GENEVA: The UN said Thursday more than 14 million people had fled their homes in Ukraine during the two years since the Russian invasion, with nearly 6.5 million now living outside the country as refugees.
Reflecting on the February 24 second anniversary of the full-scale invasion, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that in addition to the refugees abroad, some 3.7 million people remain displaced within Ukraine.
Over 4.5 million people have returned home to date, from either abroad or displacement within the country.
In total, more than 14 million people — nearly one third of Ukraine’s population — have fled their homes at some point during the war.
“The destruction is widespread, loss of life and suffering continues,” IOM director general Amy Pope said in a statement.
“IOM commends the government of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people for their strength and resilience, as well as Ukraine’s neighbors who are taking in those seeking safety. We remain fully committed to alleviating human suffering and helping recovery.”
The United Nations agency said it had supported 6.5 million people in Ukraine and across 11 countries in eastern Europe hosting refugees.
“As the war enters a protracted phase, however, needs continue to grow and outpace available resources,” the agency said.
In the first two years of the conflict, the IOM has received $957 million in donations.
“We count on increased support from donors and local partners to meet the challenges that lie ahead in providing a better life for Ukrainians,” said Pope.
The Russian invasion was the biggest of a European country since World War II and triggered the largest refugee crisis the continent has faced since the 1939-1945 conflict.
The United Nations overall says it needs $4.2 billion this year to provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine and to refugees who have fled but fears a likely shortfall as the Gaza war dominates global attention.
Of those who fled and have now returned to their homes, “many have encountered lasting challenges... including insecurity, loss of livelihoods, damaged housing and infrastructure, and strained services,” said Soda Federico, director of the IOM’s humanitarian response and recovery department.
“We must focus on economic recovery,” he said in the agency’s report on the first two years of the war.
UN says 14 million fled homes in Ukraine since Russian invasion
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UN says 14 million fled homes in Ukraine since Russian invasion
- In addition to the refugees abroad, some 3.7 million people remain displaced within Ukraine
- The Russian invasion was the biggest of a European country since World War II
India hosts global leaders, tech moguls at AI Impact Summit
- 20 heads of state scheduled to attend event which runs until Feb. 20
- Summit expected to speed up adoption of AI in India’s governance, expert says
NEW DELHI: A global artificial intelligence summit opened in New Delhi on Monday, with representatives of more than 60 countries scheduled to discuss the use and regulation of AI with the industry’s leaders and investors.
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is hosted by the Indian government’s IndiaAI Mission — an initiative worth in excess of $1 billion and launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2024 to develop the AI ecosystem in the country.
After five days of sessions and an accompanying exhibition of 300 companies at Bharat Mandapam — the venue of the 2023 G20 summit — participating leaders are expected to sign a declaration which, according to the organizer, will outline a “shared road map for global AI governance and collaboration.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will attend the summit on Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron, said on X it was a “matter of great pride for us that people from around the world are coming to India” for the event, which is evidence that the country is “rapidly advancing in the fields of science and technology and is making a significant contribution to global development.”
Among the 20 heads of state that the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has announced as scheduled to attend are Macron, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, and Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi’s crown prince.
Also expected are tech moguls such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google’s chief Sundar Pichai.
The summit will give India, the world’s most populous country, a platform to try to steer cooperation and AI regulation between the West and the Global South, and to present to the global audience its own technological development.
“India is leveraging its position as a bridge between emerging and developed economies to bring together not just country leaders and technologists, but also delegates, policy analysts, media, and others … to explore the facets of AI, multilateral collaborations, and the direction that large-scale development of AI should take,” said Anwesha Sen, assistant program manager for technology and policy at Takshashila Institution.
“India is trying to do three things through the AI Impact Summit. One, India is advocating for sovereign AI and the development of inclusive, population-scale solutions. Two, establishing international collaborations that prioritize AI diffusion in sectors like healthcare and agriculture. And three, showcasing how Indian startups and organizations are using frameworks such as that of digital public infrastructure as a model to bridge the two.”
It is the fourth such gathering dedicated to the development of AI. The first one was held in the UK in 2023, a year after the debut of ChatGPT; the 2024 meeting in South Korea; and last year’s event took place in France.
The summit is likely to help the Indian government in speeding up the adoption of AI, according to Nikhil Pahwa, digital rights activist and founder of MediaNama, a mobile and digital news portal, who likened it to the Digital India initiative launched in 2015 to provide digital government services.
“A summit like this, with this much bandwidth allocated to it by the government, even if the agenda is flat, ends up making AI a priority focus for ministries and state governments,” Pahwa told Arab News.
“It encourages diffusion of AI execution-specific thinking and ends up increasing adoption of AI in governance and by both central and state-level ministries. That reduces time for adoption of AI.
“We saw this play out with the government’s Digital India focus: it increased digitization and the adoption of digital technology. The agenda and India’s role in AI globally is less important than speeding up adoption.”
