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Ukrainians persist in facing near-daily attacks, with air strikes persistently targeting civilian infrastructure, leaving families without homes, security, and electricity. More than 10 million people have been displaced from their homes, making Ukraine the largest displacement crisis in Europe since World War II.
Approximately 12,600 civilians have been killed and over 29,000 injured. Thousands of attacks on health facilities have left doctors working under nearly impossible conditions. Throughout the conflict, the UN has remained a supportive presence, helping deliver aid, providing emergency healthcare, and reconnecting damaged power supplies.
The future for Ukraine remains uncertain, but, as Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country, told UN News, the United Nations has been preparing for a variety of post-conflict scenarios.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length
“The general sentiment within the diplomatic community is that we’re nearing a ceasefire, and that this may happen sooner rather than later. That’s one scenario we’re preparing for by intensifying our ongoing recovery and development efforts.
The UN is already doing outstanding work in helping to restore energy facilities that have been hit, and without this work, the people of this country would be much worse off, especially in these cold conditions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reopened or rebuilt primary healthcare facilities along the frontline that were once closed or destroyed. If the guns fall silent, we can obviously do much more to help.
A heavy toll on mental health
Our partners, including governments, appreciate that the UN is all about leaving no one behind, so we’re looking at the groups likely to be vulnerable once the war ends.
Seven-year-old Milana and her family fled Myrnohrad in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
War veterans are a group that is particularly vulnerable. I have often been told that around a million people are involved in the fighting, many of them heavily armed. Hundreds of thousands of people will return traumatized from the frontline, after being away from their families for two to three years. This could cause tension, including an increase in gender-based violence.
The country will continue to suffer from the impacts of this terrible war for some time, particularly in terms of mental health issues.
Again, the UN System is providing support. For example, the UN Development Programme has helped to develop a digital app specifically aimed at veterans, to help them access the services they may need, and we are running over 80 “safe spaces” where vulnerable people, such as survivors of gender-based violence and children of those internally displaced, can talk about their experiences and receive counseling.
There’s also a lot of speculation that refugees will start to come back, and a few months ago, our colleagues in the UN
Source: https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2025/02/1160331
