Before the UN, Mexico urges a pause in the conflict for humanitarian aid

Emir Olivares Alonso

Newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, March 8, 2022, p. 4

Mexico urged the actors involved in the conflict in Ukraine to carry out a sustained pause hostilities that allows the entry of humanitarian aid to support and evacuate the affected population. And together with France, it called for consultations with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to analyze the humanitarian situation.

Before that body, Ambassador Juan Ramón de la Fuente, permanent representative of Mexico to the UN, warned that eleven days after the Russian invasion began, the humanitarian situation in the Slavic country requires urgent and coordinated action with the participation of impartial humanitarian actors.

He stressed that the UNSC must resume its role as the main body in charge of international peace and security, for which it must adopt a resolution that promotes humanitarian aid.

Speaking at the session of that multilateral organization held yesterday on the situation in that area of ​​Eastern Europe, he stressed that Mexico and France will insist that the Security Council adopt a humanitarian resolution that addresses the most urgent needs of civilians in Ukraine.

Humanitarian aid cannot and should not be held hostage to political considerations or military attacks. Unrestricted and safe access for all humanitarian workers in Ukraine and all neighboring countries must be guaranteed in accordance with international humanitarian lawhe emphasized.

The challenge, he asserted, is enormous because 1.7 million refugees have been reported to date, a figure that will keep growing, and around a million internally displaced persons, the vast majority of whom are women and children. To which are added the critical conditions for the population in the besieged cities to have access to water and food.

Finally, he urged that mental health care and psychosocial support services be included as part of humanitarian aid.