Several organisations, such as Missing Children Europe and EuroChild, issued a statement on Friday 24 February - one year after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine - calling for “the strengthening of protection and care systems to support children and young people” who have fled Ukraine.
The signatory European civil society organisations (https://aeur.eu/f/5ho ) address recommendations to European and national authorities “to ensure that all war-affected children receive the care and protection they need to stay safe and healthy”.
Eurofound, for its part, says it has responded actively to the evolving crisis, “using existing data collection and monitoring tools, as well as its wide range of research tools, to provide a timely analysis of the impact of the war to policy makers, stakeholders and the general public”. These include analyses of policies to support refugees from Ukraine, measures to mitigate the impact of inflation and the energy crisis on citizens, and the first impacts of the Ukrainian crisis on employment in the EU.
In a statement, SMEunited says that it supports businesses in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees living in Europe. SMEunited welcomes the launch of the “EU Pilot Talent Pool for refugees from Ukraine”, through the EURES network. In this way, employers can evaluate the CVs of Ukrainian jobseekers.
In addition, the NGO Greenpeace notes that the Russian nuclear arms and energy company Rosatom and its key employees have escaped the EU sanctions list, according to the latest update published on Friday 24 February (see other news). However, according to this NGO, it is necessary to “cut the European nuclear industry’s links with the Kremlin. At a time when so much is being done to support Ukraine, why is the nuclear industry left free to pour money into Putin’s war chest?”
COCERAL (European association of trade in cereals, oilseeds, rice, pulses, olive oil, oils and fats, animal feed and agrosupply) notes that the Black Sea Grain initiative is “one of the positive diplomatic notes”.
However, “grain exports from Ukraine are still hampered by extremely long waiting times in the Bosphorus Passage, and we call on the UN and Turkey to ensure that this agreement is improved when it is renewed next month so that waiting times are reduced, especially for small vessels serving the countries most in need of grain”, according to COCERAL. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)