Advent International has donated US$650,000 to USA for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as part of its immediate effort to support those suffering because of the war in Ukraine. Since 1950s UNHCR has been saving lives, protecting rights, and building a better future for refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people.

As the conflict continues, the UNHCR estimates that at least five million people will be forced to leave the country, with millions more being displaced within Ukraine. UNHCR is working with the authorities, UN agencies, community groups and other partners to provide humanitarian assistance wherever possible.

The Advent donation will help enable UNHCR to provide cash support, emergency shelter and essential items – including blankets, containers for clean water, and plastic tarps to protect damaged homes and provide respite from the elements. The donation will also provide vital support to the most vulnerable refugees, including survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), unaccompanied minors and children separated from their families.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is providing critical emergency aid for those caught up in the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Advent International is donating funds to help ensure this vital work can continue.

Advent International has pledged US$650,000 to the ICRC – an organization at the forefront of the international relief effort for civilians in Ukraine. Its priority is to assist those most desperately in need.

Working with the Ukrainian Red Cross, the ICRC is distributing food, water and other essential items, supporting hospitals and healthcare facilities with medicines and equipment, repairing damaged homes and infrastructure, and helping to reconnect families separated by the conflict. The ICRC has been active in Ukraine since 2014. Civilians in the east of the country have already endured more than eight years of fighting. With the intensification of the conflict and its spread to other parts of the nation in early 2022, the ICRC has ramped up its response.

Additional staff arrived in Ukraine at the beginning of March, including medics, weapons contamination specialists and other emergency team members. With 600 staff engaged in the effort, this now represents one of the organization’s 10 biggest operations anywhere in the world.

Teams from the ICRC have also been dispatched to Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Russia to support a regional response, in cooperation with partners in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Logistical hubs have been set up in nations bordering Ukraine to ensure relief items can reach those who need them, even where local supply chains have been destroyed.

In parallel with its relief efforts on the ground, the ICRC has pledged to continue confidential, bilateral dialogue with those parties involved in the conflict, aiming to protect those most affected by the fighting.

Within just three weeks of war breaking out in Ukraine, over two million refugees had crossed the border into Poland. Overwhelmingly, it is women and children who have been forced to flee. Many of the people arriving have been traumatised by brutal warfare and left their homes and wider community with only what they carry on their arduous journey to safety. The range of facilities needed to support these women and children will be complex and long lasting.

Advent has committed part of its emergency Ukrainian relief fund to a joint venture run by the Omenaa Foundation and Ashoka, which will provide shelter and support to women and children in Poland – where the need is currently greatest.

The project will create safe centres that treat Ukrainian mothers and children with dignity and care and ensure they are well fed. It will also provide full access to legal, healthcare and psychological and cultural support to mothers as they seek to rebuild their lives in a new country. In addition, training and matching services will be provided to help women find the jobs that best suit their talents. Furthermore, at least 500 jobs will be created in areas where this new talent can work to improve the overall wellbeing of wider Polish society. For the children, the program has teamed up with Teach for Poland, so that every child will have a chance to discover and develop their own potential. It is building a team of teachers, psychologists and children’s entertainers to operate an educational programme that is purpose built around the needs of the Ukrainian children fleeing violence. Over time, the project aims to create 10 centres and care for the needs of at least 10,000 refugees.

The Omenaa Foundation was founded by Omenaa Mensah, a Polish TV star and businesswoman. The Foundation primarily focuses on providing The Omenaa Foundation was founded by Omenaa Mensah, a Polish TV star and businesswoman. The Foundation primarily focuses on providing education to children around the world who are deprived access to it. Traditionally it has operated in Africa and on providing computer equipment and other facilities to underprivileged kids in Poland. The foundation is collaborating with Ashoka, a global social impact charity, as well as other Polish charities and civic society groups to provide immediate help and support as Poland deals with this unprecedented wave of refugees.

Advent’s team in Germany have allotted their 2022 philanthropy budget to three charities working to provide relief to the fallout from the war in Ukraine.

Medecins Sans Frontieres (“MSF”) provides medical assistance to people around the world affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare.  The group has operated in Ukraine since the initial Russian invasion in 2014, and is now repurposing its operations in light of the massive escalation in violence across the country. MSF is now deploying its rapidly depleting resources to those parts of the country where it sees the greatest need and the best opportunity to have a significant impact.

At the time of writing, initiatives include:

• Rushing new cargo shipments of emergency medical supplies to Ukraine
• Donating supplies to hospitals in Kyiv, Odessa and parts of eastern Ukraine to treat war-wounded and deal with mass casualty incidents
• Training hospitals to deal with mass casualty incidents and to treat war wounds in Lviv, Vinnytsia and Bila Tsverka
• Providing training, support for triage, and patient stabilisation to help care for wounded patients across hospitals in Odessa
• Sending further emergency and specialist medical staff to support existing teams
• Supporting hospitals and doctors remotely, including through providing training on trauma care via telemedicine

Humane Society International

Humane Society International works is an animal welfare charity that works around the globe to rescue and protect suffering animals. With thousands of animals in acute distress across Ukraine, MSI is working with groups in the region to help Ukrainian people and the animals in their care who have been devastated by Russia’s military invasion. The charity is also offering pet care packages and veterinary service to support refugees when they arrive at major transport hubs in Germany.

Ukraine-aid Berlin

Ukraine Aid-Berlin was founded by a diverse group of German and Ukrainian volunteers living in Germany to help meet the immediate needs of the people of Ukraine. The focus of their work is to support victims of the war by sending medical and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The group collects much needed donations from various organizations across Germany and sends them directly to clinics and field hospitals on the frontline in Ukraine.