With the conflict escalating and millions fleeing the Ukraine, our members and their locally-based partners are responding to this humanitarian crisis. Food is getting harder for people to access. Infrastructure is being targeted. People are living in fear. And as Ukrainians are being forced to flee, neighbouring countries are doing their best to provide shelter, food and a little peace to Ukrainians looking for refuge.
What we know right now:
- With numbers expected to rise, the UN Office for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) has confirmed 1,900 civilian casualties, including 726 deaths.
- As of Mar. 17, at least 3 million people have already fled Ukraine, searching for safety in mostly neighbouring countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.
- The escalation of conflict in Ukraine comes amidst a surge of COVID-19 cases in the country, where the number of active cases surged by 555 percent between Jan. 15 and Feb. 25
- OCHA reports around 12 million people – nearly 30 per cent of the population – require life-saving humanitarian assistance.
Canadian Foodgrains Bank is responding to this crisis through our participating members and their locally based partners.
Join us in this prayer for Ukraine:
The news can be difficult to listen to and to read.
When that news relates to faces we know
and to voices familiar to us,
it becomes all the harder to hear.
Lord God,
We ask you to hold the people of Ukraine deep in your heart.
Protect them, we pray;
from violence,
from political gamesmanship,
from being used and abused.
Give, we pray,
the nations of the world the courage
and the wisdom
to stand up for justice
and the courage too,
to dare to care―generously.
Lord, in your mercy,
take from us all
the tendencies in us
that seek to lord it over others:
take from us those traits
that see us pursuing our own needs and wants
before those of others.
Teach us how to live in love
and dignity
and respect―following your example.
In your name and for your sake,
Amen
―Issued by Lord Wallace, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, and the Very Rev. Dr. Susan Brown, convener of the Faith Impact Forum, Church of Scotland. Shared by our member United Church of Canada.
Residents gather in underground shelters to protect themselves from the ongoing conflict. Photo: ADRA Ukraine
