Statement on the One Year Anniversary of the Ukraine War

Today marks one year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It marks one year of disruption for students and scholars whose lives have been upended and paths to education have been blocked. What lies ahead is much longer and more difficult than anyone thought. For more than 100 years IIE has worked to build a more peaceful, equitable world through international education and we will continue to do so. Since the beginning of the war, IIE has deployed a multi-faceted response focused on ensuring students, scholars and artists have a clear path forward.

Access to higher education is access to a future. Without education, refugees and displaced people all over the world are at risk of becoming a lost generation. IIE is a critical resource when students, scholars and artists have no other safety net. 

On this anniversary, IIE demonstrates our steadfast support for education in Ukraine by committing to provide funds for 160 students and 50 scholars, a total of 210 individuals, at the Volodymyr Dahl East Ukrainian National University, one of the most critically impacted university populations in Ukraine.

Additional ongoing efforts include:

Providing Emergency Aid for Ukrainian Students in the U.S. 

The IIE Emergency Student Fund for Ukraine (IIE-ESF) has supported approximately 230 students at more than 140 U.S. colleges and universities with grants that ensure students cut off from other resources can continue their studies, totaling nearly $650,000. 

Supporting Access to Higher Education 

The Global Democracy Ambassador Scholarship, designed to help Ukrainian students continue their studies, has awarded 20 Ukrainian students up to $30,000 each for educational and living expenses. Through generous support from individual donors and foundation partners through IIE’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund, IIE works with a number of universities in Ukraine to provide grant funding for research and reconstruction planning, and support for direct grants to students to keep them enrolled in their university studies.

Ensuring the Safety of Scholars and Artists

This crisis underscores the need to protect Ukrainian and threatened Russian academics. Since the conflict began, the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) has rescued 13 Ukrainian scholars and is also currently supporting nine Russian scholars who can no longer safely continue their work in Russia. IIE’s Artist Protection Fund (IIE-APF) has awarded six fellowships to artists in need of emergency support, from fields including literary, performing, and visual art.

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