extremists are moving to capitalise on the emergence of generative AI and are experimenting with ways this new technology can be misused to cause harm.   “Earlier this month the UN-backed Tech against Terrorism reportedExternal link that it had identified users of an Islamic State forum comparing the attributes of Google’s Gemini, ChatGPT, and Microsoft’s Copilot.   “The tech companies that provide these services have a responsibility to ensure that these features and their services cannot be exploited to perpetrate such harm and that’s why we are sending these notices to get a look under the hood at what they are and are not doing.”   According to a recent OECD reportExternal link, Telegram is the number one ranked mainstream platform when it comes to the prevalence of terrorist and violent extremist material, with Google’s YouTube ranked second and Twitter/X coming in third. The Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram round out the top five placing fourth and fifth respectively.   WhatsApp is ranked 8th while reports have confirmed the Buffalo shooter’s ‘manifesto’ cited Reddit as the service that played a role in his radicalisation towards violent white supremacist extremism.   “It’s no coincidence we have chosen these companies to send notices to as there is evidence that their services are exploited by terrorists and violent extremists. We want to know why this is and what they are doing to tackle the issue,” Ms Inman Grant said.   “Transparency and accountability are essential for ensuring the online industry is meeting the community’s expectations by protecting their users from these harms. Also, understanding proactive steps being taken by platforms to effectively combat TVEC is in the public and national interest.   “That’s why transparency is a key pillar of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism and the Christchurch Call, global initiatives that many of these companies are signed up to. And yet we do not know the answer to many of these basic questions.   “And, disappointingly, none of these companies have chosen to provide this information through the existing voluntary framework – developed in conjunction with industry – provided by the OECD. This shows why regulation, and mandatory notices, are needed to truly understand the true scope of challenges, and opportunities.”   As part of these notices, eSafety will also be asking Telegram and Reddit about measures they have in place to detect and remove child sexual exploitation and abuse.   http://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/esafety-initiates-civil-penalty-proceedings-against-x-corp http://tinyurl.com/2xa9t3jy http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2023/online-content-moderation http://www.kofiannanfoundation.org/news/2024-kofi-annan-lecture-delivered-by-maria-ressa   Oct. 2024   Social Media Victims Law Center World Mental Health Day lawsuit alleges social media companies design their products to be addictive and harmful to children on a global scale.   The Complaint asserts social media usage resulted in sextortion, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, eating and substance use disorders, and radicalization of minors.   The Social Media Victims Law Center (SMVLC), a legal resource for parents of children and teenage victims harmed by social media addiction and social media fueled harms, has filed a lawsuit on World Mental Health Day on behalf of 11 families in the United States and Canada whose children, ages 12 to 19, suffered physical and mental harms that could be directly attributed to their use of social media products.   The lawsuit seeks to hold Meta, Inc., ByteDance Ltd., Google, LLC, YouTube, LLC, and Discord, Inc., legally accountable for purposefully designing and marketing a defective product that provides consumers with no means to report or protect themselves, while targeting children with addictive features and unwanted “friend” recommendations, resulting in sextortion, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, substance use disorders, radicalization, and more.   Included in the Complaint is never before seen evidence of Meta failing and refusing to act on repeated reports of sextortion.   “There can be no doubt that social media companies are preying on our children with a product that is designed to ‘hook’ them to their products like an addictive drug,” said Matthew P. Bergman, founding attorney of SMVLC.   “We’ve started to see a societal shift as parents, researchers, and governments are mobilizing to address the danger these companies pose to children around the world. This isn’t just a problem in the U.S., it’s an unprecedented mental health crisis on a global scale.”   “This lawsuit is based on a growing body of scientific research, including these companies own internal studies which draws direct lines between their conscious, intentional design choices and the mental health crisis affecting children around the world.”   The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County and marks the 338th case SMVLC has filed against social media companies as part of California’s Judicial Council Coordination Proceedings (JCCP). To date, there are 745 lawsuits included in the JCCP which is seeking to hold social media companies legally accountable for knowingly concealing the harm they cause children and teens..   http://socialmediavictims.org/press-releases/smvlc-file-world-mental-health-day-lawsuit-allege-addictive-social-media-products-global-scale/ http://socialmediavictims.org/character-ai-lawsuits/ http://counterhate.com/research/youtube-anorexia-algorithm http://5rightsfoundation.com/about-us/childrens-rights/   June 2024   Algorithms should not control what people see, UN chief says, launching Global Principles for Information Integrity. (UN News)   The United Nations has launched new Global Principles for Information Integrity, emphasizing the need for immediate action to address the harms caused by misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.   UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlined key recommendations aimed at making information spaces safer while at the same time upholding human rights such as freedom of speech.   “At a time when billions of people are exposed to false narratives, distortions and lies, these principles lay out a clear path forward, firmly rooted in human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and opinion,” he said.   The Secretary-General urged governments, tech companies, advertisers and the public relations (PR) industry to take responsibility for the spread and monetization of content that results in harm.   He emphasized that combating misinformation and hate speech is critical to safeguarding democracy, human rights, public health, and climate action. “The spread of hatred and lies online is causing grave harm to our world,” he said, addressing the media.   The UN’s own humanitarian and peacekeeping operations are at risk, as its personnel deal with a “tsunami of falsehoods” and “absurd conspiracy theories”, the UN chief added.   False narratives and lies breed cynicism and undermine social cohesion and sustainable development. He underlined that everyone should freely express themselves without fear of attack and be able to access a wide range of views and information.   “No one should be at the mercy of an algorithm they don’t control, which was not designed to safeguard their interests, and which tracks their behaviour to collect personal data and keep them hooked,” he said.   The Global Principles aim to empower people to demand their rights, help protect children, ensure honest and trustworthy information for young people, and enable public interest-based media to convey reliable and accurate information, Mr. Guterres added.   The Principles evolved through wide-ranging consultations with UN Member States, the private sector, youth leaders, media, academia and civil society. They focus on building trust and resilience, ensuring an independent and pluralistic media, creating healthy incentives based on factual information, enhancing transparency and research, and empowering the public.   Key recommendations include urging governments, tech companies, advertisers, and media to avoid using or amplifying disinformation and hate speech. At the same time, governments should ensure timely access to information, support an independent media landscape, and protect journalists and civil society.   Tech companies should prioritize safety and privacy, apply consistent policies and support information integrity, especially around elections - while stakeholders involved in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) should ensure its safe, responsible and ethical deployment factoring in human rights.   Tech companies should explore business models that do not rely on programmatic advertising and which do not prioritize engagement above human rights. Instead, they should prioritize user privacy and safety.   Advertisers should demand transparency in digital advertising processes from the tech sector to help ensure they do not end up inadvertently funding disinformation or hateful messaging.   Tech companies and AI developers should also provide meaningful transparency, allow researcher access to data while respecting user privacy. Executives should also ensure independent audits and boost accountability.   Government, tech companies, AI developers and advertisers should take special measures to protect and empower children, with governments providing resources for parents, guardians and educators.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1151376 http://www.un.org/en/information-integrity http://informationdemocracy.org/2024/06/24/the-forum-welcomes-the-uns-global-principles-for-information-integrity-and-is-committed-to-support-their-implementation/   Feb. 2024   UN Special Rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children, Mama Fatima Singhateh, alarmed by new emerging exploitative practices of online child sexual abuse.   “The internet and digital platforms can be a double-edged sword for children and young people. It can allow them to positively interact and further develop as autonomous human beings, claiming their own space. While also facilitate age-inappropriate content and online sexual harms of children by adults and peers.   The boom in generative AI and eXtended Reality is constantly evolving and facilitating the harmful production and distribution of child sexual abuse and exploitation in the digital dimension, with new exploitative activities such as the deployment of end-to-end encryption without built-in safety mechanisms, computer-generated imagery (CGI) including deepfakes and deepnudes, and on-demand live streaming and eXtended Reality (XR) of child sexual abuse and exploitation material.   Although access does not determine the value that children and young people derive from the Internet and digital products, the volume of reported child sexual abuse material has increased by 87% since 2019, according to WeProtect Global Alliance’s Global Threat Assessment 2023.   A review of numerous studies, publications and reports has revealed the intensification of manifestations of harm and exposure of online child sexual abuse and exploitation, both in terms of scale and method. It includes the risk of child sexual abuse and exploitation material, grooming and soliciting children for sexual purposes, online sexual harassment, intimate image abuse, financial sexual extortion and the use of technology-assisted child sexual abuse and exploitation material.   The private sector and the technology industry have proven to be less reliable than they claim to be, with serious ingrained biases, flaws in programming and surveillance software to detect child abuse, failure to crack down on child sexual abuse and exploitation networks, layoffs and cuts to community safety teams and workers. These practices and failings risk relentless repetition of trauma, secondary victimisation and systemic harm to individuals, including children.   While it is commendable that there has been increased political commitment, prioritisation and engagement on the use of ICTs and new technologies at the international level. Many legislative and regulatory efforts at national, regional and international levels seeking to address these problems present additional human rights risks due to insufficient integration of human rights considerations, gender-responsive and child-sensitive approaches.   Against this backdrop, States and companies must all work together and invest in solving this problem, and include children’s, victims’, survivors’ and relevant stakeholders’ voices in the design and development of ethical digital products to foster a safer online environment. This responsibility must be immediately embraced across society.   Whilst I welcome the Secretary-General’s AI Advisory Body’s mandate to make recommendations for the establishment of an international agency for the governance and coordination of AI. There is an urgent imperative to scale up efforts and connect through a core multilateral instrument dedicated exclusively to eradicating child sexual abuse and exploitation online, addressing the complexity of these phenomena and taking a step forward to protect children in the digital dimension.   It is now clear that greater and joint cooperation is needed to ensure a safer Internet for all children around the world. Commitments must go beyond paper.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/02/un-expert-alarmed-new-emerging-exploitative-practices-online-child-sexual http://www.weprotect.org/global-threat-assessment-23   Brazil: First Data Privacy safeguard of its kind in the Country Protects Children. (Human Rights Watch)   Yesterday, Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority issued a preliminary ban on Meta's (Facebook) use of personal data of users based in Brazil to train its artificial intelligence (AI) systems.   The decision stems from “the imminent risk of serious and irreparable damage or difficult-to-repair damage to the fundamental rights of the affected data subjects,” the agency said in announcing the ban.   The news follows Human Rights Watch reporting in June that personal photos of Brazilian children are used to build powerful AI tools without their knowledge or consent. In turn, others use these tools to create malicious deepfakes, putting even more children at risk of harm.   The National Data Protection Authority’s decision included two arguments that reflected Human Rights Watch’s recommendations. The first is the importance of protecting children’s data privacy, given the risk of harm and exploitation that results from their data being scraped and used by AI systems. The second centers on purpose limitation, and that people’s expectations of privacy when they share their personal data online—in some cases, years or decades before these AI systems were built—should be respected.   Meta has been using its US-based users’ publicly-posted personal data to train its AI models since last year. Last month, Meta paused its plans to do the same in Europe and the United Kingdom after objections from 11 data protection authorities. Yesterday’s decision effectively bans this practice in Brazil and imposes a daily fine of 50,000 reais, or about US$9,000, for failure to comply within five working days from notification of the decision. Following the regulator’s decision, Meta said that it “complies with privacy laws and regulations in Brazil”.   The Brazilian government’s decision is a powerful, proactive move to protect people’s data privacy in the face of swiftly evolving uses and misuses of AI. Yesterday’s action especially helps to protect children from worrying that their personal data, shared with friends and family on Meta’s platforms, might be used to harm them in ways that are impossible to anticipate or guard against.   http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/03/brazil-prevents-meta-using-people-power-its-ai http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/10/brazil-childrens-personal-photos-misused-power-ai-tools http://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/02/australia-childrens-personal-photos-misused-power-ai-tools
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