The war at Ukraine, hit a bit close - when one of my colleagues tearfully mentioned her parents aged 70s/80s stuck in Keiv without transportation. The feeling of helplessness when you have loved ones you cannot physically support during their time of need amplified during the COVID epidemic and has exploded during this senseless war.
Similar to me, if you have been glued to the news and trying to figure out how to provide support, these are some organizations you can consider :
- Project Hope, an organization that’s on the ground responding to the Ukraine crisis,?and actively shipping essential medicines and medical supplies to assist Ukrainians.
- Global Giving, an organization providing humanitarian relief for Ukrainians in need, with a focus on the most vulnerable, including children.
- Direct Relief, worlds largest distributor of donated medical supplies. Over the past 6 months it has provided Ukraine with $26 Million of medical aid
- Mercy Corps, provides humanitarian assistance and community building. They are committed to sending volunteers to Poland and nearby Romania to provide support for those displaced from their homes in Ukraine
- International Medical Corps, to help aid Ukraine this organization has committed to focus on providing mental health support and essentials including water
Disclaimer : Project Hope and Global giving received over 150,000 USD from Slalom and have been vetted, the other organizations are vetted by NY times
Thank you on your ongoing support.
The humanitarian crisis, that is predicted to displace over 11 Mn people from their homes will end up with major and long term disruptions, which we need to be mindful of in the coming weeks:-
- Cyber security : Russia has fostered a huge network of cyber terrorists and this has come to the forefront with the recent "wiper" malwares that were released targeting government organizations. Cyber security training and setting up of Cyber Security task force are one of the key tools that you need to start focusing upon to safeguard the interests of your organizations, clients and vendors.
- Logistics/ Supply Chain impact: With the decision of Europe and America to veer away from Russian energy - the switch to alternate sources will have immediate primary or secondary impacts to the supply chain (just similar to how Covid put a major stress on the global logistics industry).
- Financial Impact : Global technology giants (Apple, Google, ..) and Energy giants (Shell) made the painful but right decisions of pulling out of their massive investments and the decision of cutting Russian banks from the Swift system have immediately reduced the Russian economy - Unfortunately, this will trickle down to your organization even if they are not in geographically proximity to Europe. A review on the financial impact due to any investors, vendors, clients or suppliers who might have directly been impacted by these economic sanctions is every CxO's immediate concern
