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 For more than four weeks now, the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has been largely holding, giving space for greater efforts towards a political solution and allowing the OSCE to broaden its engagement on the ground.
Our key priority remains the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, which has a direct impact on the daily lives of people in areas affected by the conflict. But the OSCE is doing much more, as I saw during my recent visit to south-eastern Ukraine. This issue highlights some of our important efforts – clearing unexploded ordinance in eastern Ukraine, ensuring vital water supplies as winter approaches, acting to protect vulnerable people from human trafficking and preparing for the upcoming local elections. Security and stability on all fronts are key to achieving progress and to ending this conflict.
The people of Ukraine are tired of the conflict, all they want is to go back to a normal life. For the people I talked to, for their future and the future of their children, we must keep up the dialogue and make sure the ceasefire continues to hold.
Lamberto Zannier
OSCE Secretary General
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OSCE makes progress restoring access to running water in Donetsk region
Due to shelling in Donetsk region, the main water supplies have been damaged and approximately 2.5 million people are suffering from severe shortages of running water. This adds another challenge to the daily lives of the local population, including residents of the most populous cities such as Mariupol, Yenakiieve, Vuhlehirsk and Krasnosarmiisk. Read our story to learn more about how the OSCE helped restore access to running water.
REPORT: Access to water in conflict‐affected areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions
A new OSCE report explains how widespread damage to water infrastructure in eastern Ukraine has put the lives and livelihoods of these affected civilians at risk as winter approaches. Learn More
Read the report in: English | Russian | Ukrainian
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Agreement reached on withdrawal of weapons in eastern Ukraine
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić welcomed the agreement on withdrawal of tanks, artillery under 100mm and mortars up to 120mm in eastern Ukraine, which was reached by the Working Group on Security of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk on 29 September. Read More
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Building a new life in western Ukraine
Oleksandr Bosnenko is one of the hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons in Ukraine. He had to flee Donetsk last autumn where it was no longer safe for him and his family. In Lviv, western Ukraine, he managed not only to rebuild his own life but also started the “Ukraine-Path of Unity” NGO, which helps other people who like him were forced to leave their homes and face similar challenges in putting their lives back together. Read their story.
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Cleaning-up unexploded ordnance in eastern Ukraine
In recent years, more than 37,000 explosive remnants have been located and removed in eastern Ukraine with OSCE support. Now, four explosive disposal teams from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service are being trained thanks to the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and with financial support from Germany’s government. This current project comes at a critical time when humanitarian demining is essential to the everyday safety of local people. Learn more about our project.
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Human trafficking in crises: raising awareness in Ukraine
Since the start of the crisis in and around Ukraine, more than 1.3 million people have been displaced, a human tragedy with widespread social and economic implications, as families and individuals are uprooted and impoverished. Read More
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Strengthening dialogue among civil society and key government stakeholders in Ukraine
Learn how the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is building the capacity of civil society and state actors in human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, democratic governance and democratic lawmaking in Ukraine. Read More
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VIDEO: Ready for Anything
Monitors from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) have to undergo an intensive induction course before they set off for the deployment to the field. The training course prepares them for various situations they may have to face while on duty. Watch the video to learn more.
Check out our Multimedia section for more SMM videos.
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Daily updates from the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine
To get a better understanding of the situation on the ground in Ukraine, read the daily updates provided for the public and the media by the teams of special monitors.
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Reports from the Observer Mission at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk
Read weekly first-hand information from the team of OSCE observers on the situation at the border checkpoints.
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Background: OSCE engagement with Ukraine
Learn more about OSCE responses to the crisis in and around Ukraine, ranging from high-level diplomacy and multilateral dialogue, addressing concerns over fundamental freedoms, human rights, through to monitoring, fact-finding and military visits.
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