Watch the live event here: https://www.jw3.org.uk/watch-ukraine
Join World Jewish Relief and JW3 for a briefing and analysis of the situation in Ukraine, its impact on Ukraine’s Jewish community, and what the UK Jewish community can do to help Ukrainians meet their urgent humanitarian needs.
Hear from experts based on the ground in Ukraine and in the UK, including:
Judith Fagelson, World Jewish Relief’s Older People Programmes Manager
Oleksiy Tolkachev, Founder and Director of Dreamland, Kiev
Alan Russo, former Managing Director for External Relations at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Tim Judah, Journalist, Author, and Balkans Correspondent for The Economist
The event will be hosted by British journalist, documentary filmmaker and former newsreader for the BBC, Emily Maitlis.
On 24 February, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. There have been air strikes in major cities including Kyiv, Dnipro, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kherson and Mariopul. Tanks have been seen in the streets of the capital city of Kiev. The UNHCR estimates more than 100,000 have fled their homes, and thousands have crossed the border into neighbouring countries.
The country is on the brink of a major humanitarian crisis. Food and fuel supplies are low. Inflation on basic goods is between 30 and 60%. People report water, internet and phone lines being cut off. The number of fatalities and casualties is increasing by the hour.
World Jewish Relief has worked in Ukraine since 1989 and this past year supported 13,000 people across the country. They have launched an emergency appeal and are in regular contact with their 29 partners on the ground to assess the situation and the humanitarian need.
Judith Fagelson
Judith Fagelson leads World Jewish Relief's programmes supporting older people throughout Eastern Europe. She has been with the organisation for four years and has prior experience living and working with charitable organisations in Russia. She holds a BA in French and Russian, and an MSc in Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies.
Oleksiy Tolkachev
Oleksiy Tolkachov is the founder and director of the Kyiv-based charity DreamLand. DreamLand works to create a better life in Ukraine through large-scale projects, civil society campaigns and educational projects which change people's mindsets, encouraging and empowering people to create a better future according to the concept of "Tikkun Olam".
Tim Judah
Tim Judah is a British reporter, political analyst for The Economist, and wrote the book In Wartime: Stories from Ukraine. Over his career he has reported from countries across the world, and covered the Russian invasion of Donbass, Eastern Ukraine, in 2014.
Alan Rousso
Alan recently completed a 21-year career at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. His last position there was Managing Director for External Relations and Partnerships. In this role, Alan had overall responsibility for the Donor Co-Financing, Private Sector Partnerships, Nuclear Safety, and Civil Society Engagement teams.
Alan’s group at EBRD led the Bank’s efforts to optimise blended finance solutions and mobilise impact investment to crowd in private sector capital to the EBRD region. It built strong partnerships between the EBRD and external organisations – including private philanthropic and corporate foundations – providing grant or concessional / investment co-financing resources.
Prior to joining EBRD in 2001, Alan spent three years in Moscow as Director of the Carnegie Endowment’s Moscow Centre, and before that taught on the political science faculties at Dartmouth College, Cornell University, and Columbia University. Alan holds an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont.
