The Global MUNAct Now or See the Consequences: Ukraine Edition 🇺🇦
💡 Note: This blog post is a submission for The Global MUN 2022 International Challenge Competition, where high-school students from different parts of the world have submitted their creations in order to drive traffic to Direct Relief's mission to provide medical aid to those affected by the war in Ukraine.
By Ana Scala & Micaela Gagliardi
Escuela del Alba
Argentina 🇦🇷
Hey there!
It's time for YOU to take action!
What if I tell you that from one day to another your country could collapse and your family could be on the border of dying, being left completely directionless and defenseless, how would you feel? What would you do in such kind of situation?
You might have already heard about the conflict that caught the attention of the entire world and it's affecting most countries one way or another. Yes, we are talking about the Ukraine-Russia war, and your help is of high importance!
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine constitutes the biggest threat to peace and security in Europe since the end of the Cold War. Since the beginning of the conflict, which was officially on February 24th, thousands of people’s lives have been affected either because of the destruction of their households, the need to migrate, due to insecurity in diverse aspects, or because of deaths.
For example, here are shown some estimations provided by The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which show that numbers increase daily:
The worst part is that the actual figure could be significantly higher as reported victims don't always reflect reality.
Disgracefully, the brutality and cruelty of this war mean that tens of millions of people are in “potential danger of death”, as of 3th May, WHO has authenticated 186 attacks on health care since the conflict began. Of the current total of 103 attacks, 89 have impacted health facilities and 13 have impacted transport, including ambulances.
⚠️ Warning: The following video contains images that may disturb some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
And did you know that…? Prior to the invasion, at least 50 000 people were getting vaccinated against COVID-19 per day, until between the 24th of February and 15th of March, only 175 000 people were vaccinated against the virus. As you can see, these numbers have decreased considerably, bearing out the continuous spoilage.
Referring to this, we’d like to cite an assertive phrase of Dr. Jarno Habicht, WHO representative in Ukraine which perfectly describes the situation going on in this country.
“Attacks on health care are a violation of international humanitarian law, but a disturbingly common tactic of war – they destroy critical infrastructure, but worse, they destroy hope.”
Health workers throughout the country are risking their lives to serve those in need of medical services, soldiers combat constantly to avoid the Russian invasions, far from their families and homes, and all the other Ukrainians fight every day to go ahead with their lives and protect their children from the constant dangers, and try to save Ukraine for a better future for them. They are brave superheroes that need as much help as possible to conquer such a harsh situation of necessity, daily disgraces, and a home fraught with dangers.
And also, we should all think about the poor and innocent civilians who are suffering the consequences of the actions taken by the master power of the Russian government, having no guilt at all. That is why, every single child, every single elder, every single woman, and man in suffering are waiting in hope for your help! Especially, medical ones, which are indispensable to assure their welfare. If you can’t donate too much money, please do not worry about that. All cents are extremely valuable in these cases, and everything, no matter how much it is, contributes a lot after all, and thousands of families would be grateful for your kind action.
In spite of the tragic data mentioned previously, it is not that nothing has been done, and you wouldn't be the only one. Actually, thousands of open-handed and big-hearted people and organizations have contributed to this cause, for example…
On 1 March, the United Nations launched coordinated emergency appeals totaling $1.7 billion to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to people in Ukraine and refugees.
On 26 April, the UN doubled its emergency appeal to $2.25 billion. With the collection, they were able to provide humanitarian assistance to 3.4 million people.
The United Nations and its partners have provided more than 4.1 million people with humanitarian assistance and protection since the beginning of the war.
To help support the wider relief effort, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has appealed for $50 million.
By the beginning of this month, the World Food Program (WPF) had reached more than 3.4 million people in Ukraine through food assistance and cash transfers.
However, there is still so much left and as individuals, we can do something to help poor Ukrainian civilians and probably enhance their situation. That is why we are calling on YOU! By donating something to the cause we can help innocent citizens surpass the terrible situation or at least help just a little bit with their daily life.
We may believe that our contributions might not help, or will never guarantee a change in the situation. But that is totally wrong! Just like the wise words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta:
“We ourselves believe that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less without that missing drop.” – Mother Teresa
So, after reading all this information, you may be wondering: ok, but now, how can I send my donation to help with medical services? Well, the good news is that it’s actually pretty easy and fast to do!
You just have to click the following link, fill out the donation form, and that’s all. Easy peasy, work done! This would contribute to saving a lot of Ukrainian lives and will improve children's well-being.
If you want to collaborate with this cause you can do it by clicking the button below!