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Madam chair, Excellencies, colleagues,

Over two years have passed since the start of a brutal war that has brought tremendous human suffering to Ukraine.

It has taken countless lives, resulted in massive injuries, and forced millions to flee their homes. The cost of reconstruction and recovery now stands at $486 billion.

Now, more than ever, we owe it to the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people to speak about, and act for the recovery of Ukraine.

Since the start of this war, UNOPS has worked to respond to humanitarian and recovery needs, together with the UN family, Ukraine’s national and municipal governments, and other partners - including the European Union, the governments of Denmark and Japan, and the World Bank. We have done so, building on our expertise in infrastructure, procurement and our support for mine action.

We have delivered modular boiler houses and hundreds of generators that provide uninterrupted access to electricity to residents and critical services.This work remains crucial, as targeted attacks on energy infrastructure continue and have left Ukraine's energy system at 32% of its pre-war capacity. We are committed to responding to immediate energy needs - while supporting a green and resilient energy transition in Ukraine.

We are repairing over ninety schools throughout Ukraine so that children can resume their education.

We procure specialized equipment to support infrastructure reconstruction. We help repair transport infrastructure, delivering bridges and helping restore the railway networks.

We supply critical medical equipment, working together with the private sector because we know that the scale of the recovery needs simply can not be funded solely from public sources.

And we help rehabilitate entire neighborhoods in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv, with a focus on social cohesion and inclusiveness, so that refugees can come home, and have access to essential services, such as housing, education and healthcare.

And importantly, we support efforts to remove the explosive remnants of war scattered throughout Ukraine, delivering relief to heavily affected communities, in what is now the most mined country in the world. The effective clearance of explosive hazards is key to peace, security, normality, and ultimately sustainable reconstruction of the country.

As Ukraine responds and rebuilds, UNOPS stands by to support a recovery that accelerates the country’s progress towards the sustainable development goals, and supports alignment with the EU acquis.

We would like to thank the German government for organizing this very important event. UNOPS stands ready to work in partnership with you and the Ukrainian government, to support the communities across Ukraine.