Ukraine war: What are the impacts on the world today?

After over nine months of fighting, there is no end in sight for the war in Ukraine. Millions of civilians
are unable to return home. Many still in the country are forced to live without access to food, water,
health care, and other essential supplies.

This is not an isolated crisis—blockades of Ukrainian grain exports have worsened hunger in some of
the world’s most vulnerable regions. Even as international efforts have helped to resume grain
shipments, the situation remains dire. In East Africa, for instance, a perfect storm of continued
drought, the blockade, and the economic fallout from the war is causing mass starvation. Without
urgent international funding, the lives of millions of people are at stake.

• What is life like inside Ukraine?

The continued conflict in Ukraine is causing extreme civilian harm and leaving millions without
access to food, water and other essential supplies. Innocent civilians have been cruelly caught up in
the conflict, with over 17,000 casualties since 24th February, including over 6,500 killed. Over 6.5
million people have been internally displaced.

There has been catastrophic damage to civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools. With
Ukraine’s cold winter months approaching, families are seeking shelter in damaged buildings not
suited to deal with sudden drops of temperature or heavy snowfall.

Starting in October, waves of airstrikes left even more people across the country to face the cold
without access to gas, electricity or centralized heating systems. In just one day in mid-
November, over 7 million people were left without electricity due to the fighting.

A looming health crisis?

• The cold winter months could also bring a health crisis to Ukraine. In the eastern part of the
country, the health system is crumbling and hospitals are out of medicine. Many people lack
access to safe water and critical care. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned
that thousands are at risk of pneumonia and hypothermia. COVID-19 continues to spread
and interruptions to routine vaccinations could even lead to surges of polio.

• What is life like for those displaced by the war in Ukraine?

• The war in Ukraine has created the fastest displacement crisis in Europe since World War II.
The majority of those displaced are women and children, who are always most at risk of
exploitation and abuse during crises.

• How many Ukrainian refugees are there?

• As of November 2022, there are over 7.8 million refugees from Ukraine recorded across
Europe.

• Where have most Ukrainian refugees found protection?

• Ukrainian refugees are predominantly finding safety in neighbouring countries. Poland has
granted protection to over 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees while other nearby countries
Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova have each given safety to tens of thousands of
Ukrainian refugees.

• What is life like for Ukrainian women and children fleeing the conflict?
 • In crisis settings, existing gender inequality is exacerbated while instances of gender based
violence increase. Women and girls with extremely stretched resources and disrupted
support networks are vulnerable to traffickers ready to exploit the crisis.

• Women forced to flee their homes also often struggle to access critical reproductive health
care and pre and post-natal care, which are typically limited in crisis situations.

• Children forced to flee Ukraine have their lives uprooted, education interrupted and are in
some cases even separated from their families.

• What is life like for Ukrainian women and children fleeing the conflict?

• In crisis settings, existing gender inequality is exacerbated while instances of gender based
violence increase. Women and girls with extremely stretched resources and disrupted
support networks are vulnerable to traffickers ready to exploit the crisis.

• Women forced to flee their homes also often struggle to access critical reproductive health
care and pre and post-natal care, which are typically limited in crisis situations.

• Children forced to flee Ukraine have their lives uprooted, education interrupted and are in
some cases even separated from their families.

• Why is Ukraine grain so important?

• Ukraine is historically a large exporter of grain. In 2021, Ukrainian grain fed 400 million
people around the world. For the first 5 months of the war, Ukraine was unable to export its
grain through its primary shipping routes through the Black Sea.

• Countries reliant on this grain suffered as a consequence. Several grain-receiving countries

across the Middle East and Africa were already experiencing hunger crises due to conflict
and climate change. The war in Ukraine made these hunger crises worse.

• What countries are impacted by the war in Ukraine?

The global repercussions of the war have had catastrophic impacts on countries already facing
conflict and crises.

East Africa is facing a looming famine, as a severe drought hits the region alongside the disruption in
food supply caused by the war in Ukraine. Over 14 million people
across Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya are already on the verge of starvation—about half of them
children. That number could rise to 20 million if the world fails to take urgent action.

How does the war in Ukraine affect the rest of the world?

• The war in Ukraine has an obvious impact on those within the country displaced by conflict.
Outside of Ukraine, the war also continues to have a major effect on the global markets and
food supply. Ukraine’s inability to export grain throughout the first five months of the
conflict worsened a global hunger crisis, with catastrophic impacts throughout the world.

• Why is Ukraine grain so important?

• Ukraine is historically a large exporter of grain. In 2021, Ukrainian grain fed 400 million
people around the world. For the first 5 months of the war, Ukraine was unable to export its
grain through its primary shipping routes through the Black Sea.
 • Countries reliant on this grain suffered as a consequence. Several grain-receiving countries
across the Middle East and Africa were already experiencing hunger crises due to conflict
and climate change. The war in Ukraine made these hunger crises worse.

• What needs to happen now?

• Ending violence against civilians is one of the most important steps to help Ukrainians
rebuild their lives. World leaders must ensure that international humanitarian law is upheld
and that humanitarian actors are protected and maintain access to help those in need.

•
The world must also continue to support both the people who fled Ukraine and the millions
of refugees and displaced people worldwide. While there has rightly been an outpouring of
global support for people fleeing Ukraine, equal empathy must be shown for refugees and
displaced people in many other crises around the world including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen and Syria.

• What is the IRC doing to help?

The IRC (International rescue committee) is continuing
to scale up its response efforts in Ukraine, Poland, and
Moldova, to match the growing scale of needs and
support displaced families. This includes:
 Delivering multipurpose cash support to ensure
families can cover their most basic needs;
 Distributing essential winter items such as blankets,

sleeping bags and heaters to keep people warm;

 Providing essential protection services, including Safe

Healing and Learning Spaces for children, gender-

based violence services and women’s centers, and
legal assistance for people whose homes have been
damaged by air strikes;
 In Poland and Moldova, working to provide refugees

with information on their rights and available legal

support, cash, safe spaces for women and
children and healthcare assistance.
Responding along the entire arc of the crisis, we are
also assisting Ukrainian refugees in Romania,
Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia and Bulgaria, as well as in
Germany, Italy, Greece and the UK.