A Special Dialogue: The Humanitarian Crisis in Ukraine and How Singaporeans Can Help

“What can we do in Singapore for the people affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine?”

This is a question many Singaporeans will have as we continue to watch the war in Ukraine unfold on the news. How could we show support for the people in Ukraine? What could you do as an individual and/or with your initiative? Could we work together to collectively create something to help the people in Ukraine?

To answer these questions and more, A Good Space held A Special Dialogue in response to the escalating situation in Ukraine. 

Moderated by our Founding Chairperson and former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Anthea Ong, we invited H.E. Kateryna Zelenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine in the Republic of Singapore, Brunei and New Zealand. In the virtual dialogue with over 30 participants, the ambassador shared about the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and some pointers on what we can do to help. 

Watch the full recorded dialogue with timestamps here: 

 

In the dialogue, 3 main pillars of support were mentioned: 

1. Donate to the various humanitarian aid organisations


These donations and funds will subsequently be disbursed appropriately to the people on the ground. The ambassador provided a list of organisations that are open to donations: 

  1. Singapore Red Cross: Donate here
  2. Save The Children: Donate here
  3. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): Donate here
  4. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): Donate here
  5. National specialized children’s hospital «Ohmatdyt» of Ukraine’s Health Ministry, the biggest children’s hospital in Ukraine during the wartime: Donate here

2. Organising conversations to educate each other

 

Doing so will help to counter the spread of disinformation. This also includes receiving information from credible sources that have journalists reporting from the ground in Ukraine. The ambassador mentions that should anyone require confirmation on whether a certain news outlet is trustable, they can contact the Embassy of Ukraine in Singapore at: 6535 6550

3. Facilitating collaborations to execute ideas and initiatives to help the people in Ukraine

 

The ambassador emphasised that there is “no power stronger than collaboration”, as she highlighted the urgent need “to walk together”. 

In order to facilitate the brainstorming of such ideas for collaboration, participants were broken into small groups during the dialogue where they were encouraged to come up with ideas and share them with each other. One such idea was to organise a Hackathon, which stemmed from the fact that we needed a way to get the youths in Singapore involved to aid the humanitarian crisis.

To learn more about what is needed to help the people in Ukraine and some of the comments that the ambassador had given to the ideas shared, watch the video here: bit.ly/spdrecording

 

Amanda Tay
Amanda Tay

Amanda is a digital marketing trainee at A Good Space. To her, nothing beats lying down after a fulfilling day with a good anime playing and a warm cup of green tea in hand.

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