Since the onset of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, women’s organization Project Kesher Ukraine has continued its work making significant contributions to the safety and well-being of women and children, despite the daily threats posed in a warzone.
“We are an organization that is known both in the Ukrainian world and Jewish world and among the women's movement,” Vlada Nedak, CEO of Project Kesher Ukraine and the Women’s Opportunity Fund of Ukraine (WOF-UA) told the Magazine. “We have worked for years on women's issues. We were among those who initiated an interfaith coalition in early 2000 all over Ukraine, where the voices of Jewish women bring different interesting topics such as domestic violence and women's health financial literacy to a discussion.”
The organization was set up originally in the 1980s when Sallie E. Gratch, a social worker from Illinois, met Svetlana Yakimenko, a teacher in Moscow. During the Russian invasion in February 2022, they coordinated and funded 9,000 evacuations from the war-torn regions of eastern Ukraine, focusing primarily on women traveling with children and the elderly.
Additionally, at the outset of the war, they distributed 351 cash grants to displaced women, totaling over $110,000, while assisting these recipients with their evacuation plans.
In collaboration with various partners, the organization has also purchased and distributed 300 generators, hundreds of power banks, and flashlights for warming and food distribution centers, including synagogues, Jewish Community Centers (JCCs), and a hospital in Kyiv.
They have also provided 600,000 pounds of food, 5,500 menstrual cups (with a social media campaign to popularize their use, aiming to distribute a total of 25,000), 1,000 Plan B kits for women in the war zone, and 500 dignity kits for women in the military and in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.
The interfaith work and spreading the history of Ukraine’s Jews to ordinary Ukrainians has played a major role in Project Kesher Ukraine’s history.
“Ukraine was a very multicultural country, and one of our latest initiatives is called the ‘Jewish Weekend’,” Nedak stated. “We open the historical pages of the Jewish-Ukrainian relationship in many senses—language, music, culture—and we did this in the biggest cities like Kyiv, even during the war.
“We always balanced from the beginning—and I am very proud of this—helping people to discover the world of Jewish life through practice and understanding. And then from another side, we have always been a socially active organization, helping women understand their rights, their opportunities.”
The work that Project Kesher Ukraine carries out supporting the women of Ukraine is vast and worthy of admiration under the toughest of circumstances.
Among many projects, the organization underwrote a workshop on preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence in Ukraine. This workshop centered on the voices of leaders from Ukrainian women’s NGOs and included contributions from UN leaders, a future Ukrainian woman Nobel Peace Prize winner, and one of the original “Janes” discussing access to abortion in key refugee countries. Following the workshop, the primary organizer was hired by the World Health Organization to oversee refugee efforts in her region of Europe.
Effectively advocating for Ukrainian women
As Project Kesher Ukraine’s humanitarian work increased, they created the WOF-UA to oversee these initiatives. Recently, the fund introduced an English language track for the leadership of Ukrainian women’s NGOs, enabling them to effectively advocate for women’s needs and resources.
“We work with women of all ages. With teenagers, we have my favorite retreat, which is a famous mother-daughter retreat,” Nedak told the Magazine. “It's for girls aged 12-14 and their mothers, and this has been continuing even during the war. We are thinking of expanding it into a multicultural, multinational event, helping more young women think about a future profession, women's bodies, women's health.”
With the support of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), Project Kesher has been investing in a text messaging initiative called FemSMS, designed by Dr. Kristen Ali Eglinton, which provides compassionate communication to women during wartime and has received 98% positive feedback. This initiative was featured at the UN in March. In addition to support, Project Kesher Ukraine provides content.
Additionally, Project Kesher has provided an online Visiting Moms initiative and a Telegram channel that supports hundreds of pregnant women daily with content from professionals.
Over 500 online programs have been conducted, covering topics such as English language learning for women in Ukraine and refugees in Europe, Jewish holiday celebrations and Rosh Chodesh in Ukrainian, how to talk to children about war, handle panic attacks, and prepare homes for the war, and the 16 Days to End Violence Against Women campaign.
Project Kesher has also produced 24 radio shows on women’s health issues for Ukrainian public radio and beta-tested a mental health app, TraumaBrace. Recommended by the global women’s mental health team at Columbia University, this app was tested by 200 women, helping to identify those with the greatest need. The app has been adapted to Android to reach more users.
Through WOF-UA, Project Kesher has made 100 grants to women-owned small businesses, with the next round of grantmaking underwritten by JFNA scheduled soon. Additional funding would enable the project to expand. They have also awarded full scholarships to 10 women for advanced IT training in Ukraine, enhancing their employability.
“These are really great initiatives which support small women's businesses,” Nedak said.
“Our foundation works all over Ukraine, and it works with all Ukrainians. We recently received the biggest grant in our organization’s history, US$1.5 million to support humanitarian needs and small women-owned businesses. We are really excited and proud to implement help for women to continue their economic strengths during the war.”
Project Kesher Ukraine also commissioned the translation of key Jewish prayers and services into Ukrainian, many for the first time, including the first Ukrainian language haggadah, featuring original illustrations by Ukrainian Jewish artist Zoya Cherkassky Nnadi.
“The creation of the haggadah took two years and I am so proud of it,” Nedak told the Magazine. “It is a mix of commentaries, and it's about the feeling of what it means to be Jewish. What does it mean to have this haggadah during the war? What does ‘freedom’ mean? What does it mean today to struggle for our freedom?”
Project Kesher’s Work in Israel
Project Kesher Ukraine has also had wider-reaching work to take care of the past few years. With approximately 50,000 immigrants from Ukraine (as well as those from Russia, and Belarus) arriving in Israel, the scope of Project Kesher Israel’s (PKI) work has grown exponentially, helping immigrants adjust to life in Israel personally and professionally through programs that introduce them to Israeli culture and help them cope with the impacts of war, forced immigration, and the stresses of change.