On Wednesday night, our office in Kyiv was damaged in a Russian missile attack. It was a stark reminder of the risks that an organisation such as ours faces in conflict-affected areas. I was relieved to hear that all colleagues were safe and accounted for. One colleague was injured and admitted to hospital but thankfully he is in a stable condition.
Working under such conditions around the world is challenging, and yet, time and again, our colleagues and partners demonstrate courage and commitment in carrying on despite the dangers. Their resilience is extraordinary. We are working to find ways to minimise disruption and continuing to support our team there.
Persistent air alerts mean some of our colleagues are required to remain in shelters, but sadly this is nothing new. The war has taken an enormous toll on the Ukrainian population, including a deterioration in quality of life, severe psychological and emotional challenges, and the disruption of social connections and education.
But the unyielding spirit of the people is always evident. Take, for instance, a British Council event that took place in September last year, when we set up a pop-up event in Lviv in partnership with Molodvizh, the city’s largest youth event. Tragically, during a missile attack a few hours before the event, a representative of a partner organisation was killed, along with her family. This greatly affected everyone, but it was felt by all the partners that it was important the event should continue.
Despite these perilous circumstances, British Council colleagues and partner organisations continue our work with education, teaching, English language learning and cultural programmes right across Ukraine, as we have done for the past 30 years. When a country is at war the protection of its culture is ever more important, and the British Council is a key partner in supporting Ukraine.
We are working with partners to train more than 15,000 teachers in Ukraine in techniques to help young children living with trauma. We also deliver the UK-Ukraine school partnerships programme, funded by the UK government, which connects about 3,000 pupils and 100 teachers in both countries. Through a shared love of reading, the initiative develops cultural understanding, builds resilience and supports emotional wellbeing.
We have also delivered 10,000 online courses in English for displaced Ukrainians in the UK and have connected Ukrainian arts and cultural organisations with their British counterparts, showcasing their work internationally and supporting Ukrainian cultural expression.
As an arms-length body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, we support the UK’s foreign policy interests – but we are designed to operate over the long term, independent and not constrained by short-term government cycles. Today, the British Council works in 200 countries and territories, with people on the ground in 100, reaching more than 600 million people, and connecting them with the UK’s arts and culture, education and English language.
My colleagues work in the most complex and often dangerous places, whether in Myanmar, Iraq, the occupied Palestinian territories, Venezuela or Bangladesh. And they don’t give up when the going gets tough. If we are absolutely forced to withdraw from a region, we return as soon as possible. This means that our history has not been without tragedy. In 1971, guards were killed protecting our office in Dhaka during Bangladesh’s liberation war. More lives were lost during the Taliban attack on our office in Kabul in 2011. There have been shootings, arrests and detentions. We will always be grateful to the people who have stood with us against those who will go to the most violent ends to disrupt our work.
Over the past 90 years there have been periods of friction, war and conflict and some of relative peace. I fear the years ahead hold significant challenge. But that is when the British Council needs to deliver more than ever.
This war has damaged Ukraine’s infrastructure, putting the right to education of millions of young people at stake. The British government recently committed to a 100-year partnership with Ukraine, signifying the breadth and depth of relationships between our countries. The work of the British Council is more important than ever – it will continue throughout the war, office or no office.
Scott McDonald is chief executive of the British Council
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