As the war in Ukraine rages ahead, One Young World Ambassadors based in the country and abroad have been ceaselessly campaigning for the Russian attacks to end. The conflict is estimated to have displaced 10 million people, with 3.7 million having fled Ukraine as refugees thus far, making it “the fastest-growing humanitarian crisis since the second World War” according to the United Nations.
In an effort to ensure Ukrainian voices are at the fore of global media coverage, One Young World has worked alongside Ivona Kostyna to secure several media appearances to provide first-hand accounts of the war.
Ivona is Head of the Board at Veteran Hub, an innovative non-profit that provides holistic support to veterans of this war and their families. It operates community centres in Kyiv and Vinnytsia, where many veterans reside. These centres have provided legal, social, psychological, and employment support to veterans, and offer fellow civil organizations free office space, facilities, and networking opportunities. They have provided thousands of services to veterans, the military and their family members since November 2018. The organisation was born in the wake of the devastating 2014 conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
The One Young World community stands in solidarity with all those that are affected by the emerging conflict and calls for every effort to avoid a further escalation of violence.
A number of One Young World Ambassadors* have shared key resources that will allow those in and outside of Ukraine to follow developments in the country and directly support peacebuilding efforts. You can view the resources here.
Sky News - 15 March
Ivona called on viewers to help Ukrainian citizens by sharing their stories and amplifying what they are communicating around the war.
Times Radio - 16 March
Ivona and interviewer Mariella Frostrip discussed the impact of the war upon the Veteran Hub in the short-term and long-term, as well as its impact upon Ukraine.
“There is not enough institutional capacity right now to serve the need we already see coming [...] with the wounded, with people moving and with this new problem of many veterans losing their homes and accommodation, and having nowhere to return to because their houses are destroyed. We are not afraid of the effects on them, Ukrainians are very resilient and we’ve trained ourselves for the past eight years to live with an ongoing war. We’re going to [...] survive it but at the same time, we do understand it will be a challenge and it will take time. During this time of rebuilding after the war, we will need even more support.”
BBC News - 18 March
The interview covered Ivona’s work for the Veteran Hub, the invasion’s impact upon veterans, and her broader perspective on the war.
ABC News Radio, Australia - 29 March
Ivona discussed the war's impact on veterans who are serving in yet another conflict.
“We have changed our focus to serve the families of the veterans, most of whom are in the similar situation as myself and many other Ukrainian citizens, meaning they have to move across the country, often without the support of their loved ones. We provide a hotline service where they can call and receive many types of consultations, psychological, legal and employment and just a friendly voice over the phone if you are in distress and cannot reach your loved ones who are currently fighting.
“Many people have managed to build a new life in the eight years of the active phases of war and now they are forced to go over once again. We hear lots of talks of the war ending and things being rebuilt in an instance, but unfortunately that's not the reality.