United Nations Security Council on Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine

Madam President,
I thank Mr. Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, for his detailed briefing. The Security Council is convening, once again, in close succession on account of the humanitarian crisis resulting from the unrelenting military bombardments on civilian populated areas in Ukraine. Despite the several calls of the Council for the protection of civilians, the war in Ukraine continues to unfold with devastating impacts on civilians and civilian infrastructure critical to the survival and livelihoods of the people. The ordinary people of Ukraine continue to suffer attacks in blatant violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. We continue to be deeply concerned by military hostilities across several frontlines, especially, the new wave of missile attacks which begun yesterday, and which reportedly have claimed some civilian lives. We are concerned that these attacks are happening at a critical time when temperatures are dropping, and many homes are already without access to heating or water; further
worsening the humanitarian conditions of the people.

We are, particularly, disheartened by the plight of Ukrainian children whose childhood have been upended by the war. It is not only unfortunate, but unacceptable that children, anywhere, should suffer from the viles of armed conflict. Thousands of Ukrainian children have either been killed, maimed or displaced to unfamiliar environments as a result of the war. The physical and psychological well-being of these children are under constant threat from the persisting violence, disruptions to their everyday lives and in some cases, sexual abuse and violations. We register our strong condemnation of all forms of violations against the rights of children and strongly support investigations into such cases to avoid impunity against children in Ukraine.

We further welcome the differentiated humanitarian assistance that would ensure that the specific needs, especially, psycho-social, health and nutritional needs of the children would be catered to. We urge international support for the restoration of Ukraine’s energy and water supply infrastructure which have been damaged or destroyed and hope that the international conference announced by the French government to be held in Paris on 13th December would help to mobilize resources to augment the efforts of the United Nations humanitarian agencies and further enhance resilience in Ukraine. The scaling up of humanitarian assistance, especially the provision of winterisation support is important, however as we have indicated in our previous statements to the Council, such measures are insufficient to assuage the full impact of the war. The war must end; and it must end now to prevent further debilitating humanitarian conditions.

Madam President,
At the founding of the United Nations, world leaders, having witnessed the ugliness of the two previous world wars on our common humanity, pledged to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. While a third world war has been kept at bay, the war in Ukraine has had far-reaching global consequences. We, who now bear the responsibility of promoting international peace and security must, therefore, intensify our efforts to bring an end to the war on Ukraine, and indeed, all other conflict situations the world over. The war in Ukraine, in our view, has come at a cost to the world and is an expense we cannot continue to afford. We must, therefore, continue in ourefforts to bring the parties to the negotiating table to chart a political process
and a peaceful settlement of the conflict through the channels of dialogue and diplomacy. We welcome reports on the progress being made to resume ammonia exports through the Black Sea port. The unimpeded export of Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizers are respectively, critical to avoid a rebound in global food price increases and avert a food shortage in the coming months.

We re-iterate our call for an end to the hostilities and call on the Russian Federation to end its aggression against Ukraine. The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Russian Forces from the internationally recognized territories of Ukraine would provide a much-needed window for diplomatic consultations towards a peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the conflict that lies between the two countries. We re-iterate further, our call on the warring sides to take necessary measures to protect civilians from harm and avoid the targeted attacks of Ukraine’s energy and other critical infrastructure. There is also a continuing need to address concerns of nuclear safety. In bringing my statement to a close, I reiterate Ghana’s unwavering
commitment to the sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We continue to solidarize with the people of Ukraine in these perilous times and reaffirm our support for all international efforts to restore peace in Ukraine.

I thank you for your attention