Ukraine offered UN members to sign the Declaration on the occasion of the anniversary of the Holodomor to demonstrate international solidarity, honor the memory of those killed by hunger and recognize the relevance of the lessons of the past. 45 UN countries have already agreed upon the document, Andriy Dobriansky, Chair of the UWC Committee on Relations with the United Nations, reported.
“We would like to emphasize in this document that the Holodomor should be a reminder for present and future generations to unconditionally respect human rights in order to prevent the repetition of such tragedies. It is also an important message of the need to prevent weaponization of food against the backdrop of the disrupting production and supply chains that increases global food insecurity, especially for the most vulnerable,” Sergiy Kyslytsya, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations, explained.
Currently, Ukraine is fighting the same aggressor who organized a deadly famine 90 years ago, the diplomat added. “Stalin resorted to total food confiscation and starving people to death, Putin has ordered a full-scale military invasion,” Kyslytsia said, adding that the difference in Ukraine’s current struggle is that it is supported by broad international solidarity.
Like 90 years ago, Moscow is again using food as a weapon, the representatives of Ukraine at the UN said. From the first days, Russia blocked Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, later obstructed the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and withdrew from it, and also conducts missile attacks on port infrastructure and grain warehouses in southern Ukraine.
“The full-scale military invasion of the Russian Federation onto the sovereign territory of Ukraine brings deaths not only to Ukrainians. Russia seeks to instigate global hunger by blocking food shipments from the Black Sea region to other countries. It destroys Ukrainian grain terminals and port infrastructure, thus blackmailing other countries with an imminent food crisis,” Maksym Subkh, the Special Representative for Ukraine for the Middle East and Africa, said.
Ukraine calls on the world to stop Russian terror. In particular, Kyslytsya appealed to all UN member states to sign the document and expressed his gratitude to the members of the Security Council and other UN states that joined this year’s declaration, which will be published soon.
UWC thanks Ukraine’s partners for their systematic and unwavering support – in particular, to the societies and governments of countries that recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 as a genocide of Ukrainians. At the same time, the UWC calls on other countries to join the initiative to establish justice.
In addition, UWC calls on Ukrainian communities to join the global information campaign #Holodomor90 and the online #ShineALight – Light a candle. Take a pledge! campaign. The necessary materials can be found at the link.
Cover: UN Photo/Loey Felipe
