Following De Montfort Students’ Union (DSU) response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, staff were recently invited to present at the United Nations’ briefing, “Humanitarian Impact of the War in Ukraine: Response from Universities”. The event was attended virtually by people from around the world.
This briefing reviewed the multidimensional response from institutions of higher education in assisting those in need due to the war in Ukraine, thus contributing to addressing the humanitarian impact and challenges caused by the conflict. It also provided an overview of the situation on the ground and the response from the United Nations.
Puja Subramanian, Equality and Diversity Executive at De Montfort Students' Union, and Philippa Manning, Student Opportunities Coordinator were invited to present as DMU is a United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) global hub for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Within DSU’s briefing, Puja and Philippa explained how DMU students were supported to mobilise and the events and activities this led to, including; a vigil, wellbeing support sessions, and a donations drive.
DSU were the only representatives from the United Kingdom as we shared the work we have done, alongside De Montfort University to support the response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Alongside DSU, there were also presenters from the New York Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Széchenyi István University (Hungary), and Lazarski University (Poland), and the Center for International Cooperation and Development Studies at the University of Bucharest (Romania).
A special thanks to all the students, staff and local community who donated vast quantities of goods that were then shipped to Poland where they could be distributed. Without your kindness and compassion, this would not have been possible.
The full briefing can be viewed on YouTube and the slides from each institution can be downloaded from Google Drive.