Business news from Ukraine

19% of all food in world is wasted – UN

Approximately 1.05 billion tons, or 19% of all food produced in the world, was wasted in 2022, while more than 780 million people continued to struggle with hunger, the UN says.

“In 2022, households on all continents wasted more than 1 billion meals a day, while 783 million people suffered from hunger and a third of the world’s population faced food insecurity,” the report, published on the website of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), says.

According to the report, in 2022, the world produced 1.05 billion tons of food waste, which is 132 kg per capita or almost a fifth of all food available to consumers. Households accounted for 60% of food waste, catering companies for 28%, and retailers for another 12%.

“Food waste is a global tragedy. Today, millions of people are starving while food is simply thrown away,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.

“Such waste causes significant damage to the climate and nature,” she added.

According to the UNEP, food waste is responsible for 8-10% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions and significant biodiversity losses.

“The damage to the global economy from food losses and food waste is estimated at about $1 trillion,” UNEP said.

The report emphasizes that as of 2022, only 21 countries have included reducing food loss and food waste in their national climate agenda.

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UN estimates nearly 15 mln Ukrainian citizens in need of humanitarian aid

More than 14.6 million people in Ukraine are in need of humanitarian assistance, and Ukrainian refugees who fled the country due to the war also need help, the UN website reported on January 9.

“This year, according to UN estimates, more than 14.6 million people in Ukraine – 40 percent of the country’s population – will need humanitarian assistance. The UN also reminds that 6.3 million Ukrainians who fled abroad need help,” the publication says.

It is noted that next Monday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), together with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), will present a 2024 response plan for Ukraine, as well as for Ukrainian refugees and host countries in the region in Geneva.

UNHCR expresses concern that many Ukrainian refugees remain without the necessary support.

The UN welcomes the European Union’s decision to extend temporary protection measures for Ukrainian refugees until March 2025, while emphasizing that efforts to integrate IDPs into the national systems of host countries should be a priority.

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UN requests $435 mln in humanitarian aid for Ukraine

The United Nations (UN) is requesting $435 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine to help it get through the winter, the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine reports, citing the UN Office.

“In connection with the adjustment of the Humanitarian Response Plan, the UN asks partners to allocate $435 million in assistance to Ukraine. This is stated on the website of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA Ukraine),” the Ministry of Reintegration said in a statement on its Telegram channel on Tuesday.

The UN believes that these funds will make it possible to provide humanitarian assistance to more than 1.7 million people throughout Ukraine until March 2024.

As noted, the relevant Humanitarian Response Plan is being implemented in support of the efforts of the Government of Ukraine, as well as national, regional and local authorities. In the future, it will be supplemented by a regular program designed to meet the needs of more than 11 million Ukrainians.

The 2023-2024 response will focus on communities where active hostilities have taken place or are taking place, namely in Donetsk, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kherson, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

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UN calls for almost $0.5 bln in humanitarian aid to help Ukrainians get through winter

About $435 million is needed to help civilians across Ukraine by March 2024, according to the website of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
“The United Nations and partners are calling for about $435 million to be allocated for winter assistance. US dollars to provide winter assistance to more than 1.7 million people across Ukraine by March 2024,” the statement emphasizes.
It is noted that this year alone, the UN and partners have delivered 14 convoys to the frontline areas of Zaporizhzhia region, providing the necessary assistance to more than 30 thousand people living near the southern front. Since the beginning of the year, 96 humanitarian convoys have been delivered to the frontline areas.
In particular, as reported on November 3, an interagency humanitarian convoy delivered vital supplies for 1,600 people who remain in the frontline town of Orikhiv, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. The aid included medicines, household items, hygiene kits, blankets, mattresses, solar lamps and sleeping bags.

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EU to discuss revival of Black Sea grain initiative at UN

EU Diplomacy Chief Josep Borrell says the events in Ukraine threaten global food security, and the EU will discuss with the UN Secretary General the prospect of reviving the “grain deal”.

“This affects all countries, but especially the weakest and poorest. In August 2022, the UN played a crucial role in mitigating this suffering through the Black Sea Grain Initiative. However, in July, Russia decided to abandon this agreement,” Borrell wrote in his blog post, looking ahead to the UN General Assembly’s High Level Week that opens in New York.

“We will discuss with UN Secretary General Guterres ways and means to revive it. Sustainable development goals are in the focus of the UNGA,” said the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

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UN: war in Ukraine has claimed lives of nearly 10,000 civilians

Civilian casualties from February 24, 2022, after Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, to September 10, 2023, totaled 27,149 (26,717 as of August 27), including 9,614 deaths (9,511), the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) reported.

“The UN OHCHR considers that the actual number of civilian deaths or injuries is significantly higher, as many reports from locations where such incidents have occurred continue to require further confirmation, while information from some locations where fighting continues has been delayed,” the document said regarding the UN data.

This applies, for example, to such localities as Mariupol (Donetsk region), Lisichansk, Popasnaya and Severodonetsk (Luhansk region), where numerous civilian deaths or injuries have been reported.

According to confirmed UN figures, 4,461 men, 2,672 women, 289 boys and 236 girls were killed, while the gender of 29 children and 1,927 adults could not yet be ascertained.

Among the 17,535 injured, 516 boys and 378 girls were killed, while 286 children whose gender could not yet be determined.

Compared to August 27, five children have died and 14 others have been injured.

While the UN OHCHR casualty count summary was previously issued daily, and then only on weekdays, it became weekly from July 2022 and biweekly from the end of May 2023. This summary, like the previous one, provides data by month.

According to them, the UN recorded the deaths of 55 civilians in 10 days in September. In August, the number of new deaths reported dropped to 147 from 161 in July, 186 in June, 174 in May, 182 in April, 181 in March and 144 in February.

The deadliest month for civilians, the UN points out, remains March last year, with a minimum of 4,168 deaths. In April 2022, according to an OHCHR publication, the number of civilian deaths due to war fell to 823 in April, 550 in May, 429 in June and 386 in July. There were 375 deaths in the first five days of the war from February 24 to February 28, 340 in August last year, 408 in September, 310 in October, 188 in November, 206 in December and 201 in January this year.

The number of wounded in the 10 days of September was 237, compared with 565 in August, 688 in July, 679 in June, 685 in May, 492 in April, 592 in March, 457 in February, 538 in January this year, 617 in December and 541 in November last year. In October, the number of injuries dropped to 795 from 983 in September, when it was up from August’s 921. Prior to that the monthly number of wounded exceeded a thousand: July, 1,131; June, 1,109; May, 1,139; April, 1,896; March, 3,001. In the first five days of the war last February, 469 people were wounded.

The UN OHCHR specifies that since the beginning of September, explosive weapons have killed 54 people and injured 170 others, while mines and explosive remnants of war have killed one person and injured 16 (6%).

Government-controlled territories accounted for 79% of casualties in the first 10 days of September, according to the UN.

The summary traditionally states that the increase in figures to the previous summary should not be attributed solely to cases after August 27, as during this period the Office verified a number of cases from the previous days.

Source: https://www.ohchr.org/en/news/2023/09/ukraine-civilian-casualty-update-11-september-2023

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