THREE YEARS LATER: THE CGI COMMUNITY CONTINUING TO SUPPORT THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE
This week marks the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The toll on Ukraine has been devastating – in human lives; in destruction of land and property; in the physical and mental health of its people; and to its economy and citizens’ livelihoods.
According to the United Nations, more than 40,000 civilians have been killed or injured in Ukraine since the invasion, and nearly 7 million Ukrainians have been displaced and are living in Europe, Canada, and the United States.
For the past three years, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting has lifted up the voices of those on the frontlines – including a conversation between President Clinton and President Zelenskyy; the launch of the CGI Ukraine Action Network; and presenting the Clinton Global Citizen Award to First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska.
Members of the CGI community have continued to work in the country and region, to support the people of Ukraine. Please read the stories of their work below.
Providing Critical Aid Across Ukraine
World Central Kitchen (WCK) responded to the conflict immediately, setting up at a 24-hour pedestrian border crossing in southern Poland to serve hot meals. Their efforts quickly expanded across Europe and into Ukraine, where WCK now delivers millions of meals directly to communities in need. WCK has worked continuously for three years in the region, with more than 276 million meals served in frontline communities to families and first responders. Read more details about their years of sustained work here.
SoLight Design completed their 2023 CGI commitment, delivering 10,000 portable solar chargers and lights to households throughout Ukraine. SoLights are personal devices designed to provide access to solar energy, particularly in regions impacted by conflict and disaster where people are living without consistent access to electricity. Learn more about their successful commitment here.
Common Man for Ukraine is a small-town, U.S.-based nonprofit that has scaled up their work to provide monthly trauma counseling for more than 1,000 children of fallen Ukrainian soldiers, and fuels volunteer-led convoys that have brought more than 4 million pounds of food and supplies across Ukraine – to safe houses, orphanages, and front-line communities. Read more about how one small community in the United States stepped up their efforts to reach the front lines in Ukraine.
Airlink has been responding since the start of the full-scale invasion, launching a CGI commitment in 2022 to support over 60 NGO partners, and expand its response to deliver critical time-sensitive aid, and help NGOs overcome transportation and logistical challenges. In addition, Airlink has also offered over 800 flights for responders traveling to Ukraine, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, and Poland for this emergency. Read more about Airlink’s response here.
Rescuing and Rehabilitating Children Taken Forcibly From Ukraine
Save Ukraine is a charity that works to rescue children who have been taken forcibly from Ukraine during the invasion. As part of their CGI commitment in 2024, Save Ukraine is launching 200 support centers across the country, that are helping children deal with trauma from the war, and cope with ongoing violence and destruction. Read more about the urgency of Save Ukraine’s work here.
Rehabilitation and Critical Health Care for Ukrainians
From their 2022 CGI commitment, Superhumans Ukraine has built a modern prosthetic and rehabilitation center for veterans and children who have been impacted by the war. Superhumans Ukraine refurbished and equipped the Veterans’ Hospital in Lviv to be a state-of-the-art facility providing prosthesis, facial reconstruction surgery, and PTSD support to victims of the war. Read more about their commitment here.
JaxFund, another 2023 commitment-maker, last year completed construction on a new, state-of-the-art Children’s Mental Health Center at St. Nicholas Hospital in Lviv to address psychological trauma among children and teens. Read more about their efforts here.
Last year at CGI, the Northwell Health Center for Global Health launched a new program designed to give health care professionals in Ukraine critical mental health support to deal with the trauma of long-term work in conflict zones. As Ukrainian health care workers are grappling with severe stress, burnout, and trauma due to ongoing conflict and resource limitations, the Ukraine Social and Health Resiliency Program is offering mental health services and resources specifically targeted to people working amid sustained violence. Learn more about their commitment here.
Health Tech Without Borders has scaled their telehealth services across Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion. Health Tech has coordinated a consortium of psychologists, hospitals, universities, clinicians and technology providers to offer telehealth aid when and where it’s needed most. Read more about how they are expanding telehealth services across Ukraine here.
Sunflower Network launched a 2023 CGI commitment to build a healthier future for Ukraine by expanding and modernizing a Ukrainian medical system in Brody, Ukraine. Utilizing modular construction, the project will establish a network of template-based hospitals. Read about their commitment project here.
In 2023, Heartland Alliance International launched a 2023 commitment to offer mental health services for survivors of torture. This project will adapt the Marjorie Kovler Center’s model to Ukraine, thereby enabling thousands of survivors of torture to access the services they need to recover in the immediate and long-term. Read more about Heartland Alliance’s work aiding Ukraine here.
Center for Mind Body Medicine (CMBM) launched a 2022 CGI commitment to heal Ukraine’s populations-wide trauma. This project has trained over 1,000 Ukrainian community leaders in CMBM’s comprehensive program of self-care, group support, and community building, which utilizes practical mind-body skills to restore peoples’ physiological and psychological balance. CMBM’s work is helping to develop capacity for an effective population-wide mental health response in these regions, and to also lay a strong foundation for a larger country-wide healing program. Read more about their work here.
Helping Ukrainians Rebuild Their Economy and Livelihoods
Impact Force is a Ukrainian organization that is combining mental health support with workforce development, recognizing that mental health recovery through the trauma of war is a critical first step toward building a resilient workforce. Last year, Impact Force committed $400,000 to strengthen their workforce efforts to specifically veterans and internally displaced Ukrainians. Read more about their work here.
savEd Ukraine is a Ukrainian NGO targeting leadership and professional development skills training to young people in frontline regions in Ukraine. At CGI 2024, savEd Ukraine committed to expand these effort to reach more than 1,000 additional young people on the front lines in Ukraine. Learn more about savEd Ukraine’s commitment here.
Last year Teach For Ukraine, a local NGO, launched the Learning Recovery Program for Ukraine at CGI. This program aims to address the education setbacks among young people across Ukraine due to the war through a National Tutoring Corps that will help tens of thousands of students. Learn more about their commitment here.
In 2024, EdEra and The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine launched a CGI commitment that connects the Ukrainian youth diaspora community and displaced youth with their cultural identity through an education-based app. Read more about this project here.
Unicef and Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom launched a 2022 CGI commitment to deliver 50,000 laptops within one year to students in need. Beyond this CGI commitment, Unicef continues to deliver laptops and educational support to ensure Ukrainian children are able to continue learning amidst war. Read more about Unicef’s work here.
CGI commitment-maker AI for Good Foundation is partnering with the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine to build Innovation Hubs in Kyiv, physical spaces that provide resources, networking opportunities, and funding to Ukrainian entrepreneurs. Learn more about their work here.