The humanitarian needs of more than 10 million displaced Ukrainians have quickly become staggering, and longer-term problems resulting from Russia's invasion will grow ever larger if they are not sufficiently addressed now, warned Mark Malloch-Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations.
Experts report an "unprecedented" outpouring of aid for food, medicine and other essential needs of Ukrainians, but comparatively only few donations have been earmarked for maintaining the country's culture or democratic foundations.
Open Society Foundations has launched the Ukraine Democracy Fund with a USD25 million pledge, in hopes of raising USD100 million to address that cause.
The foundations, launched by billionaire investor George Soros, are now one of the world's largest funders of democracy, human rights and justice groups.
"Keeping their civil society alive absolutely is the key bit," said Malloch-Brown, who has also served as the United Nations deputy secretary general.
"Otherwise, it's a hollow victory. If you neglect or lose that civil society piece, you've lost what this was ultimately all about."
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the philanthropy research organisation Candid has catalogued USD440 million in grants and USD333 million more in pledges for the victims.
Those totals do not, however, include individual donations or from non-profits and corporations that have not yet publicly reported their gifts, meaning that the actual amount of aid is much higher.
"By many measures, this has been an unprecedented philanthropic response by organisations, by individuals," said Laia Grino, Candid's director of data discovery.
"Some groups have said that this has exceeded what they were able to raise for COVID-19, what they raised for racial equity, the response to the crisis in Afghanistan," Grino noted, adding that the bulk of those donations are for immediate needs - food, shelter, safety.