Last week I used to be on the Forbes 30/50 Women’s Summit with the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. Throughout the week I had the good privilege to spend time along with her and to listen to her communicate concerning the affect of a yr of warfare on her nation and her individuals, and whereas doing so I used to be overcome with emotion. Just over a yr in the past—just a few weeks after Russian troops started the biggest assault in Europe since World War II—I visited the Polish-Ukrainian border and skilled the day by day arrival of refugees, and the extraordinary response already underway.
While over the course of the warfare the world has witnessed numerous atrocities, we’ve additionally seen the most effective of individuals and communities. In opposition to the unjustified Russian assault, the Ukrainian individuals have demonstrated the most effective of the human spirit, and so they proceed to satisfy the continued offensive with astonishing bravery and fortitude. President and First Lady Zelenska’s bravery, compassion, and management have additionally galvanized a world community of assist, inspiring governments, NGOs, the personal sector, and people in every single place to rally across the individuals of Ukraine.
Mobilizing assist
During my go to to the area a yr in the past, I noticed that refugees had been being met by a community of individuals devoted to serving to—making sources accessible, providing meals, clothes, and protected locations to remain. Cisconians in Poland rapidly opened their arms—and in some circumstances their properties—to colleagues from Ukraine, and our individuals everywhere in the globe responded with monetary assist and volunteered time to aid efforts.
The dedication and generosity I witnessed throughout that go to and within the weeks following hasn’t waned over the course of the yr. We have mobilized expertise assist for presidency entities and demanding infrastructure in Ukraine and Poland totaling roughly US $15M and can proceed to take action because the warfare continues. Through the Cisco Foundation and matching funds donated by our staff, now we have supplied roughly US $8M in money grants to NGOs corresponding to UNHCR, UN World Food Programme, and International Rescue Committee, Norwegian Refugee Council, and Vispala. Cisco’s Crisis Response groups, supported by 50 worker volunteers, have been working to finish 29 installations of essential expertise in 6 international locations within the area. And by means of Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration program’s Medibuses, now we have been in a position to supply medical companies to roughly 6500 refugees in three cities throughout Germany.
Building in-demand digital abilities
The warfare has additionally proven us that we’re extra interconnected and interdependent than ever earlier than, and the social and financial shocks proceed to reverberate in every single place. Those displaced and impacted by violence want assist to stabilize, construct, and rebuild their lives, and our actions have been centered on providing abilities and instruments to foster new academic and job alternatives as individuals discover their footing in new properties. Through our Networking Academies, we’re providing packages designed to assist Ukrainian refugees. The Start IT.Cisco4Ukraine program is a partnership with Cisco Networking Academy and the University of IT and Management in Rzeszow centered on supporting Ukrainian refugees in constructing in-demand digital abilities. More than 750 learners have already benefited from the pilot program.
Cisco’s expertise has all the time been centered on connection, and the warfare has solely highlighted the large energy that connectivity holds—for private connection, training, job alternatives, and as essential infrastructure. As we glance forward, we’ll discover new methods to assist the resilience of the Ukrainian individuals and all impacted communities. At the latest World Economic Forum in Davos, Cisco leaders met with Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, to decide to launching our Country Digital Acceleration program in Ukraine as a primary step.
As we glance again over the previous yr and its profound impacts, we’re heartened by the power of the Ukrainian individuals and their struggle for his or her liberation. We are heartened by the cooperation between private and non-private sectors, and the NGOs working tirelessly on the bottom. We at Cisco proceed to face as a part of this community, and now we have hope. We hope for the swift finish to this warfare, and we hope for a future through which the individuals of Ukraine have the liberty to determine their very own future, individually and collectively.
As First Lady Zelenska not too long ago shared, “Today we are not commemorating a year of war, but we are celebrating a year of resistance to aggression, a year of courage, a year of mutual assistance and rescue of each other, a year of humanity, and a year of friendship.”
Learn extra concerning the individuals behind Talos’ efforts to guard Ukrainian
essential infrastructure in a particular version of ThreatWise TV
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