Ukraine : NGOs urge warring parties to protect civilians

Oxfam strongly condemns the attack on Kyiv's children hospital

Oxfam, CARE, Humanity & Inclusion, and We World, strongly denounce the harm caused to civilians by bombing and shelling of towns and cities in the ongoing war in Ukraine. We condemn all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. This includes violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality, and feasible precautions, the use of indiscriminate attacks, the use of internationally prohibited weapons, such as landmines and cluster munitions, the attacks on civilians and civilian objects, including health facilities and other critical civilian infrastructure, and attacks against medical and humanitarian workers.

Since the beginning of the year at least 860 civilians have been killed and 2 580 wounded in Ukraine in at least over 950 incidents involving the use of explosive weapons with wide area effect in populated areas.

The month of May has registered the highest record of civilian casualties since June 2023 and a significant increase in civilian deaths compared to April 2024. This increase is mainly due to the ground offensive launched by the Russian Federation in the Kharkiv region. More than half of the civilians killed or wounded were in the Kharkiv region, while the vast majority of civilian casualties were in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government.

While the ground offensive launched by the Russian Federation has severe consequences for civilians, they have overall been particularly exposed to the use of explosive weapons since the escalation of the war in February 2022.

The year 2024 continues to see significant damage inflicted on civilians in the conduct of the war.

The bombing and shelling of Ukrainian towns and villages is directly affecting the civilian population, who face a high risk of death, war-related injuries and psychological trauma, resulting in increased needs for rehabilitation, psychological and psychosocial support and other services. The new offensive by the armed forces of the Russian Federation is leading to an upsurge in bombardments in populated areas, with devastating consequences and reverberating effects for civilians in terms of access to essential services, health, food and energy supplies.

We call upon governments to urgently endorse and implement the Political Declaration on strengthening the protection of civilians from the humanitarian consequences arising from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas.

SIGNATORIES:

• CARE
• Humanity & Inclusion
• Oxfam
• We World

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.