Sara Germain, Stéphanie Maltais and François Audet • Canadian Research Institute on Humanitarian Crises and Aid (Montreal, Canada)
Our partner, the Canadian Research Institute on Humanitarian Crises and Aid (Observatoire canadien sur les crises et l’action humanitaires – OCCAH in French), has been monitoring the humanitarian consequences of the conflict in Ukraine. A dozen researchers are working to assess and analyse the situation in order to inform the reflections of humanitarian and academic actors as well as policy makers. In this article, three of them provide an initial overview and points of attention.
The violence of the war that has been going on in Ukraine since 24 February shows us that the Kremlin – the centre of power in Moscow – is not responding to any imperative to protect civilians. Civilian targets are deliberately being attacked, with a blatant disregard for the principles that govern international humanitarian law and despite the agreements regarding humanitarian corridors which were concluded as part of the peace negotiations between the two States during the various rounds of negotiations. In addition, the speed of the evolution of the conflict makes it very difficult to organise and provide humanitarian access, both to protect local populations who are close to the front lines or who are still on the move, and those who have already crossed borders. As needs increase, obstacles to civilian protection are piling up. Given the scale of the crisis, how is the humanitarian assistance provided by the “international community” organised and what challenges will countries and organisations have to face? The purpose of this article is to provide an update on the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.
Read the full article here.