 Welcome to Cooper Union. What's happening with human rights around the world on Think Tech Live, streaming, broadcasting from our downtown studio at the core of Honolulu, Hawaii and Wana Nuiakea. I'm your host, Joshua Cooper. And today we're actually looking at the amazing aspects of citizen and corporate actions to save lives, don't fund war, a collective responsibility and looking at grassroots initiatives for good. I'm joined today by Katarina. Thank you so much for joining us. Aloha. Aloha, Joshua. Glad to be here. There's so much going on in the Ukraine, on the front lines. Could you maybe give us an update to let everyone know what their most pressing problems and challenges are in this current illegal invasion of your home country? Of course. So these days when Ukrainian news are faded away because it seems like the war has already been there for several months already, we need to understand that it's still a very brutal and active war happening. And right now the bottle of Donetsk and Lugansk is really the main place for all the activity and all the forces, both from Ukrainian side and from Russian side. Every day the death toll is rising and these days we're talking about several Donetsk and Luzichansk as a key point for counter-attacks and attacks from Russian side. What is on top of everyone minds is how it's going to impact food security chain and what impact will it have on other countries who used to rely on Ukraine as a supplier for wheat and agriculture. 25% of usually milliorated lands are being occupied by Russia and global communities trying to find ways to make sure that it does not cause famine in the region. So this is definitely on top of their minds. And a significant event that happened today that representatives of the top echelon of power from four countries came together. And I would love to know what you've learned about it and to debrief about this very significant event together. Yes, thank you so much for raising the issue of food as a human right and showing how the impact of what is happening now in Ukraine could ripple around the world. It actually brings up the core of the UN Charter. We celebrate that this month as the UN Charter was adopted 77 years ago in San Francisco. And Articles 55 and 56 talked about everyone having a standard of life, but it's all having that spirit of solidarity to assist one another. And so I'm really glad you did raise that, because there will be more famine in the region. But it could ripple even wider around the entire world. But getting to your point, the French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi did visit President Vladimir Zelensky. So that's very important. They sent a message of unity. But I think what was also important was one French diplomat official called for Russia to concede all the territory it had taken from Ukraine, including Crimea, so going back to 2014. And they also did travel with Romanian president to Erpen. So we think this is important because you could see Scholz condemning the terrible, senseless violence that he saw in Erpen and supporting the importance of making sure that a rule of law is established not only in the region of Europe, but around the world. Yes, I agree that it was a very productive meeting. And I think this is a general idea of president before starting any conversations to show people the implications and the evidence of brutality of the Russian violence, which is hard to stay cold to, right? It's hard to be pragmatic when you're dealing with trauma and death of such a scale. So it is very strategic of him. And it is very fair of him to let people see the truth in their own eyes before starting any conversations. And as I understood from the notes of the president that he was satisfied with the visit, he got a very strong support of Ukraine as a candidate for European Union and also a commitment to help Ukraine in any way possible to win this war. And this is important because I know what Russia is counting on is that the West would wither as it went on. We know it's over 100 days. We know there was also the Shangri-La meeting in Singapore. But it was important there that Zelensky even made a bold statement showing, again, a strong leadership to say stand up for Taiwan today so it's not too late. And actually encouraging, even in that diplomatic space where you might try to hold words back to keep allies and partners, he really is standing up for the principles of self-determination for all peoples around the planet. And one exciting thing as well was you did have visits from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Both of them were also doing high-stake visits to Kiev to support what the additional billion in military aid, as well as the importance of assistance that was also assured to Ukraine in these strenuous times. One of those aspects that they did announce was the million in humanitarian aid for the issues that you raised, safe drinking water, critical medical supplies, food, as well as assistance for families that are facing horrible circumstances and conditions due to the brutality that we discussed earlier. Yes, I think all the support is very needed. And the more specific concrete it is, the more focused it is on the special groups of people, the better it is. Because when we're speaking with people on the ground, it seems like every family has their own story. Someone's house was destroyed, someone was raped, and they need a special mental health support. Some people are left without their medication, someone who relied on some cancer treatment. So they need a very specific help. And the more down to the concrete needs this help is, is the better. And I'm glad to hear that this is happening on all possible levels. I personally know many people who are doing this on day-to-day basis after their full-time jobs. And also, it's it was my heart to know that some corporate support is there, as well as support on a higher level of the state and even for the federal level. And I really want to get into some of those amazing examples also of how everyday people around the earth can help and contribute. But you did raise those aspects of corporate. And what's so exciting is normally at this time of year, St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, otherwise dubbed as the Russian Davos, is a space where many people come. But the exciting part is corporations have stood in solidarity. And few have showed up. In fact, none from the West has shown up to profit from the pain of what has been inflicted. And so it's great that little global elites are actually participating, because this has been a big meeting since 1997. And we know Putin will give his address tomorrow. But as you talked about, corporations are beginning to actually consider about how everyday actions that they take actually perpetuate many of the problems and the pain that you were describing earlier that are facing the people of Ukraine. Yes, I think this is a very important consideration, especially given how large businesses in Russia are tightly connected to to the government and the stream of profits, not only the tax dollars, but also some of the profits can contribute to more weapons and more attacks on Ukraine. The statistics are that these days, it was more than 3,000 rockets launched in the direction of Ukraine. And most of them were launched to attack civilian infrastructure. And it's, unfortunately, we're witnessing this huge, huge distraction of value. And businesses that keep operating in Russia, they are contributing to reviving and making more and more army supports and supporting Russian army. No, it's an important point, but we do see civil society corporations united to not contribute to funding and fueling the war in Ukraine. And we can see how our worldwide community is united for Ukraine, exploring state sanctions and corporate considerations to prevent people from contributing to the conflict through their purchasing power and for positive peace, as we've started to share. Yeah, I agree and I see this movement and I wanted to highlight some of the efforts. There is a group of Ukrainian organizations and even Natalia Yuresko, who is a former minister of Ukraine. She is a financial professional in the United States and internationally, very renowned leader in this space. They created a recommendation for the Security Commission. Sorry, so for the, let me just... The Security Exchange Commission, you're on it, you're doing well, yes. Yes, with detailed argument of why it is important to reveal any business with Russia and Belarus so that investors could know all the vulnerabilities of businesses, because it's not only a social component of it that is already big enough for people to stop doing business with Russia, but it is also about sustainability of the business. It is also about potential disruptions in logistics, potential the risk of nationalization of those businesses by Russia government, which happened before. So there are a lot of pragmatic reasons, but I like to highlight this, that there is a huge push from society to make sure that businesses has high ethical and standards and moral values not to support violence and make sure that none of their wealth generated is contributing to this already very dire situation It's true, the international initiatives and the community campaigns are really promoting and protecting human rights in Ukraine so far and the efforts of engagement have created considerable moral, legal, political, even economic pressures you shared to demand better public policy for peace and making the connection that every penny you spend can promote peace or pain. And you've really done an amazing job at outlining some of those initiatives. What I'm also inspired by is the faculty at Stanford who also are very much involved in public policy at a national level and global. Can you share how some faculty are making sure that they're not just in the ivory tower but making sure that their theories and are able to participate and frame transformative ways of seeing the world and making sure that we can end this war as soon as possible. Yeah, this is a great point. And even before we go to amazing work that our faculty is doing while we're exploring this area of making sure that people are not contributing to Russian army by being consumers of certain products I wanted to use this moment to spread the word about the initiative started at Stanford by our undergrad Igor Barakayev who started the donfundwar.com portal which aggregates data about businesses and their status in terms of operation with Russia. And it categorizes businesses on those who are buying time or those who already made a statement and pulled up on it with particular actions to stop operating in Russia. It even highlights some essential businesses because for example, security or access to pharma is something that every person should be guaranteed. So this project by any means is not targeting those companies that are kind of essential for every human being. So even in the war time, we take from level of humanism towards our enemy Yes, thank you for showing this. And if you want to be a part of this movement this website contains very easy to follow steps of what you can do to make sure that your company, your employer or the company that you show whose consumer you are will make sure to stop contributing to this brutal war. Another interesting thing that was developed in this space is mobile app called Zrada. Zrada from Ukrainian means betrayal but it's also with this name Zrada people are usually calling something bad that is happening. What this app is doing is by scanning any item the barcode on any item, you will see it has any relations to Russia. If it's produced by a company who is actively operating in Russia, if it's produced in Russia or if it's produced by a company had quartered in Russia. So this is a great tool to make sure that your shopping behavior is not contributing to the war and I encourage people to use it. It's a very fun tool. That's really good to focus on the corporate responsibility regarding war but also the individual actions that we take on a daily basis to make sure that we put our dollars towards diplomacy and not for destruction. That is quite amazing. And I think there's also other exciting actions being done by students and it's great to see students taking the lead as well helping mothers and the other amazing advocacy actions that everyday students are doing by reaching out and assisting everyday people in the Ukraine as well. That spirit of solidarity that began in San Francisco with the creation of the UN Charter but we can really see it alive on a daily basis by the actions that you're sharing. Yeah. Thank you, Joshua for bringing this up. This is a big project of mine that I'm personally very involved with for the months of June we launched Run for Children of Ukraine. This is a virtual run across all the states because you don't need to be physically present anywhere. So even in Hawaii you can be a runner for Children of Ukraine with a goal to secure several incubators for prematurely born babies for maternity homes in Ukraine. There are a lot of needs in Ukraine these days and what is seen that a lot of babies are born prematurely and these incubators are needed to sustain the lives of the smallest Ukrainian. So by running and buying a ticket, it's just $20. You're contributing to the cause and making this happen. There are also a plethora of ways to contribute. I am a leader of Ukrainian Student Association at Stanford and our website is abbreviation of our name, usas.stanford.edu. Where we list how you can contribute your time, how can you contribute to your pre-loved items, how can you contribute dollars for the maximum impact? No, I mean, and it was really at the beginning of the conflict in late February where you saw all the mothers being impacted when the hospitals were being shelled, when people were being forced to flee downstairs. We're trying to leave, especially as there was a pattern of hospitals being intentionally struck by the military. So it is great to see you as a student coming up with ideas and initiatives that then are able to assist individual mothers and make sure that people can do as best as possible to begin a family even in these times of conflict. I would say that it's a teamwork. So of course we have abundance of energy as a student body. And since the February 24th, we were constantly looking for ways how we can help home. Each of us personally felt a little bit guilty for being here in this peaceful, beautiful country where people are concerned about their grades, about their exams, about internships, about recruitment, but our peers at home, their problems are very, very different. So this is to say that every minute possible, me and so many of my friends dedicated towards Ukraine and we achieved some great results. Early on in March, we shipped the entire plane filled with medicine and medical supplies to Ukraine. This was totally fundraised by Ukrainian Student Association. We had some fiscal partners who helped us to make sure that we transact on it properly. We worked with local NGOs, NOVA Ukraine, Washington State Organization, Association of Ukrainians. It's a teamwork. And I think it's very important to keep doing because I understand that there is a fatigue. There is, there are so many things that are happening even in the US. And still I'm telling that every bit of health, every thought and every intention to help matters. And our goal is just to capture and convert this desire to help to particular action. I'm not sure if you knew that, but on May 27th, we had President Zelensky addressing Ukrainians and Americans at Stanford. It was a great event that built a bridge between the Stanford community that have been so supportive and Ukraine was a true dialogue between Office of President and students and administration. And I want to highlight Michael McFaul who has been an absolute advocate for Ukraine and has done tremendous job on developing new packages of sanctions, supporting people with promoting legislation to make sure that the support is secured on the highest level possible while us students who were hustling to make sure that the broader communities engage. And those are excellent stories beyond service learning about how to apply what you care about and what you're studying to then make a difference immediately. And it's also powerful because it's also perspective while people are focusing on grades or exam, you're really looking at the important issues and not forgetting where you came from but also realizing that every student and every faculty and every citizen of the world who cares about what happens can make a difference. Exactly, exactly. And we have so many internationals and Americans in our team. At first I was like surprised and I was trying to find ways to express gratitude to them because for me it's a visceral reaction to health and for them I was trying to understand what motivates them. But this kind of compassion, this incredible level of empathy and understanding that Ukraine stands for democratic values worldwide and that all the world watching and China could be a next aggressor towards Taiwan and we need to make sure that we are protecting democracy and this order of international law, international community the way we enjoyed it before. This is something that drives people and it's interesting to see how some people are more comfortable in reaching out. Some of them are more comfortable in executing on a smaller task. Some of them comfortable about writing stories of Ukrainians in English. We even realized that on our team we had an undergrad who was writing a translation for Verhovna Rada. It's like a Congress of Ukraine. She was interning for them to write their translation in official channel and I was blown away by this level of talent. Oh, it is exciting to see everyone involved and what we can also look at is maybe some how some of the professors are putting in to practice what they teach but then making sure that it's to promote peace as well in Ukraine. But I also like how you pointed out the interconnectedness in international relations and how it is rooted in rule of law and that if one country could be taken over or invaded by a larger neighbor then every country is worried about that international order that has existed for now for 77 years to be weakened and that we don't want to head in that wrong direction that the individual dignity of individuals rooted in human rights is important but also that there is a global order rooted in diplomacy and making sure that we solve any challenges or any conflicts through peaceful means and to make sure that might doesn't make right but that we really concentrate on human rights for all. Yes, yes, this is so well said and highlighting the faculty members. I wanted to highlight the efforts of Mike McFaul again and he's advocating for Ukraine through sanctions and white paper on how on every level corporations and governments can support Ukraine. We also blessed to have at Stanford community a former ambassador to Ukraine Stephen Piper who has been working on multiple initiatives for to help Ukrainians on the ground. And we were, I was honored to see Condoleezza Rice joining our events, supporting Ukrainians at Stanford but also she gave a lecture about what shapes international community the way the way it exists now and which events shook it and she mentioned that the act of terrorism on September 11th was a big point of to bring unity in investigating and preventing terrorism from spreading around the countries and she was mentioning that then was financial cries that united different countries and now a new challenge is a war in Ukraine and we are yet to see how we will overcome this very challenging situation hopefully through unity and collaboration. That's interesting and also an important historical context because there also is greater action in the United States which hasn't always supported the International Criminal Court to really assist to make sure that we document the war crimes and focusing on the crimes against humanity to make sure that Ukraine has all the resources needed but also to pursue international institutions such as the Human Rights Council which is having its 50th session now but making a commission of inquiry on the conflict in Ukraine and also that important international criminal court based in the Hague to make sure that there is some sort of a mechanism to hold Russian leadership that is pushing these policies and also the individuals who are pulling the triggers and unfortunately causing such harm to the innocent civilians. Totally agree. Those are very, very important burning questions. And so as we're wrapping up we know you have so much going on but it's great how you still focus and put in the ideas and make sure that you follow your instincts for what's most important for you and the larger family of Ukraine but the family of nations around the world. What is one thing that individuals could do today to support and what are other ways that we can find out what's happening? Oh, this is such a great question and what is the way to support is honestly to ask your Ukrainian friends how you can engage because I feel this local communities that build bridges between Ukrainians on the ground and Ukrainians in states those make the huge difference. So if you want to help see the person who is wearing a blue and yellow symbol on them as I do have now ask them how they are doing and how they can help. Maybe you can see a flag in your neighbor's window and you can ask them how you can help. So I would say that local communities drive the largest impact. How you can learn about it you can follow your favorite post podcast on international politics. You can follow our page on Instagram where it's called stanford.ukrain to learn what is happening in Ukrainian community at Stanford. And just please stay curious, stay informed and stay compassionate. Thank you so much and we appreciate you making time and busy lives and it's great to see your backdrop there and reminds us of the beauty of your country and we look forward to connecting in the future. Mahalo. Thank you so much for watching Think Tech Hawaii. If you like what we do, please like us and click the subscribe button on YouTube and the follow button on Vimeo. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn and donate to us at thinktechhawaii.com. Mahalo.