Currently, about 3.4 million children in Ukraine have limited access to water and sanitation, said Munir Mammadzadeh, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine.
“We know that about 3.4 million children have problems with access to water and sanitation, and the problem is especially acute in the frontline regions,” he said in an interview withInterfax-Ukraine.
That is why the supply of drinking water and hygiene kits is one of the key tasks for UNICEF. In addition, the UN Children’s Fund is working with water utilities on large-scale projects to restore infrastructure to make drinking water available. According to Mammadzadeh, even if children are not directly exposed to the risk of hostilities or attacks, the lack of normal life and anxiety also significantly affects their mental health.
UNICEF pays a lot of attention to the psychological problems of children and adolescents in the context of war.
“This is one of the areas where a lot of work is being done, as 1.5 million children in Ukraine today face problems such as depression, insomnia, and anxiety. We also know that during this thousand days, children have spent 2,800 to 4,800 hours in shelters while regular alarms sound – these estimates show the scale of the war’s impact on children: since the beginning of the war, they have spent an average of 4 to 6.5 months in shelters,” Mammadzadeh said.
He noted that a number of programs are already being organized to provide psychological assistance to children in Ukraine. For example, resilience centers in local communities already include mental health components as basic services. UNICEF also cooperates with Ukrainian universities to train good mental health professionals and works with school teachers and psychologists to help them recognize the elements of anxiety in children and provide basic assistance.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UNICEF has managed to mobilize more than $1 billion to help young Ukrainians, said Munir Mammadzadeh, head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine.
“We were in the country before the war, our mandate covered development and humanitarian issues. That is, we were already working and had a presence in the regions, which helped us to launch a full-fledged response to the full-scale war and attract additional resources to help children as much as possible. During this time, we have managed to mobilize more than $1 billion for Ukraine and neighboring countries where Ukrainians have started to move because of the war,” he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to Mammadzadeh, UNICEF’s request for humanitarian aid for Ukraine for this year is $496 million, and 70% of this amount has been funded, which shows the interest of donor countries in supporting Ukraine. He noted that it is often impossible to attract more than 50%.
In addition, in addition to humanitarian aid to the needy, UNICEF also has programmatic activities related to development, recovery and other areas. “We are now clearly distinguishing between what is humanitarian activity – saving lives – and what is part of our development work,” said Mammadzade.
According to him, next year UNICEF plans to reduce the humanitarian request by 20% compared to this year and increase plans and requests for systemic work, i.e. the development component of the mandate, which includes social protection issues.
Ukraine wanted to buy arms from South Korea that would help in confronting the Russian army, but Seoul refused, South Korea’s SBS News reported.
According to the publication, the Ukrainian delegation asked for authorization to purchase Korean weapons, not a free transfer. In particular, Cheongung medium-range surface-to-air missiles.
According to the source, Ukraine asked for non-lethal weapons. In addition to Cheongung interceptor missiles, the Ukrainians were interested in radars – for air defense and anti-artillery. The Ukrainians also requested charges for 155mm artillery shells.
It is likely that Korean defense companies such as LIG Nex1, Hanwha and Hyundai Rotem have received offers from Ukraine to cooperate on arms purchases. But the South Korean Defense Ministry recommended them to refrain from signing contracts. The reason for the refusal is allegedly “a high risk of violating foreign trade laws restricting exports to combat zones”.
As reported, a Ukrainian delegation headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov visited Seoul earlier this week.
The European Union has accredited 60 Ukrainian dairy plants, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval said in a telegram.
“The Ministry of Agrarian Policy supports the dairy industry. Our priorities are the development of livestock and agro-processing. For this purpose, UAH 1 billion has been allocated in the budget for the next year,” he wrote after participating in the All-Ukrainian conference Dairy Business 2024.
The Minister added that thanks to the initiative of the First Lady, Ukraine is introducing milk as a compulsory product for primary school children – 200 ml per day.
According to the State Statistics Committee, in January-October 2024, Ukraine exported 101.6 thousand tons of dairy products worth $250.1 million. In physical terms, exports grew by 10% compared to the same period last year, and revenue by 13%.
In addition, Ukraine is intensifying negotiations with Indonesia to open the market for several commodities, including milk and dairy products.
Private JSC “Insurance company ‘Nadiyna’ (Kyiv) in January-September 2023 has collected gross insurance premiums in the amount of UAH 49,890 mln, that is by 49,9% less than in the same period a year earlier. This is evidenced by the data in the information of RA “Standard-Rating” on updating the company’s credit rating/rating of financial stability (reliability) of the insurer at the level uaA+ according to the national scale.
Thus premiums from individuals have amounted to UAH 0,36 m, and premiums from reinsurers have been absent. Thus, following the results of the nine months of 2024 the client portfolio of the insurer on gross premiums has been mainly represented by legal persons.
Insurance payments sent to reinsurers, for the reporting period have decreased by 78,57% compared to the same period of 2023 – to UAH 11,818 mln. The ratio of reinsurers’ participation in insurance premiums has decreased by 31,69 p.p. to 23,69%.
Net premiums of the insurer have decreased by 14,31% – to UAH 38,072 mln, and net earned premiums – by 19,28%, to UAH 35,586 mln.
The volume of insurance payments and indemnities made by the company has grown by 89,55% – up to UAH 10,844 mln. Thus, the level of payouts has grown by 15,99 p.p. and has amounted to 21,74%.
Profit from operating activities of the insurer has amounted to UAH 15,335 mln, and net profit has amounted to UAH 13,392 mln.
Assets as of November 1, 2024 have grown by 12,95% – to UAH 85,693 mln, shareholders’ equity – by 5,76%, to UAH 68,306 mln, liabilities – by 54,13%, to UAH 17,387 mln, cash and cash equivalents – by 39,94%, to UAH 57,572 mln.
As of the reporting date, the company formed a portfolio of current financial investments in the amount of UAH 6.195 mln, which consisted of investments in government bonds.
According to the company’s website, it was registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Physical Entrepreneurs in 2006. Its authorized capital is UAH 15 million.
Its shareholders are eight individuals – residents of Ukraine and one legal entity – Agroholding 2012 LLC.
On Friday, Italian citizens went on a general strike demanding higher wages and increased investment in the social sphere, ANSA reports. Employees of the public and private sectors intend to strike for eight hours.
In the transportation sector, by order of Italian Minister of Infrastructure Matteo Salvini, the strike will be limited to four hours. Thus, water transport, buses, subways and trams will stop working from 09:00 to 13:00 local time (10:00 to 14:00 Kyiv time). Air traffic will be suspended from 10:00 to 14:00 local time (11:00 to 15:00 Kyiv time). Firefighters will also not work during this time period.
However, the strike will not affect rail services. A total of 43 protests are planned throughout Italy on Friday. The day before, the Italian Labor Union and the General Italian Labor Confederation called on citizens to go on strike to demand higher wages, increased funding for healthcare, education, public services, and investment in industry.
According to various estimates, there are about 1 million Ukrainian citizens in Italy.
