One year ago World Jewish Relief embarked on its climate agenda, tackling the effects of the climate crisis on the world’s most vulnerable communities. After initial scoping by our Climate and Resilience Programmes Manager, in February we launched projects working with communities in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar to build their resilience to the climate crisis.

Paul Anticoni recently gave a presentation detailing his experiences during a visit to Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine. In this video, Paul discusses the various problems Ukrainians are facing, both in terms of the immediate threats to their lives, and on-going issues such as employment as this war takes on a protracted nature.

I have just returned from Kyiv, having taken an overnight train from Lviv. I was amazed that despite 3 months of war the train still arrived 3 minutes early. Kyiv was nervous when I got there, after a barrage of missile strikes the previous day, and security was tight.

Since February 24th, numerous Ukrainian families have been broken apart, millions of people have been displaced, and thousands have been injured or killed. Many of them did not have the time to make an escape plan, just to gather their family members and seek shelter. Families have made perilous and difficult journeys, hoping to find a safe place for themselves and their children.

At last night's ceremony, World Jewish Relief's Specialist Training and Employment Programme (STEP) won a Charity Award in the category of Education and Training. World Jewish Relief was shortlisted alongside Action Tutoring and MyBnk, and joined an impressive list of charities up for awards across various categories, including Macmillan, Tommy’s, Place2Be and St John Ambulance.

Working through our partners, World Jewish Relief is prioritising emergency evacuations, helping those who are displaced to find shelter and gain access to food and medical supplies and for those who are housebound, we are ensuring they continue to receive critical homecare. So far, our support has reached over 111,000 people with a particular focus on the most vulnerable groups.

In Nepal we are working across two locations. In the first, in the Sindupalchok District in the mountainous northern part of the country, we have identified three communities that are struggling with droughts, floods and landslides, that are damaging crops and fertile land.

This week marked the launch of a new 501(c)(3), World Jewish Relief USA. The organization will support the global projects of World Jewish Relief, the UK Jewish community’s international development and humanitarian agency, enabling them to scale up their lifesaving work.