Ukraine has been fighting a war on their home since February 24th. They need our ongoing support now as much as when the invasion began.
With 3.2 million Ukrainians who have left the country, more than 2 million people internally displaced, cities under heavy shelling and cut off from the food, water and heating - the war in Ukraine has quickly escalated into the largest humanitarian catastrophe Europe has seen since World War II.
Together, we can help Ukrainians deal with the immediate consequences of the war and adapt to the new reality, which changes daily.
World With Ukraine is a platform that supports the development of tech-driven ideas to alleviate the devastating repercussions of war in Ukraine both in the immediate needs and in the long-term. Solutions can be helping Ukraine or other countries that are struggling with a large number of Ukrainian refugees.
We're asking anyone who wants to help to step forward! Tech community, innovators, marketers, designers, humanitarian aid providers, educators, and all problem-solvers – this means YOU. Join the World With Ukraine! Collectively, we can make a significant impact!
To support the fast development and implementation of ideas, we’re bringing in teams of developers from tech companies to help build the solutions and expert mentors will provide ongoing support. To ensure the safety of participants and ideas, all participants will need to go through a free background check by Veriff.
The topic areas that need the most attention are:
✊ Refugees and internally displaced people
✊ Women’s safety, wellbeing and employment
✊ Children’s safety and wellbeing
✊ Education
✊ Healthcare
If you have an idea that doesn’t fall into any of these categories or are in need of a certain solution, you’re welcome to submit it even if you don’t have the opportunity to work on it yourself. We’ll share the information with our developers and get them working on as many ideas as possible.
When submitting an idea, make sure no one is already working on it. If this is the case, team up with the existing solution and create a bigger impact together.
The process is ongoing and there’s no deadline to submit your idea. As soon as you have built the solution on our platform, you can present it at a demo day. Most impactful solutions will receive funding to speed up implementation.
How does it all work?
1. Sign up on Eventornado- either as an individual or with a team.
If you have an idea, choose the category it fits under the best. If you need additional team members, let everyone know what skills you are still missing!
2. Go through the quick security check by Veriff.
3. You will receive an invitation to join the Discord and put together a team! Make sure all the team members have joined your idea on Eventornado.
4. We will get you working with the mentors and our talented tech teams to build your solution (more info on Discord) - once you have a team together.
5. Join the demo day and show what you have built. Best teams will receive funding to implement their idea.
What we provide on our side
Structure in developing your solutions, ongoing mentoring support, a platform to find like-minded individuals to work with, development hours by the best startup teams, funding for the best solutions.
👉🏻 There’s no time to waste. Register now: eventornado.com/event/world-with-ukraine
Слава Україні! 🇺🇦
#StandWithUkraine
#WorldWithUkraine
PS! If you want to join us as a mentor to help the teams complete their projects faster,
sign up here as a mentor!
The process is ongoing and there’s no deadline to register or submit your idea. As soon as you have gone through the Veriff identity check, you will be onboarded onto the Discord community where you'll be able to meet other participants and get help from mentors. When your solution is ready, you can present it at a demo day. The most impactful solutions will receive funding to speed up implementation.
Ongoing from 28 February – Registration opens, teams build solutions and bring them to life
25 March & 1 April – Demo days for finished solutions
The topic areas that need the most attention are: refugees and internally displaced people; women’s safety, wellbeing and employment; children’s safety and wellbeing; education; and healthcare.
Refugees and Internally Displaced People
The UN Refugee Agency has declared Ukraine a Level 3 emergency – the highest level out there. Over 160,000 people flee the country daily through Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary, who aren’t equipped to deal with the vast influx of refugees. Some areas have it worse than others - approximately 10% of the people in Warsaw are Ukrainian refugees.
On top of the Ukrainians who escape from their country daily, there are also those who have lost their homes or relocated because they are in the midst of a heavy bombardment and shelling. Many of those fleeing now have been already internally displaced because of the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine. UN says that at least 2 million people have been displaced internally since the beginning of the war.
Many humanitarian projects are already actively working to support refugees and internally displaced people by providing shelter, food, medicine and other necessities, but there’s more to do.
We’re looking for tech-first solutions to help refugees and internally displaced people and the countries they flee to with both immediate and long-term solutions. There are many initiatives that focus on refugees, so please make sure your idea doesn’t duplicate what’s already being done rather than support the work of already existing organizations.
Last updated 14/03/22
Children's Safety and Wellbeing
Within the past weeks, 3.2 million people have been forced to flee Ukraine seeking safety and protection. Hundreds of thousands of them are children. Amongst those fleeing, many are unaccompanied or have been separated from their parents or family members.
Children without parental care are at a heightened risk of violence, abuse and exploitation. When these children are moved across borders, the risks are multiplied. The risk of trafficking also soars in emergencies. Immediate identification and registration of unaccompanied children is crucial in every location where they end up. Children should get immediate safe space either in the form of temporary foster or other community-based caregiving placements to ensure their safety.
Children’s immediate needs and safety must be prioritized in the short term while the medium to long term solutions are being identified.
We are looking for all the ideas on how to ensure the children’s safety and wellbeing during these difficult times.
Last updated 18/03/22
Women’s Safety, Wellbeing and Employment
The majority of people fleeing Ukraine are women and children. Because they have just managed to escape the unimaginable, they might let their guards down about other threats. Traffickers prey on the and vulnerability of displaced individuals, who they see as an opportunity to turn a profit.
A crisis like Ukraine is a business opportunity for criminals. Human traffickers are often first on the ground, looking to exploit this vulnerability and put those fleeing into situations of unimaginable brutality. Because the refugees are predominantly women, many will be forced into trafficking for sexual exploitation.
People fleeing the conflict are arriving in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova, and Slovakia. Criminal gangs are operating in all these nations, so the trafficking infrastructure is already there, waiting to traffic people across Europe and into the hands of exploitative industries around the world.
On top of the dangers that many women face when they leave their country to unknowingness, they also face other challenges. Many of them end up as the primary caretaker and provider for their children, with very little reserves and almost an immediate need for extra income. How to secure employment in a new country when you have a small child? How to afford the daycare or even find a place in a daycare center in countries that were lacking spaces even before the current humanitarian catastrophe?
Or how to even get employed when you have been a stay-at-home mom before the war in Ukraine? Without any previous work experience and the needed language skills, it can be extremely challenging. How can we support mothers in supporting their children, which is the main thing a mother’s heart needs?
We are inviting all the ideas that help women to navigate through these extremely difficult and turbulent times.
Last updated 14/03/22
Education
Education is a key component in ensuring refugees and internally displaced people are able to lead independent, fulfilling lives. Education keeps them away from illegal activities and helps them integrate into society. This is true for children and adults.
Children fleeing Ukraine on their own are in the most vulnerable position.In addition, there are also children who end up in new territory with their caregivers, without the support system and structure they had at home. Most of these kids have been cut out from traditional education and need different alternative ways to learn before returning to school.
Many refugees are also in need of new skills, for example, language lessons, to help them adapt to their new reality and find employment.
We are looking for all the ideas that support the education of Ukrainian children, refugees and displaced adults in these turbulent times. These can be existing applications that need Ukrainian language integration or brand new solutions.
Last updated 14/03/22
Healthcare
On top of the heavy burden that the war has given to the healthcare system in Ukraine in the rapid increase of the numbers of injured, there has also been a number of direct attacks on the hospitals, which has left the healthcare system even more fragile. Due to the war, people with chronic, acute and terminal diseases face serious threats - they are cut off from the medicine and treatments they need.
We are welcoming ideas that would:
- help to track the availability of different medicine available in the pharmacies
- raise awareness and prioritize the health needs of women and girls
- offer psychological support
- connect doctors ready to offer remote support, with those in need
… and all the other solutions that would either offer ease to immediate needs of people or help to strengthen the fragile and wounded healthcare system
Last updated 14/03/22
1. Register on Eventornado
You can register as an individual, a team, or as a mentor. Either register with an idea and put together a team of skilled individuals looking for an idea to work on or if you don't have an idea, you can join an existing team you could help out with your expertise.
All participants will be asked to verify their identity. Once your registration is approved, we will invite you to join Discord and you can start communicating with other participants to find your team.
2. Post your idea or find an idea to join on Eventornado
When posting your idea, provide an in-depth description of what you plan to do. Give info about your background and what you have done so far. This will help you find team members with the needed expertise quicker. If there is already an existing solution or central system in place, make sure you build to enhance it to make it as valuable as possible. Parallel solutions can often do more harm than good.
3. Get your team together
When you post your idea, make sure you add all the missing skills you need to add to your team from the “invite team member” section. This way, other participants can see you are looking for them.
If you're looking for a team to join, browse through all the submitted ideas and apply to join a team you could add value to. Use the search tab for keywords and phrases.
Use Discord to support getting the team together - talk to people to find the expertise needed and get the solution building going.
4. Start building and working with mentors
Start building as soon as you can, even if you’re missing some team members. Team members and mentors with various skillsets are joining on an ongoing basis. You can reach out to mentors and other volunteers on Discord.
5. Implementation, funding, evaluations, and demo day
If you’re ready to implement the solution - do it! If you can fundraise to finance it - do it. We will be further supporting the implementation and additional funding of the solutions throughout Demo Days.
Слава Україні! 🇺🇦
#StandWithUkraine
#WorldWithUkraine
