“I’m trying not to cry, but I can’t help it. I’m glad I have tissues on hand,” admits Natalia Datchenko, a Ukrainian staff member of the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, struggling to hold back her tears as she recounts the explosions that awoke many Ukrainians three years ago, heralding the start of the conflict.

Alongside feelings of shock and anger, Ms. Datchenko also felt a surge of energy. “I knew, with absolute clarity, that I wanted to help others, to protect people. I knew I had to do something,” she recalls.

UNICEF leadership instructed staff to prioritise their own safety and that of their families before resuming their work. Ms. Datchenko evacuated to Lviv, a city in the west of Ukraine, with her family.

“There were 12 of us crammed into a small train compartment,” she says. “I held someone else’s child in my arms because there was no place for them to sit. The train moved slowly to avoid being targeted. When we finally arrived, we saw families with children sitting directly on the cold stone floor of the Lviv station. It was February, and it was freezing.”

Life goes on

Lyudmyla Kovalchuk, a staff member of the UN Women office in Ukraine, lived near Kyiv International Airport, one of the war’s first targets.

“We woke up at five in the morning to the sound of explosions,” she explains. “It was shocking. Even though we had heard warnings of an impending invasion, we couldn’t believe it was actually happening.”

Photo provided by Ludmila Kovalchuk

Lyudmyla Kovalchuk, UN-Women Ukraine staff member

After three years, exhaustion has set in but life and work continue. Women in Ukraine need the UN’s support – psychological, legal, logistical and financial. Many Ukrainian women are raising children alone, searching for jobs to support them and constantly moving to keep them safe from the war. Ms. Kovalchuk says that about 75,000 Ukrainian women are serving in the military and represent a group with unique needs that require specific support.

“We have adapted to working under new conditions,” Ms. Kovalchuk says. “Whenever we arrange to meet somewhere, we check if there is a shelter nearby in case of an attack. We don’t plan long events as the risk of shelling increases the longer we stay in one place. During the pandemic, we learned to work in a hybrid format, and that experience has been invaluable.”

‘Hardest part was hearing their stories’

Anastasia Kalashnyk, another UN Women staff member, used to live in Zaporizhzhia. Two years ago, she relocated to Kyiv with her family. “After 24 February 2022, my children stopped attending daycare and school, and my husband lost his job – the foreign company he worked for immediately shut down operations and left the country,” she says.

However, Ms. Kalashnyk’s workload increased significantly. Since 2017, she has been responsible for emergency aid provided by UN Women in Ukraine, focusing on women in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. After 2022, many of these women were forced to flee their homes.

© DRC Ukraine/Svitlana Koval

In a town in Mykolaivska Oblast, a reconstructed kindergarten shelter now provides 200 children with a safe, fully equipped space for learning during frequent air alerts.

“Looking back, the hardest part was hearing their stories – women I had known for years – about how they escaped occupied territories and what happened to their husbands who had gone to fight,” she says.

For these and other Ukrainian women in need, UN Women, in collaboration with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), established so-called “safe spaces”. These centres provide essential support, allowing women to connect, share experiences and heal.

“I watched as Olga, one of the women who came to the centre, quite literally come back to life after experiencing trauma,” a UN worker recalls. “She started smiling again. Now, Olga is one of the centre’s activists, helping others.”

The cost of war

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 12,600 civilians have been confirmed killed and over 29,000 injured over the last three years. At least 2,400 children are among the casualties.

Millions live in constant fear, while those in occupied territories face severe restrictions and limited access to humanitarian aid. An entire generation of Ukrainians is growing up in wartime.

© UNICEF/Oleksii Filippov

Alina, 12, stands next to her damaged home in Kobzartsi, Mykolaiv region.

Relentless attacks on infrastructure are deepening the crisis. Over 10 per cent of Ukraine’s housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, leaving at least two million families without adequate shelter. More than 3,600 schools and universities have been hit, forcing hundreds of thousands of children into remote learning.

Repeated strikes on the energy system – three winters in a row – have left towns without electricity, heating and essential services in freezing conditions. A total of 12.7 million people require humanitarian aid.

Hopes for the future

“Of course, everything that has happened is exhausting,” Ms. Kalashnyk says. “But my children give me hope for a better future. What they are going through now is unfair. I have to be strong, not just for them but for all Ukrainian families.”

She adds that she also finds hope in the solidarity shown by the UN and other organizations. “They didn’t abandon Ukraine,” she explains. “They stayed. They continue to help. They didn’t come just for a month or two. They’ve been here for years. And now, they’re talking about rebuilding. These discussions about the future give me confidence that we have one.”

Ms. Datchenko from UNICEF also speaks of unity and solidarity. “At first, we were all united by anger,” she recalls. “We shared our burdens. We shared our pain. We were furious together. But anger is no longer the driving force. Now, we are united by the desire to rebuild what has been destroyed. We want to restore our communities, support families and rebuild our country, not as it was, but better, to leave behind the Soviet legacy and create a truly new nation, built on human rights.”

Supplies are distributed by UNFPA at a centre for survivors of gender-based violence in Kherson, Ukraine.

She says her work gives her hope. “I have a unique opportunity to reassess old programmes, create new ones, listen to the voices of the most vulnerable, direct resources where they are truly needed and bridge different sectors to bring together the best for those in need. I believe that working for UNICEF has helped me survive—it’s still my survival strategy.”

‘We have to become stronger’

Ms. Datchenko also finds solace in culture. “I seek inspiration and motivation in the beauty that still exists in Ukraine. Our museums are open, concerts are happening, music is playing. For many, culture is a survival strategy.”

Today, many Ukrainians are searching for their own survival strategies. “One of the biggest challenges we face in our work is the psychological toll, not only in supporting ourselves, but also our colleagues,” Ms. Kovalchuk says. “Recently, one of our colleague’s brothers went missing. Sometimes, it’s incredibly difficult to find the right words of comfort, yet we work with people – women and girls affected by war – who need our support.”

“But, on the other hand, when you face one tragedy after another, one crisis after another, you start to feel stronger and more experienced. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”

Then, with a sad smile, she adds that “maybe it’s true, but I always say I wish I didn’t have the experience I have now. But I have no choice. This experience is mine to bear.”

Ukrainians continue to face near daily attacks, with air strikes consistently targeting civilian infrastructure, leaving families without homes, security and electricity. More than 10 million people have been uprooted from their homes, making Ukraine the largest displacement crisis in Europe since the Second World War.

Some 12,600 civilians have been killed and more than 29,000 injured. Thousands of attacks on health facilities have left doctors working under near impossible conditions. Throughout the fighting, the UN has remained an ever-present support, helping to deliver aid, providing emergency healthcare and reconnecting damaged power supplies.

The future for Ukraine remains unclear but, as Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian coordinator for the country, told UN News, the United Nations has been planning for a range of post-conflict scenarios.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length

“The general sense within the diplomatic community is that we are closing in on a ceasefire, and that this may happen sooner rather than later. That’s one scenario that we are preparing for by intensifying our ongoing recovery and development efforts.

The UN is already doing incredible work helping to restore energy facilities that have been hit, and without that 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 at one point closed or destroyed. If the guns stay silent, we can obviously do much more to help.

A heavy toll on mental health

Our partners, which include governments, appreciate that the UN is all about leaving no one behind, so we are looking at the groups that are likely to be vulnerable once the war ends.

War veterans are one such group. I have been frequently told that around a million people are involved in the fighting, many of them heavily armed. Hundreds of thousands of people will return traumatised from the frontline, after some two to three years away from their families. This could cause tension, including an increase in gender-based violence.

The country will continue to suffer from the impacts of this horrible 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 specially aimed at veterans, to help them to access the services they might 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 counselling.

There’s also a lot of speculation that refugees will start to come back, and a few months ago our colleagues in the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), in collaboration with the government, launched a website that gives refugees abroad information about what services they can access when they return, to help them find housing or jobs. We’re trying to be ready to significantly scale up this work.

UNICEF supplies arrive in Shevchenkove village, Kharkiv region, Ukraine (January 2025)

Ready to deal with any scenario

The big open question is what the ceasefire deal will look like, in particular with regard to the occupied territories in eastern and southern Ukraine. Around a million Ukrainians are living in these regions, and we don’t know what will happen to them. Will there be a demilitarised zone? Will an international peacekeeping force maintain the ceasefire deal? And what are the opportunities for the provision of humanitarian aid?

On the other hand, whilst everyone hopes the guns will be silenced, the opposite could happen. There are several nuclear power plants in Ukraine, and if one of them takes a direct hit, we could all of a sudden be facing a major nuclear catastrophe. Government officials are extremely concerned about this [on 15 February, the UN atomic energy agency, IAEA, reported that a drone strike had pierced a hole in the structure built to prevent radioactive material leaking from the damaged Chernobyl reactor. Despite significant damage, the IAEA recorded no change in radiation levels at the site].

Whatever happens, we are trying to ensure that the UN is as agile and as mentally prepared as possible for any scenario.”

As fighting escalates in eastern DRC, more than 40,000 Congolese refugees – primarily women and children – have crossed into Burundi since February, with over 9,000 arrivals recorded in a single day this week.

Many are using makeshift boats to traverse the Rusizi River, a perilous crossing at the border shared by Burundi, DRC and Rwanda.

“The escalating security situation in the DR Congo has been having a serious impact on the Burundi side. Over the past few weeks, we have observed a large number of Congolese who have been crossing into Burundi,” said Brigitte Mukanga-Eno, UNHCR’s Representative in Burundi, at a press briefing in Geneva. 

The situation is set to worsen as hostilities move closer to Uvira, a key town near Burundi’s main official border crossing.

A surge in displacement 

UNHCR has welcomed the Burundian government’s decision to grant prima facie refugee status to those fleeing the conflict, ensuring immediate protection. However, the unprecedented influx is straining local resources. 

“This is the very first time that Burundi is receiving this large number of people in a matter of a few days”, Ms. Mukanga-Eno noted. “The last one was in the early 2000s, so everyone is overwhelmed: the government, but also the humanitarian actors in the country.”

While around 6,000 refugees have entered through Bujumbura’s official border post, the vast majority – more than 36,000 – have arrived via the Rusizi River, often in critical condition after long journeys on foot.  

Some have walked for days. “The other day, we had a case of a woman who was transporting her children and not knowing that they were already dead”, Ms. Mukanga-Eno shared.  

Dire conditions at reception sites 

The government has permitted refugees to shelter temporarily at the Rugombo Stadium in open-air conditions, as well as in schools and churches. However, these sites are overcrowded and dangerously close to the border.

“Unfortunately, the conditions for receptions are very limited,” Ms. Mukanga-Eno said. The government has allocated land to create a more sustainable settlement, but for now, people are still in schools and stadiums without adequate shelter, she explained.

UNHCR teams on the ground report severe shortages of food, water and sanitation facilities. Cases of measles have already been detected, prompting an emergency vaccination campaign targeting children under 15. 

She said the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has put water tanks in place, while the World Food Programme (WFP) “has also been able to deploy some food for us to make sure that we can provide hot meals to the people who are coming.”  

Medical services are also stretched, with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) running a mobile clinic to treat refugees suffering from malnutrition, disease and trauma.

Many people have endured extreme violence before reaching Burundi, with psychosocial support urgently needed.

Regional displacement  

Beyond Burundi, smaller but significant numbers of displaced people have reached other neighbouring countries.

Since January, Uganda has registered over 13,000 arrivals, mostly through the Nyakabande transit centre. 

In Tanzania, 53 Congolese refugees sought asylum in Kigoma on 19 February, marking the highest daily arrival figure this year. 

UNHCR’s $40.4 million appeal aims to provide life-saving assistance to 275,000 internally displaced people in the DR Congo, as well as support a projected influx of 258,000 refugees and returnees across Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

“We were targeting about 58,000 people. We have already received more than 40,000,” Ms. Mukanga-Eno said, calling for urgent support from donors to prevent further suffering. 

Since the ceasefire on 19 January, some 138,000 Palestinians have benefited from cash assistance, including people with disabilities and pregnant and breastfeeding women.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that market conditions across Gaza have improved since the ceasefire took effect. Goods are reportedly less expensive, and more commodities are available. 

Diet diversity improving

Furthermore, for the first time since July, children under age five and pregnant and breastfeeding women have a more diverse diet. They are consuming more fruit, vegetables, eggs and dairy products.                                                                    

Humanitarians also continue to provide shelter support to people in Gaza, with the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA, distributing tents, tarpaulins, blankets, mattresses, clothes and kitchen items to thousands of families hosted in 120 shelters. 

West Bank hostilities

Meanwhile, OCHA remains concerned by Israeli forces’ ongoing operations in the northern part of the West Bank which began on 21 January, the longest there since the early 2000s. 

OCHA warned that settler violence also continues. Between 11 and 17 February, the agency documented 34 incidents – an average of almost five per day – involving settlers and resulting in casualties or property damage. 

In one incident, Israeli settlers severed agricultural water pipes in the Tulkarm governorate, affecting the livelihoods of a dozen Palestinian farmers. 

During the same period, nearly 40 Palestinians were displaced near Al Maniya village in Bethlehem following recurrent attacks from Israeli settlers over the past year.   

Access restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities continue to hinder Palestinians’ movement, affecting access to markets, workplaces, emergency services and health and educational facilities.

OCHA has documented the displacement of almost 2,300 Palestinians, including 1,100 children, across the West Bank since the start of 2023 due to heightened settler violence and access restrictions by Israeli authorities. 

In other developments:

Ensure return of human remains

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the Secretary-General is deeply concerned by reports that the remains of an Israeli hostage in Gaza, Shiri Bibas, which were due to be returned on Thursday alongside her children’s remains, are still missing.

The Secretary-General “stresses the imperative to respect the dignity of the deceased and to ensure their remains are returned to their families in accordance with international humanitarian law and human rights law,” he said.

He underlined that every release must be carried out with the utmost dignity and in line with humanitarian principles.

The Secretary-General renewed his appeal to the parties to abide by all their commitments and continue the full implementation of the ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Tom Fletcher was addressing the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) which was set up by the UN General Assembly in the early 1990s as a coordination forum for humanitarian aid worldwide.

“The humanitarian community confronts a massive funding, morale, and legitimacy crisis,” he said, framing his remarks as personal reflections based on earlier discussions within the IASC.

“We took time to recognize the devastating impact that funding cuts will have on those we serve, our partners, and our teams,” he continued.

Without referencing any specific loss in funding – but against the backdrop of a suspension of most humanitarian spending by the new administration in Washington – Mr. Fletcher appealled for the aid community to be “calm, brave, principled, and united.”

He said they need to make the case strongly for greater international solidarity.

“We can draw confidence from extraordinary progress made by humanitarians over decades. The mission is right. Our allies are still out there. But the delivery system is struggling. We need to be lighter, faster, and less bureaucratic.”

Four-point plan

The UN relief chief said there needed to be four priorities: first, be clear that saving lives is paramount.

“We agreed to remain independent, neutral, and impartial. This does not mean we do not pick a side: we are on the side of those in greatest need.”

Secondly, he said duplication and bureaucracy must be pared down under a new “bold plan” of action.

“Donors must simplify too. We must innovate or become obsolete. We will prioritize robustly and make the toughest choices. I have commissioned urgent work to identify how we could reach the 100 million people in greatest need.”

‘Genuine partnership’ with private sector

He said aid chiefs must find new partners, not just rely on traditional sources and governments. This must include “genuine partnership” with the private sector and the World Bank.

“I believe there is a movement of billions of people who care, and who want to act in solidarity with those in most need. We should launch a public campaign to fill in the gaps left by governments, targeting the equivalent of 0.7 per cent for each country.”

Mr. Fletcher said turf wars between agencies need to end with each organization focusing on what it does “uniquely well”.

Leadership needs to be empowered, he added, with great authority vested in UN Humanitarian Coordinators throughout the system.

Third, there needs to be more devolution, giving more power and accountability to local partners who are suffering the most from cuts.

Fourth, aid workers need to defend their work more robustly.

End impunity

“We need to call time on the era of impunity: end attacks on civilians and aid workers; and hold perpetrators to account. We must communicate more clearly the impact we have and the cost of inaction, with humanity not institutions at the heart of the story.”

Humanitarians worldwide are “underfunded, overstretched and under attack,” he declared, but the argument for lifesaving aid has not been lost: “Our cause is mighty, and our movement is strong.”