This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

UN emergency relief chief ends Ukraine visit pledging solidarity

In Ukraine, the UN’s top emergency relief official, Martin Griffiths, has pledged solidarity with the embattled country and its people, as they try to rebuild their lives.

Speaking in Kyiv, at the end of a four-day official visit, Mr. Griffiths highlighted the continuing threat to human life from daily artillery attacks on the southern port city of Kherson.

The UN aid chief explained that in the nearby city of Mykolaiv, he had spoken to families also recently displaced from villages destroyed by shelling.

Despite the destruction, people “went back daily to try to restart their lives”, Mr. Griffiths said.

Before anyone can go home, vast areas of Ukraine will require demining, said the UN official, who recalled the Prime Minister telling him that “Ukraine is probably now the most mine-polluted country in the world”.

Ukraine: Human Rights Council hears of summary executions

Staying with Ukraine, grim details about the killing of civilians by Russian forces there, were shared at the Human Rights Council on Thursday.

At the request of the Council, UN human rights chief Volker Türk provided information gathered by his Office on “summary executions and attacks on individual civilians” in more than 100 villages and towns in Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, between 24 February and 6 April.

The research took place during field visits, after Russian troops had retreated. Witnesses and survivors provided first-hand reports, which were complemented by other sources, the High Commissioner said:

“In some cases, Russian soldiers executed civilians in makeshift places of detention. Others were summarily executed on the spot following security checks – in their houses, yards, and doorways. Even where the victim had shown clearly that they were not a threat, for example, by holding their hands in the air.”

Mr. Türk noted that there were “strong indications that the summary executions documented in the report” by his Office, may constitute a war crime.

Communities must be empowered to lead fight against HIV, says UNAIDS

Finally, a positive step in the fight against AIDS and other pandemics: the first international definition of what a community-led response actually is.

The development is potentially significant, as humanitarians and health experts believe strongly that the best way to tackle disease outbreaks is by working with communities.

Writing on Thursday in the UK medical journal, The Lancet, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, called for comprehensive community-led protocols to lead pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

These had been “neglected” until now, she said.

Using evidence from efforts to combat AIDS, mpox, COVID-19 and Ebola, Ms. Byanyima’s article – co-written with German Federal Health Minister, Professor Karl Lauterbach – insists that community-led organizations “bring trust, communications channels and reach to marginalized groups that complement government roles and improve equity”.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.