Articles
Other than school-based initiatives, Community Connect contains articles about humanitarian causes around the world, displaying information about how these can be aided, with the intention of bringing more awareness and attention to these issues.
War in Ukraine
Although it is hard to count casualties in the face of conflict, the United Nations predicts that the war in Ukraine has killed approximately 14,300 people, while the Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights estimates that there have been 5,514 civilian fatalities, of which 356 have been children. The war has also produced the highest number of refugees since the Second World War, with more than 12 million citizens emigrating from Ukraine.
It is clear that this is a macro-scale conflict, and, therefore, Community Connect has gathered information on how to aid those in need:
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Medical Aid:
Doctors Without Borders has approximately 140 international professionals in Ukrainian ground, providing over 800 tons of medical supplies to hospitals and evacuees. It has created medical evacuation trains to transport injured civilians and orphaned babies and children, having aided a total of approximately 801 evacuees. Doctors Without Borders also funds local volunteers and distributes medication in housing facilities. Finally, the organisation helps those with illnesses such as tuberculosis, asthma, heart disease and epilepsy, while also performing multiple surgeries and donating supplies to local hospitals.
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The Ukrainian Red Cross has been providing humanitarian and psychological help, carrying out research operations on active minefields on the ground and working with an Emergency Response Team to aid casualties. It has over 6,000 volunteers and it operates 24/7 while continuously attempting to increase funding.
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$10 could provide a hygiene kit to a family of five, giving them supplies to stay healthy for a month
$20 could provide five blankets to families taking shelter
$30 could provide 3,600 chlorine tablets to ensure that families have access to clean, safe water
$100 could provide sleeping mats for 66 people who have been forced from their homes
$210 could provide a fully equipped first aid kit, including supplies, to a first aider treating those wounded
Link to donations: https://donate.redcrossredcrescent.org/ua/donate2/~my-donation
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Refugee aid:
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has been working to supply shelter, emergency payments, and basic supplies to refugees displaced as a result of the war in Ukraine. According to its website, over 6.3 million refugees have fled to Europe since February, and before that there were already 3 million people in need of aid in Ukraine, without mentioning the 6.6 million internally displaced citizens. UNHCR has been working to provide emergency housing, home repair, psychological support and training to local Ukrainian organizations to maximize its aid outreach. Donations will go to the provision of shelters and food supplies.
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Donations: https://donate.unrefugees.org.uk/ukraine-emergency/~my-donation
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Refugee Support has created a Dignity Market through which Ukrainian refugee families in Chisenau, Moldova can collect items through rations of hygiene products and food based on a point system. So far, Dignity Market has distributed over €120,000 of food to more than 18,000 people, with all products distriupted from Moldovan companies.
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Link to donations: https://www.refugeesupporteu.com/donate/
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AirBnb: Airbnb has created a donation platform through which people can provide financial contributions for refugees to rent homes to use as shelter. It has been working with the International Organization for Migration and it has provided housing to more than 25,000 refugees.
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Link to donations: https://www.airbnb.com/for-airbnb-org/donate?_ga=2.234158366.163489999.1661269849-329387228.1661269848
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Children:
Unicef is working to distribute clean water, healthcare and educational supplies to women and children impacted by the war in Ukraine. So far, it aims to provide water to over 3.5 million people, and to continue developing educational initiatives to 800,000 children from Ukraine. Unicef has managed to distribute educational supplies to 260,000 children and it has created 25 regions (Blue Dot Safe Spaces) with basic hygiene supplies for women and children. To help it continue operating, visit the website to make a donation. A single contribution of £25 could supply maternity kits, water and vaccines to those in need.
Donations: https://www.unicef.org.uk/donate/donate-now-to-protect-children-in-ukraine/
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Voices of Children is an initiative that aims to help children with the psychological consequences of warfare. It has been operating since the early days of conflict in Crimea, and it works with the Ukrainian youth to ensure that their stories are told to the world in an effort to increase humanitarian aid through international awareness. Voices of Children operates by carrying out psychological assistance and art therapy.
Read the stories of children affected by the Ukrainian war:
https://voices.org.ua/en/childrens-stories/, we particularly recommend Oleh’s story https://voices.org.ua/en/childrens-stories/yak-heroi-filmu-viddalenyy-havkit-sobak-proyshly-filtratsiynyy-tabir-rosiyskykh-okupantiv-i-povernulysia-v-ukrainu/
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Donate to Voices of Children to help provide psychological aid:
https://voices.org.ua/en/donat/
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Read more about the conflict:
As the war in Ukraine ceases to make deadlines, Community Connect would like to enforce the importance of maintain yourself informed, of continuing to read about the conflict so that action is pushed on to solve it.
To that end, we recommend browsing through and donating to The Kyiv Independent, an Ukrainian newspaper which is written in English and shares information about what is happening locally. As per information on Kyiv Independent’s Go Fund Me, the newspaper is struggling amid the cyber-attacks that the country faces, and it is working despite the end of its parent newspaper, Kyiv Post, which was allegedly discontinued after a multiple writers defended independent reporting.
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Donations: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kyivindependent-launch
We also recommend the following websites to read more about what is going on and how to help: