HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE AND RESILIENCE
IMPACT SPOTLIGHT
TIME IS RUNNING OUT Beti, 15, lives in a camp in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. She has big dreams for the future, but a lack of food is getting in the way. We provide families like Beti’s with food, vouchers and support so girls can continue to learn. LEARN MORE ABOUT BETI
SPOTLIGHT
PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT Humanity and Hope in Ukraine
IN HER OWN WORDS Yulia shares how she and her three-year-old son, Kiril, are
On the first day of war, Kiril witnessed the explosions in Dnipro and got very scared. He ran to the bathroom and fell and hit his face. Because we live on the 10th floor, I was scared a missile might fall on our building, so we went to a shelter. After a few nights, I returned to my apartment and called my family to tell them we needed to go. It was very difficult to leave the city because there was only one train. It was -7ºC, and we stood outside for seven hours. Many people are prepared to die because they don’t want to be separated from their loved ones. They are ready to stay in the city. Kiril doesn’t have a father, so I had no one to leave behind. One of the impacts of war is that he is afraid to go to the bathroom alone and he sleeps with the lights on. I have applied for a visa to Canada, and I’m waiting for a response. If I receive one, I will go and try to start a new life there. But today all my thoughts are still in Ukraine. I keep thinking about my place, my home. I waited for my apartment for 10 years. I invested my soul into it, decorating it and making it comfortable. I hope many people will read my story and understand how I feel. coping after fleeing their home. They are now safely in Romania, where Plan International has been helping them cope and make new friends.
In the first four months of the crises in Ukraine, Plan Internatinal teams were in Poland, Moldova and Romania collaborating with partners already present in the region to ensure that there was immediate help for children and their families as they crossed the border from Ukraine. Dr. Erika Silva has seen first-hand how this work is making a difference. As a health advisor for Plan International Canada, she went to Poland after the crisis began to establish partnerships with agencies that provide reproductive health services and mental health support to women and children. Living a life in limbo means they’ve left loved ones behind and now suffer an unimaginable ache, but heart-wrenching
and heartwarming moments happen simultaneously, notes Dr. Silva. She recounts being met outside one shelter in Poland by a Canadian soldier whose kindness touched her. “He was so warm and helpful to everyone,” she recalls. “And the volunteers in these places – who give hours of their time to strangers – give me hope because so many people are trying to do something good.”
10 , 000 were distributed in partnership with Plan International Germany to women in shelters. The kits contained essentials like menstrual pads, toothpaste, condoms and combs. DIGNITY KITS
WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK “The conflict in Ukraine has disrupted the education of a whole generation of children,” says Emilia Sorrentino, education-in-emergencies specialist at Plan International. “Getting pupils back into school is critical to provide a sense of normality and safety as they start to rebuild their lives in a new country.” To help, Plan International supplied 500 backpacks to refugee children living in Moldova. The packs were filled with essentials like pens, notebooks and coloured pencils, which they would need once they were enrolled again in school.
Rallying the World Policy, advocacy and public engagement are critical pillars of the work we do.
A t Plan International Canada, we want to engage with decision makers who share our determined optimism that it is possible to build a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. “I want everyone to feel inspired and hopeful that despite the challenges happening in the world, we can influence change for the better,” says Anjum Sultana, director of youth leadership and policy advocacy at Plan International Canada.
76 | 2022 Annual Report
2022 Annual Report | 77
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