How To Help Ukraine
Our research suggests that many leaders of civic, charitable, religious and business organisations are looking to donate or send other help to people disenfranchised by the Ukrainian conflict. Below is a short list of reputable organisations and agencies we consider worthy of support. It is obviously an incomplete list. We welcome suggestions via our social media platforms.
NGOs and International Non-Profits
International Committee for the Red Cross (Assisting Ukraine Red Cross)
Delivering urgent water supplies to hospitals and communities, repairing vital infrastructure, supporting health facilities with medicines and equipment, and supporting families with food and hygiene items. Speaking with partners on either side of the conflict to encourage a peaceful resolution.
British Red Cross
Donations can help someone affected by the conflict get food, water, first aid, medicines, warm clothes and shelter. (See also above.)
Disasters Emergency Committee (UK)
The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is an umbrella group of UK charities which coordinates and launches collective appeals to raise funds to provide emergency aid and rapid relief to people caught up in disasters and humanitarian crises around the world.
The DEC’s Ukraine crisis campaign, launched in March 2022, raised more than £400 million in one year - a world record amount! It is still very well worth supporting.
Save the Children
The Save the Children Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund uses donations to help families meet their basic needs such as food, medicine and shelter.
According to Save the Children, there are 7.5 million children who are in danger of physical harm, emotional distress and displacement due to the invasion of Ukraine. Even before the conflict escalated in the first week, there were 400,000 children who needed humanitarian aid.
UNICEF
Working across eastern Ukraine to scale up life-saving programmes for children. This includes trucking safe water to conflict-affected areas; repositioning health, hygiene and emergency education supplies as close as possible to communities near the line of combat and working with municipalities to ensure there is immediate help for children and families in need.
World Vision International
World Vision International will help provide support of various kinds to many of the 7.5 million children living in Ukraine who are at risk from the conflict. It is also planning relief for up to four million people who could flee the country if the situation continues to escalate. World Vision is also working to provide aid for those affected by rising fuel, shipping and food costs resulting from the conflict.
UN Humanitarian Fund
Contributions are collected into a single unearmarked fund and managed locally under UN leadership. As crises evolve, funds are directly and immediately available to a wide range of partner organizations on the front lines. Funding reaches the people where it is most needed.
GlobalGiving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund
GlobalGiving connects non-profits, donors, and companies in nearly every country in the world. It helps fellow non-profits access the funding, tools, training and support they need to serve their communities.
Catholic Relief Services
Provides shelter, hot meals and transport to safe areas
Tearfund
Tearfund is working through is collecting donations through its various national branches to support providing immediate necessities like shelter, health care, water and sanitation to those impacted by war. The goal is to empower people to share, learn, heal, be reconciled and work together to build peace.
International Rescue Committee
IRC helps support displaced families with critical aid.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.
Delivering essential support for displaced people across the country and the region. Immediate needs include shelter and relief items for those fleeing their homes, as well as specialized protection, such as psychological support.
Local Government Support
Some city councils - in the UK, for example - are encouraging citizens to support people affected by the conflict. For example, the city of Westminster in London provides a list of various ways of helping, including links to donor organizations. Please consult your local government website. If your local government is not engaged directly, please consider writing to your local councillor to urge support - at the very least by providing such a list.
Church Agencies/Campaigns
Church and other faith groups in the UK and elsewhere have set up Ukraine-assistance programmes, mainly assisting other groups on the ground in or neighbouring Ukraine. Please consult local church/denominational/organizational websites for more.
Other Ways to Contribute
Write to your MP
Governments in various parts of the world, including the UK are already contributing significantly to aid programs. In some cases, however, much more can be done. You can help by writing a letter to your local Member of Parliament or another political representative. For example, depending on measures already in place where you are, you might strongly request that your government increase sanctions on Russia or play a larger role in responding to the humanitarian and refugee crises emerging from the conflict - e.g. through resettlement and evacuation programmes.
Support Ukraine-based or Ukraine-focused journalism.
Journalists, particularly those closest to the conflict, provide our primary pipeline for information about it. To help them continue this crucial work, follow the news from local sources such as The Kyiv Independent and The New Voice of Ukraine.
Join a (non-violent) peace protest
For some, this may not seem a particularly direct way of helping Ukrainian people. It's not as direct as donating money but it can still have a real impact. For example, media and social media coverage of protests large and small can influence the thinking and emotions of political leaders in other parts of the world. It may or may not have an effect on those who initiate and maintain the conflict, but it can certainly influence those who are in a position to offer vital aid.
Open Letter to Charity, Church and Community Leaders
Dear friends and colleagues,
On Feb 24, 2022 at 5.55 am Moscow time, the Russian President gave the order for a “special operation” into Ukraine, with heavy shelling and troop movements.
News outlets and many international governments immediately called it what it was - an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign, self-determining state.
As the founder of a small charity and the chairman of this futures forum, I've worked in Ukraine (Kyiv) numerous times over the past 20 years. It has been my pleasure to serve alongside some very committed community, charity and church leaders. They work tirelessly for the betterment of their people, often with slim resources.
Ukraine, like every other nation, faced its share of political and other challenges before the war began. It has, after all, not long been a democratic state, having lived under Soviet rule for decades.
However, the fact remains that Russia initiated a bloody conflict for no other reason than territorial gain. Any early claims it made about “freeing” Ukrainians have been exposed as propaganda, in the light of war crimes committed by its leaders and some of its soldiers.
The U.N. reports that, as of March 23 2023, the war has led to 22,209 Ukrainian civilian casualties, including 8,317 civilian deaths. Meanwhile, more than 7.5 million people have fled Ukraine, with children representing half of all refugees. Between five and seven million Ukrainians are internally displaced.
Western officials have estimated that more than 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded.
Meanwhile, between 60,000 and 70,000 Russian servicemen have died in the conflict so far. Doubtless, some of them have gone to war with little or no axe to grind with Ukraine - and with precious few resources to keep them alive.
Like many others, I have come to admire Ukrainian people. From research and anecdotal experience, I think the vast majority of them want peace for their families and communities and self-determination for their nation.
Please join me in advocating for a just peace for Ukraine. Please continue to support emergency funding and the work of refugee organizations, NGOs, charities, churches and other community groups.
Thank you for reading this message. Wishing you the very best with your important work in these challenging times.
Mal Fletcher
Chairman, 2030Plus
Oxford, UK