Introduction
Few of us run charities for the recognition and praise. It’s more of a passion, a vocation and a distinct choice to put personal and social values into action. Yet, His Majesty King Charles III’s decision in May to retain his Patronage of World Jewish Relief felt distinctly special – a true acknowledgement of the remarkable impact, scale and focus of this Jewish charity. It is the first time World Jewish Relief has had The Monarch as its Patron and we are truly thrilled.
But it’s a small bit of good news against a tidal wave of concern, worry and anxiety for communities that we are supporting and thinking about. Not a day goes by without us worrying about the hostages and ongoing needs in Israel, and the immense humanitarian need in Ukraine, Gaza, East Africa and beyond. As a Jewish organisation, everything we seek to do, at home and abroad, within and beyond our community, is because we care deeply about the Jewish People. This care manifests itself in the application of our values, principles and actions. As Rabbi Lord Sacks reminded us, “everything World Jewish Relief does is Jewish”.
It has now been two and a half years since the Russian invasion began, and as we’ve seen in the news recently, Ukrainians seemingly have no end to their resilience and determination. And yet, the psychological strain, especially on older people, families and children is reaching breaking point. Every time I visit our partners and programmes there, the situation feels ever more perilous. With over 40% of Ukrainians in need of humanitarian support, the breadth and depth of our ongoing response alongside our network of local partners is essential; from supporting vulnerable Jewish clients and older people with home repairs and home care, to providing humanitarian aid to frontline villages, and helping thousands of displaced people to find employment and earn an income, we’ve provided a lifeline to over 330,000 Ukrainians since the war began.
With what has been an extremely challenging 10 months for so many, the tragedy of October 7th continues to cast huge shadows over the Jewish community and beyond. In these very challenging times, we thank you for your ongoing support, which is helping to reach hundreds of thousands of people in crisis around the world, from within and beyond our community. We simply could not do our work without you. Thank you.
Paul Anticoni
Chief Executive
Royal Patronage
We are thrilled that His Majesty King Charles III has retained his patronage of World Jewish Relief as of May 2024, following a review of the patronages of the Royal Household. His Majesty has served as the Royal Patron of World Jewish Relief since 2015, actively engaging in multiple aspects of our work and mission.
The King’s involvement with us began in 2002, following a visit to Krakow’s Jewish community. Motivated by this experience, His Majesty encouraged and inspired World Jewish Relief to open the Jewish Community Centre in Krakow, to help rebuild Jewish life and the Jewish community. The JCC continues to provide essential support to the community, including to many Ukrainian refugees.
”His Majesty the King has long been a great friend to both the Jewish community and the humanitarian community, and we are incredibly proud to call him our Royal Patron.” Maurice Helfgott, Chair of Trustees
In more recent years, His Majesty has engaged with World Jewish Relief in numerous ways, including attending our Annual Dinner and visiting our North London Office. At His Majesty’s request, he came to learn about World Jewish Relief’s humanitarian response efforts amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, where, thanks to our supporters’ immense generosity, we have assisted over 250,000 individuals with medical aid, food packages, psychological and employment support.
Leaping forward
by Abelia Leskin, UK Refugee Programme Manager
STEP Forward provides tailored support to women refugees from all backgrounds, and supports them in a warm, communal environment with everything from English language to computer literacy. The programme supports 110 women a year, and will this year operate in Bradford, Coventry, and a new location in Leeds.
When we first started STEP Forward two years ago, we wanted to tap into the particular needs of women refugees, who just don’t get the support they need from anywhere else. This year, we have expanded STEP Forward into Leeds, and it is inspiring to see the difference the programme has made to the 120 women who have now graduated.
”Each time I meet with the women on our STEP Forward programme, I’m struck by their progression; not just in their improved English skills, but in confidence, decisiveness, and the social connections they have formed.”
At a graduation earlier this year in Coventry, the women passionately told me their plans for after the programme. One woman told me that because of her newfound confidence, she is planning to join our employment-centred STEP programme to pursue her dream of becoming a hair stylist. Another told me she is going to return to volunteer on the programme, helping other refugees like herself. And another was planning further education to improve her career prospects.
In Bradford I heard similar stories of women who have found employment after never having worked in their home country, and who can now confidently book doctor appointments and help their children with their homework thanks to their newfound literacy and numeracy skills.
One thing is clear, the women are excited about taking the next step forward into their lives, backed by a new community of friends and an understanding of how to get to where they want to be.
The Rohingya: A forgotten crisis
by Madison Jansen, Senior Humanitarian Programmes Officer
Arriving into the Rohingya refugee camp in southern Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, it’s hard to imagine that nearly a decade ago, this expansive settlement was instead a thick, lush forest. Beginning in 2017, trees and greenery conceded to bamboo and tarpaulin infrastructure, forming the world’s largest refugee camp, home to the world’s largest ‘stateless’ population, caught in the world’s largest protracted refugee crisis.
The journey to this point begins with the Rohingya, a predominately Muslim ethnic group native to Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Following discrimination from the Myanmar government, Rohingya people were denied citizenship and inclusion in state census polls, effectively rendering them as ‘stateless.’
In 2017, discrimination reached its peak when Myanmar’s military began a violent crackdown against an opposition Rohingya force, leading to the brutal murder of thousands of Rohingya civilians and catalysing the displacement of nearly a million more into neighbouring Bangladesh over the next decade. While Bangladesh provides refuge, it is refuge within limits. Rohingya are legally unable to live outside the camps or be employed in the Bangladeshi labour market, and there are even restrictions on how much income they can earn while inside the camps.
Even beyond these strict rules imposed by the Bangladeshi government, life in the camps for the Rohingya is tough. Refugees live in makeshift bamboo and tarpaulin shelters, and several households may live together in one small shelter. These homes, in combination with the steep hilly terrain on which they are nested, provide little protection when cyclones and monsoons hit. These powerful and cyclical storms are becoming much more intense and frequent due to climate change.
But challenges also extend outside the confines of the camp. In fact, the surrounding communities nearby to the refugee camp, called the ‘host communities’, are some of the most impoverished in the country. For this reason, the Bangladeshi government requires that a percentage of all humanitarian support in the area must be allocated towards the host communities as well.
World Jewish Relief, drawing on its rich history of aiding refugees since 1933, has partnered with local organisations since 2018 to provide essential aid for Rohingya refugees and host communities. With the support and expertise from our local partner Prottyashi, we are currently focused on building toilets and bathing facilities.
This work is critical, as many of the older facilities have been damaged or destroyed by the strong storms which frequently impact the region. Not having access to latrines and bathing facilities not only neglects a person’s right to dignity, but presents significant danger for women and girls, who may be exposed to harm or harassment if they have nowhere to safely wash or use the toilet.
Moreover, because of the unforgiving, hilly terrain in the region, facilities that are accessible to people with disabilities or reduced mobility are uncommon, which is why we are building facilities that prioritise accessibility.
”By the end of this year, our support is expected to provide 1,500 people with access to safe, inclusive and dignified facilities.”
Preparing and responding to sudden emergencies in the Rohingya camp and host community is also a priority for World Jewish Relief. In May 2023, using the timely information provided by Prottyashi, we provided food and evacuation support to Rohingya and host communities before Cyclone Mocha struck. This proactive approach meant people were better prepared for the cyclone’s impact, leading to faster recovery and fewer injuries. We also provided essential hygiene kits and clothing to Rohingya impacted by the large fire that broke out in the camp in March last year. Because of the densely populated nature of the camps, fires like these very quickly destroy thousands of homes and lives.
Today, Myanmar’s military continues to commit atrocities against the Rohingya population. Since February this year, over 1,000 Rohingya people across Myanmar and Bangladesh have been conscripted to fight in the ongoing conflict, being abducted and forced to defend the very group routinely denying them of their rights.
However, what’s happening to the Rohingya is largely outside of the international spotlight, resulting in severe funding shortfalls that make it difficult to support the 95% of the Rohingya population that depend on humanitarian aid to survive. World Jewish Relief stands shoulder to shoulder with vulnerable communities across the world and remains committed to addressing these ‘forgotten’ crises and providing support to the most vulnerable.
Our Ukraine War response
by Stacey Swimer, Director of International Programmes and Partnerships
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two and a half years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Two and a half years of relentless conflict which has taken a heavy toll on Ukraine’s economy, infrastructure, and people. The impact on our partners, programmes and participants is immense. Yet despite this, since 24th February 2022, we have reached 381 locations in Ukraine and supported over 327,000 people within and beyond the Jewish community.
This is due to the incredible work of the team at World Jewish Relief, our remarkable partners who have shown sheer determination to support those in urgent need, and the outstanding generosity of our donors, in what are extremely challenging circumstances. We’ve had to make some really tough decisions over the last two and a half years – the needs are vast, and as much as we might want to, we simply cannot do everything, everywhere. So, we have focused on areas that we have the greatest knowledge on, and where our partners have specific expertise and experience, namely; supporting older people, helping people into employment or self-employment and delivering humanitarian aid to those who need it most. Using these as the basis of our response, we have been able to expand our programmes and innovate into new areas such as supporting children in their academic, social and psychological needs, or providing warm safe spaces for older people to survive the winter months.
”Through our multipronged approach, we are helping to meet diverse needs across the country.”
Since February 2022, I have visited Ukraine twice and speak regularly with our partners. Recently there have been increased attacks in places like Kharkiv, and when I spoke to our partner there, they talked about the extreme psychological distress faced by staff and participants alike, not just because of the recent spikes in attacks but because this has been going on for so long. Despite this, they told me about the importance of getting together to celebrate holidays, birthdays and festivals. Ultimately, they said what keeps them going is knowing there is a community in the UK who is doing all they can to support older Jewish people’s daily needs in Kharkiv.
Dementia Care
by Beth Saffer, Head of Older People Programmes
World Jewish Relief first started looking into the issue of dementia in Ukraine and our other Eastern European countries of operation back in 2015. The world, of course, was different then. Pre-Covid, pre-war in Ukraine. Yet all was far from ideal. We had been working with partner organisations closely for many years supporting healthcare, home repairs, social care and homecare for older, vulnerable Jewish people. And yet somehow the question of dementia – or specifically, what was happening when people start showing signs of dementia and it progressed – was rather muted. I had only started at World Jewish Relief in 2014 and was getting to grips with all of our programmes and partners. A meeting with Jewish Care’s Chief Executive at the time, alongside our Chief Executive Paul Anticoni, opened a new world for me too as I started to learn about the condition and what ‘good dementia care’ looked like from a British angle, or more specifically, within the Jewish community here.
We initiated a scoping visit to Ukraine with a senior member of Jewish Care’s staff development team to visit partners, participants and activities and try to understand what was happening in local community services for older people. We also visited State-run psychiatric institutions and hospitals where people with advanced dementia were living out their final years, hidden from view.
Overall, we found social and medical sectors woefully underprepared to cope. Awareness in wider society, and attitudes to dementia, were fairly negative. People were largely unaware as to what was causing their loved one’s strange behaviour, and so kept them hidden away, withdrawn from social life. Diagnosis rates, at least officially, remain extremely low in this part of the world, as medical professionals are overwhelmed and undereducated on dementia from a clinical perspective. Soviet-era stigmatisation of anything considered to be linked to mental health, remained strong. And yet, there were pockets of good practice in our community with individual staff members, especially homecare workers, having intuitively developed a wealth of experience in caring for their clients despite a lack of clinical understanding of the disease.
Between 2016 and 2018, we ran eight training seminars across Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, reaching hundreds of people covering things such as; causes of dementia, debunking myths, communicating with people who have dementia, types of dementia, and much more. It also set out a framework for providing ‘person-centred care’ which puts the individual at the heart of everything and encourages carers to get to know their life story and what they enjoy, care for them and help them maintain their independence for longer. We brought colleagues to the UK for exchange visits to see Jewish Care and other services for people with dementia. We started funding specific dementia activities within our projects – assigning a dementia coordinator, setting up day centres, support for family carers and much more. Our incredible colleagues took the initiative to go far and wide, reaching out to State run care institutions, medical universities, and other community groups to tell them about dementia.
Fast forward eight years and we have been through Covid, and two and a half years of full-scale war in Ukraine. Of course, both these factors have significantly impacted our work in every way. Last year we decided to invest in a professional evaluation of the impact and learnings from this programme and worked with ‘Key Impact’, an Israeli based consultancy firm specialising in social development research. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Staff commented on increased knowledge, confidence and a desire to understand their client.
”People with dementia had access to services better tailored to their needs – and crucially, were not excluded from community life.”
Family carers felt reduced stress and felt they had someone to turn to: “Thanks to the Hesed homecare services, I now have some time for myself. I know that the homecare worker will come and take good care of her, which makes everyone happy.”
Our partners have completed an impressive number of trainings, consultations, offered work-experience and advice, going way beyond the Jewish community. Of course, there is still a lot to work on. Lack of resourcing for dementia is a problem world-wide and in Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova this is most acutely felt. More training is needed for new staff, particularly in Ukraine where mass emigration due to the war has led to high staff turnover. And interestingly, the study found that older people remain highly stigmatised towards themselves and their peers, and lack basic awareness of dementia. So, we plan to continue raising awareness, building understanding of ‘dementia risk reduction’ and promoting person-centred approaches, led as always by our incredibly resilient and dynamic partner organisations. Together, we will continue standing shoulder to shoulder with older people across Eastern Europe, helping them to age with dignity.
World Jewish Relief’s Climate Programmes
As a humanitarian organisation rooted in Jewish values, World Jewish Relief is compelled to act to prevent the immense human suffering caused by the climate crisis. Climate related disasters such as flooding, cyclones, heatwaves, wildfires and landslides, have already increased by over 80% over the last four decades.
World Jewish Relief’s climate resilience portfolio was established in 2022 to support communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis. Our unique approach focuses on adaptation rather than mitigation, supporting communities already impacted by climate change to adapt and build future resilience. Our programmes are diverse and ambitious; this year we plan to reach over 22,000 people in four countries at high risk of climate related disasters. These programmes will support groups who severely lack capacity to cope with the climate problems they are facing, including marginalised castes and landless farmers, indigenous groups, women and girls, and conflict affected populations.
Our four programmes are:
- Promoting community led and climate resilient agricultural livelihoods in Nepal. This programme, run in partnership with Nepali organisation Community Self Reliance Centre, is increasing livelihood resilience and food security for 2,500 landless and smallholder farmers in two locations in Nepal. We are providing participants with life-changing agricultural training using climate resilient techniques, equipment and materials including specialist seeds, and supporting landless communities with their land ownership applications. Alongside CSRC, we are working with local communities and government to enable these communities to provide for themselves, earn an income, and thrive.
- Supporting coastal communities in Khulna, Bangladesh, to build climate resilience to intensifying cyclones and extreme weather events. This programme, run in partnership with local Bangladeshi organisation Prottyashi, aims to increase the climate resilience of people living in Koyra, within Khulna District, Bangladesh. Khulna district has some of the highest rates of climate risk in the whole country due to intensifying cyclones, flooding events, saltwater intrusion, storm surges, and river-bank erosion. One identified need is for safe, dignified toilets and drinking water that will last during floods. Currently, these facilities are unusable for many months of the year, with a disproportionate impact on women and girls, who are at risk of gender-based violence and dropping out of school when they have no safe toilets to use. We will build toilets that are resistant to the intensifying flooding and cyclones, while providing awareness sessions for parents, women and girls on how to maintain hygiene during the flood season.
- Building locally-led climate resilience to Typhoons for indigenous communities in the Philippines, through awareness raising and early warning systems. Alongside our local partner, Citizens Disaster Response Centre, we’re supporting two indigenous communities in Quezon Province, reaching 1,500 people. We aim to increase their resilience to typhoons by strengthening their awareness, community-based early warning system, and preparedness. Activities include awareness raising through trainings and media targeted at community and local government officials, alongside installing equipment to deliver life-saving warnings such as alarms and gongs.
- Improving early warning systems to combat more frequent flooding in Ethiopia. Working with our partner, Child Coalition Support Association, we are strengthening flood early warning systems across three towns in South Gondar, Amhara region, reaching over 22,000 people. Activities include training local government, meteorological office staff, and the wider community about flood risk. We also aim to increase the availability of early warnings, installing equipment to monitor river flooding, training volunteers to deliver warnings door-to-door, and providing bridges and boats to aid evacuation for people with limited mobility, reaching 8,000 people. Our awareness raising sessions will reach approximately 14,000 community members in total, and we are training 36 volunteers to deliver warnings. When the flood season hit last year, more than 90% of households surveyed had received timely and trustworthy warnings showing the impact this programme is having on the community.
Partner Spotlight
Nataliya, programme coordinator on our Back to Childhood programme, Kharkiv
Please tell us a little bit about yourself
“My name is Nataliya Tkacheva, I was born, live and work in my native Kharkiv. Since I was five, I dreamed of becoming a teacher. I achieved my dream after graduating university, where I was offered a job and worked for 13 years.
Since February 24, 2022, my city has been under constant attack. Children’s education has been practically impossible due to constant shelling, destruction and school closures. At the start, children and their parents were very emotionally unstable. As was I, for that matter. But I couldn’t just do nothing, so I decided to join this project to support children. I started working as a volunteer and later was invited to become the project’s administrator. Then in summer 2023, World Jewish Relief together with their partner, “Ukrainian Professional Development” launched the Children Educational Centre “My Room” in Kharkiv. The centre provided a unique opportunity for me to fulfil my dream and potential as a coordinator. I believe that the establishment of such centres is very important. Children’s social isolation started during the Covid-19 pandemic and has been significantly exacerbated by the war. Many families have lost their income and can no longer afford extracurricular activities for the children. Thanks to our centre, children have access to proper catch-up academic and developmental programmes. Our centre is my ideal workplace; I love spending time with children, making them happy and helping them grow and develop.”
Please tell us about the programme. What are its successes/achievements?
“The Children’s Educational Centre “My Room” supports children (5-17 years old) affected by the war in Ukraine. Today, our priority is to fill the educational gaps of vulnerable children and teenagers. With experienced specialists, we help children to catch up with the school curriculum, prepare for school, final exams and university applications. The programme also provides psychological, social and cognitive rehabilitation and development. We are proud of the progress our students have made. 72% of our children improved their knowledge of mathematics, 77% of the Ukrainian language, and 65% of children with disabilities improved their social and communication skills. The most comprehensive support is provided to the most vulnerable families (single parents, children who lost their parents and homes, families raising a child with disabilities, large families etc). When working with our participants, we create individual development plans and combine individual and group activities, depending on the level of need of our children. It is very important to me that we create a warm, friendly and homely atmosphere. For the children, the centre’s staff are more like friends than teachers, so even in the darkest times – during blackouts or under the sounds of sirens – children rush to our centre.
What are your long-term goals for the Children’s Educational Centre?
“In the long term, we would like to open the centre seven days per week, create branches in remote areas of the city, and develop training and capacity building programmes for recent university graduates. Many qualified people have fled Kharkiv due to the war, and so one of our long-term goals is to retain, develop and train our own future staff members. We also plan to strengthen the component of engaging parents as active participants in the educational process, to get greater buy in from the families.”
Which challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
“Communicating with children at the centre, we have found that children and parents are facing significant psycho-emotional problems. Mothers often have full responsibility for their families due to their husbands being called up to join the army, causing anxiety and stress. Children are experiencing anxiety and cognitive disorders, grief, anger, mistrust and aggression towards the world around them. Our team of specialists support children with socialisation and communication through comprehensive trainings and therapies. But the main problem is the constant threat to the centre from Russian missiles and attacks. To combat this, during air sirens, classes are held in a specially adapted shelter and during blackouts, a generator is used to provide electricity.”
What makes this programme unique compared to similar initiatives?
“Our professional team have vast experience and a high level of empathy towards the programme’s participants. They know how to motivate, build confidence and unleash children’s potential. This enables increased cognitive, social, academic and emotional development. Moreover, the programme has clear indicators for measuring the progress of participants and allows us to adjust our interventions accordingly. The programme activities are not one-time events, but a comprehensive system of clearly planned and substantiated psychological and educational actions through a multidisciplinary team.”
Can you share a memorable moment or testimonial from children/parents that reinforces the importance of this programme?
“Five-year-old Ruslana has been in the programme for six months. She and her father are IDPs from Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, where fierce military actions are currently taking place. Today, the family is left without housing or means of subsistence. Sadly, Ruslana’s mother died and her father, of pensioner age, is raising her alone. Ruslana told us: “I want to hug my mother, I miss her very much”. When Ruslana came to our centre, she was scared, tense, had poor communication with adults and children, was completely unsocialised, and was not physically developed for her age. During her time at our centre, Ruslana has become active, sociable, socialised, mentally stronger, and is making progress in her studies. Thanks to the team’s efforts, Ruslana is now surrounded with love and care, and she is developing an interest in life again.”