UN office to be opened in Kherson
The UN office will be opened soon in Kherson, said Denise Brown, the coordinator of the UN system in Ukraine and humanitarian Coordinator, who is completing her two-year mission.
“And we’ll be opening up a UN office in Kherson. I visited a couple of potential locations in July. So that is the answer to your question about what is next. Will we forget? We’re not going to forget about war because we actually sit there. I’ve been in Kherson dozens of times, but I want us to be more physically present there. I know in Kyiv, sometimes people say: What do we need the UN for? Go ask the people of Kherson. They know,” Brown said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
She stressed that the situation in Kherson and Kherson region remains difficult due to the constant Russian shelling and the consequences of the disaster of the Kakhovska HPP.
“Also I have to mention Kherson, the situation there is very difficult. We try and do as much as possible. And it’s not just supplies that we’re providing there, but also services. UNICEF does a lot with Vodakanal, WHO, UNFPA support the hospitals. So we’re trying to make that shift because people are staying in their home,” Brown added.
The UN reported that as part of the actions to overcome the consequences of the dam explosion, about 200,000 people received assistance. In particular, 19 convoys delivered water, food, medicines, and repair materials to people affected by the flood. More than 56,000 people received financial assistance to address critical and urgent needs. Some 65,000 units of repair materials and household goods were distributed during the first month of the disaster. Some 70,000 people received medicines and medical supplies through mobile services.
Brown stressed that the UN "does not forget" about the war in Ukraine, and that is why it is physically present in different places. “I don’t operate from Poland. And I don’t operate just from Kyiv. We have 100 UN staff in Kharkiv. We have 300 UN staff in Dnipro, 200 in Odesa, 50 in Mykolaiv. We are very present because we want to ensure that continuity. We’re not running away,” she explained.
Brown also added that when she started the mission in Ukraine, there were about 1,800 people here, and now there are 3,200 UN staff. “A lot of people came in very quickly. We have more than 600 internationals, most of whom never worked in Ukraine before. Setting up that operation, and making sure we were saving people’s lives,” she said.
As reported, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Matthias Schmale as the coordinator of the UN system and humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine from August 11, 2024, with the approval of the government of the host country.