United Nations's video: Ukraine: Children need help and protection - UNICEF 7 March

As the humanitarian situation in Ukraine declines, top UN officials briefed the Security Council on Monday on the efforts the organization is doing to assist people inside the country and everyone fleeing from the conflict. Catherine Russell, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), recalled her recent trip to the Romania-Ukraine border, where she met thousands of women and children who escaped the fighting. “I met with mothers and children who had to flee their homes at a moment’s notice. They told me how it felt to leave everything you know behind. To leave husbands, fathers, and elderly loved ones, not knowing when or whether they would see each other again,” she said. According to her, children talked about being suddenly pulled out of school, losing beloved toys, and the terrifying sound of shelling and gunfire. Many children have been deeply traumatized. On Sunday, UNICEF delivered 40 tons of medical life-saving items for children and mothers to in 22 hospitals from five of the most affected regions. This equipment included midwifery and obstetrics kits, resuscitation and surgical kits, oxygen concentrators for shelters’ hospitals, and first aid kits for frontline health workers – enough to meet the needs of 20,000 children and their mothers. In coordination with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF is assessing further needs and preparing other shipments. Russel also stressed the “risks posed to children by landmines and explosive remnants of war.” “Even prior to the recent escalation, Eastern Ukraine was one of the most mine-contaminated stretches of land in the world. This brutal reality is rapidly extending to other parts of the country,” she said. “Children in Ukraine need help and protection. They need supplies and other critical support. They need access to basic social services like health and education. They need hope for the future,” Russel argued. “But above all children in Ukraine need peace. It is the only sustainable solution.”