Life During Wartime
Thoughts on impact where the context is conflict, excerpted from our 2023 Annual Report.
Conflict, sadly, continues to claim attention in several of our national partners’ countries. Both in Tbilisi and in Torino we dedicated sessions to the valiant efforts of our partners as they navigate everything from sociopolitical unrest to full-scale war.
Ukraine’s impact people entered their second year of war, but nevertheless succeeded in attracting three new investors to their impact fund. SILab Ukraine's incubator programs were also met with great enthusiasm by social entrepreneurs in the country. The resilience, courage and flexibility of our Ukrainian partners has long been apparent to those who work with them. We took the extra step to showcase their personal stories in two episodes of the Impact People podcast (downloads in the thousands).
Geopolitical tensions affected Impact HUB Yerevan, our partner in Armenia, too. The escalation of the Nagorno-Karabach conflict led to a large influx of refugees. Impact people on the ground were quick to shift priorities, and to help provide housing, support and basic necessities to these vulnerable people.
Meanwhile, our partner BuildPalestine saw its ambitious Reclaiming Funding event swept away by the events of 7 October. As this conflict expanded, BuildPalestine has been quick to shift gears and to help collect funds for social entrepreneurs that operate from Gaza and other afflicted regions within Palestine. Reclaiming Funding continues to be a priority for BuildPalestine, as they have shared many resources and webinars detailing how the impact investing space can make a difference, even – maybe especially – in dire times. Taking an ecosystem approach, they offer support to all kinds of local organisations, bringing the strengths of social entrepreneurship to a wider audience.
The courageous women of BuildPalestine, whose passion and dedication to helping those around them, is nothing short of exemplary, and they continue to have Impact Europe’s support moving forward.
Of course, we hope there is no need to repeat this segment in next year’s report. In the meantime, we will continue helping our national partners, adapting plans where needed, sharing their stories where possible. After all, it is in these dire times that the impact community stands strong.