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The President Kaljulaid Foundation and the Estonian embassy in France jointly organized a fundraiser to support Ukrainian orphans living in children’s homes in the region of Zhytomyr, West of #Kyiv. The aim was to collect €50 000 to provide computers to the children, essential for the children to get access to education.
The goal was met. The children will get their computers. &#8220;Our utmost gratitude belongs to everyone who contributed. We have overcome the target amount as of today, but we will not stop here!&#8221;, said president Kaljulaid after the event.

President Kaljulaid Foundation and Estonian embassy in Paris collect over €50k  for Ukrainian children

These pictures were drawn by children of the Zhytomyr SOS Children&#8217;s Village. The vivid colours mask untold horrors experienced during the Russian invasion.
Our message is simple: we need to help them, and we will. Read on for how you can, too.
On Thursday evening, these pictures and many others will be given to kind fundraisers who will help us achieve that aim. A fundraiser event hosted by the Estonian Embassy in Paris and president Kersti Kaljulaid will seek to help children as directly as possible.
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The aim of the event is to collect funds in order to provide computers to orphans living in children’s homes in the region of Zhytomyr, West of Kyiv. The computers are essential to help these children get access to education that is now provided only in distance learning format and it is also their hope for a better future. Our goal is to fund the purchase and transport of 100 laptops of around 500 euros each, a total budget of 50 000 euros.
Zhytomyr region has 69 children’s homes that host 5 to 12 children per home, a total of 295 children. On the Ukrainian side, our partner is the President of the Ukraine-Estonia Parliamentary Friendship Group in the Ukrainian parliament, Mr. Arsenii Pushkarenko. The distribution of the computers will take place in cooperation with the Estonian Embassy in Kyiv.
After the fall of communism, Estonia successfully rebuilt itself and its economy thanks to e-governance and innovative solutions. Our experience showed us that the transformation of a country starts by educating children. Both Estonia and France put strong emphasis on quality education that is accessible to everyone and sending these computers will be our common contribution to the reconstruction of a more innovative and more resilient Ukraine. Children are the future of Ukraine, our future. Let us give them hope and support!
Do you wish to chip in and make sure as many children as possible receive laptops for school? Kindly do so by donating:
Name: President Kaljulaid Foundation MTÜ 
IBAN: EE667700771006842520 
SWIFT: LHVBEE22; 
Explanation: “France for Ukraine”

Kaljulaid Foundation & Estonian Embassy in France to hold Ukraine fundraiser

Let&#8217;s summarize &#8211; the first year of the President Kaljulaid Foundation.
When creating the fund, president Kaljulaid set the goal of promoting the values that she stood for as head of state &#8211; democracy, human rights, rule of law, freedoms and digital leadership.
Taavi Linnamäe, CEO of the foundation, summarizes the first year as follows: &#8220;The former head of state&#8217;s fund is a first-of-its-kind initiative in Estonia, which requires a lot of analysis, new ideas and testing. The first year was, on one hand, the year of launching the fund &#8211; building a team and network, finding and creating funding opportunities, forming a longer view and strategy, just like with any starting organization. On the other hand, a number of completely new initiatives were undertaken, and their volume, range of topics, impact and scope will certainly grow in the coming years. In addition, the creation of various speaking opportunities for President Kaljulaid around the world, countless meetings in Estonia and further afield &#8211; the opportunities where we stood up for values important to the foundation and President Kaljulaid have actually been countless.&#8221;
 
Some of the most important initiatives of the President Kaljulaid Foundation in 2022:
At the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the foundation began to collect donations to support independent Ukrainian media. A total of 340,000 euros was donated to Ukrainian media through the foundation. Thanks to everyone who chipped in!
To mark 20 years passing since the opening of the first Estonian women&#8217;s shelter in Tartu, the President Kaljulaid Foundation organized a conference on intimate partner violence &#8220;Tangotantsust lähenemiskeeluni,&#8221; the focus of which was to bring together different parties involved in intimate partner violence and find common solutions.
Throughout the year, the foundation organized various projects, interviews and performances to promote the green revolution. In September, the fund organized a seminar on financing the green turn. President Kaljulaid continues to be the patron of the Estonian Eco-Schools, and the foundation also financially supports their activities.
The role of the global advocate for Every Woman Every Child (EWEC) means preparing an annual report, publishing articles, working with the network, meetings at the UN and keeping the issue in the spotlight at various UN events, etc.
During the year, the fund helped organize nearly 30 work trips abroad, two of them to Ukraine.
 
If what we have done and the values that the foundation and President Kaljulaid stand for are important to you, then you too have the opportunity to help out! Donations are one of the main sources of financing the activities of the President Kaljulaid Foundation, and we thank everyone who has already supported the fund! Donate to:
 
President Kaljulaid Foundation MTÜ
IBAN: EE667700771006842520
SWIFT: LHVBEE22
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Ideas and suggestions? Plans to discuss? Get in touch! The easiest way to do that is to write to foundation-at-kerstikaljulaid.ee
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Report: the first year of the President Kaljulaid Foundation

Yesterday, the President Kaljulaid Foundation transferred 38,000 euros collected with the support of donors to independent Ukrainian media channels. That brings the total donated to Ukrainian media through the fund to 249,000 euros.
In the last round of donations, the fund supported four Ukrainian independent media houses: Ukrainskaya Pravda, Novoye Vremya, Rubryka and Kyiv Independent.
Donations have been received from many people and organizations, from a few euros to tens of thousands. Among others, the Korean disaster relief organization Hope Bridge made a large donation, and the students of Tartu VOCO also collected money for the fund.
&#8220;The war has been going on for over four months now. Among all this horror, it has been good to see that we will not forget the Ukrainians so quickly,&#8221; said President Kersti Kaljulaid. &#8220;We understand that they are also fighting for us and that they need help in their fight. Yes, also military help, but the rest of their society also needs a lot of support. So does the independent press, whose income largely evaporated at the end of February, but on whom Ukraine depends now perhaps more than ever.&#8221;
According to Kaljulaid, the fund supported journalists precisely because, even if the market no longer functions in such a situation, Ukrainians and the whole world, including the non-free world, need independent journalism in Ukraine. &#8220;Journalism without money does not work. Families need food, homes need heating, computers, cameras and fuel for cars are needed for work. However, independent media will continue to be one of the cornerstones of a free Ukraine. Restoring the country will be a very large and complex project, and a strong media will definitely help keep the system clearer and more honest,&#8221; emphasized Kaljulaid.

The President Kaljulaid Foundation donates 38,000€ to Ukrainian independent media

This year, on the evening of the 6th of May, it was rainy in New York. Yet a crowd had gathered for a concert. The Scorpions was playing. They have this song „Wind of Change“.
You know: 
follow the Moskvà 
Down to Gorky Park 
Listening to the wind of change 
An August summer night 
Soldiers passing by….
It is from the album “Crazy World,” 1990. 
This year, this time, in this cryingly wet New York weather, it was about Ukraine. They had changed the words. 
I thought about it the next morning, eyeing a line of Ukrainian flags on a New York bridge, flapping around in seemingly endless rain – New York really was at its worst that weekend, believe me. 
What did it mean? That changed song? I know what it meant to, say, to the Estonian Ambassador at that concert. Or the Ukrainian Ambassador. Or me. Or president Zelenskyy, when he to heard about it – I am sure he did.
But to the rest of the world? All the New Yorkers who were there? I parked this thought then and there with a mental note that at least it happened and that it mattered. 
I was sure it moved the public opinion much more than any speech in the United Nations General Assembly could do. Or even the evening news from Butcha showing raped, maimed, killed bodies, male and female, all ages. The first one is too boring. The second one too terrifying to let it sink in. 
Well, I wanted to tell you this story. And of course I went and found the Wind of Change on Youtube. And guess what &#8211; even people who had NOT yet heard the new version dedicated to Ukraine, had sought it out and relistened in the weeks of war. 
People who remember 1990, had revisited this song. Because they probably felt they wanted to revisit that time in history. Back then, when it felt things might really actually change and change for the better. 
I guess the Scorpions in 1990 believed in the peaceful transformation of Soviet Union from an adversary to a partner, as most in the west did. Believed in the end of cold war, in the further democratization of the Soviet Union and the end of repressions for the nations captured into it. Something like that. Not in its eventual disintegration. 
But it did disintegrate. This disintegration period I am sure happened mostly peacefully only because people then at the helm of the Soviet Union were bound by some respect for human life, and they did not unleash genocide against, for example, the Baltic States who had stared their independence movement at the first whiff of free winds in the stagnated Union. 
They did not, even if they could very easily have done so. There were incidents, notably in Lithuania, but the general restraint against bloodshed was very strongly felt. 
Why, you may ask? It was, in my opinion, deeply related to the culture. The Soviet Union, while demanding its cultural elite be bound by limitations on free speech and censorship, did recognize the value of treating consenting artists, journalists, writers, painters, actors, filmmakers, well. Because if those talented and skilled, who are capable of influencing peoples` minds, are with you or at least seem to be with you, are not openly rebellious, you can create a certain stable environment even within a state turned prison as Soviet Union was. 
Those openly dissenting were thrown into the Gulag or went missing. Or were allowed to emigrate, which helped at that time, as communicating from behind the Iron Curtain was hard and inefficient. 
But those half- or full-heartedly consenting seemed like an useful tool of building consensus – that the Soviet reality was, if not perfect, then cozy, funny, perhaps nice as a lifestyle, low-stress: as partially indeed it was, because in the Soviet Union nobody belonging to the consenting cultural elite had to worry where their next paycheck came from. 
But there was a catch for the regime. In the occupied territories of the Soviet Union and among the Soviet cultural elite, gradually the ability to game the system grew. Being trusted citizens and ambassadors for their state, they were able to peek outside, learn different modus operandi, became informed of both societal and cultural trends of the free world. 
Jazz or the Beatles or heavy metal may have been not openly available, but they were available. Finnish TV was watchable. Radio Free Europe or American Voice were listened to. Radio Luxembourg was listened to. It was more complicated with literature and free media, because their circulation was easier to control, but samizdat – Soviet people copying forbidden literature on typewriters– existed. 
Culture kept the regime similarly in check as the regime kept culture in check – they influenced each other. The thinking of the Soviet Union leadership was influenced by the developments in the free world, as they had no access limitations as normal citizens did. And their belief that what was going on in free west was superior was reinforced by both because they saw economic development which free citizens of the free world were able to produce. 
Everyone knew that this Soviet system was suboptimal for development. The cultural elite made it very clear to the political elite that their support for this regime was conditional. The condition was not only the well-being and guaranteed state-subsidized lifestyle for writers, sculptors, painters, actors and so on. This well-kept and influential, also publicly respected cultural elite would not have supported mass scale brutality and atrocities by Soviet Regime. 
As Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Perestroika were announced, the cultural elite both supported and lead it – they tried to use the new, more open program of Communist Party leaders to enforce more freedoms &#8211; freedom of expression, a lack of censorship. But also economic freedoms, because they saw the limitations of the Soviet economic model – and that only truly free people are creative and entrepreneurial. So they forced the trickle through the dam to become a river until the dam crumbled. It was all quite subtle and gradual, so that the Regime kept believing it was able to reinvent and persist. But it was not. 
Why is it worth talking about today? 
Because the empire struck back. In fact, if you look at Russian history, it is an empire which has never ended, which exists in continuum and which did not really break up in 1991. 
The Soviet Union finally failed because, as the cultural and educational development of the Soviet Union actually was superior to its economic development, it kept the brutal power in check when this power should have exercised control. 
In addition, the west was praising Gorbachev for his reforms as the cited Scorpions song from 1990 clearly demonstrates. The Western cultural elite was very enthusiastic about ending the cold war, about bringing more freedom to Soviet people, gradually pulling down the iron curtain. And as culture was in the Soviet Union part of the State`s tools to run the country, the influence of artists and songwriters and filmmakers of the SU and even of the free west was huge. The empire did not dare to strike, even when it sensed the need. 
It tried in August 1991. The Putch. By men like those who now call the disintegration of the SU as the worlds` biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. 
But they failed. Because, culturally, the SU and its party leadership in majority believed that intimidation works better than actual violence. They thought they had harnessed public thinking. They thought people sincerely believed that the SU as a system was superior, because we sang on our song festivals odes to this system, played in theatres the pieces which were soviet patriotic, could see in the cinemas nothing but soviet propaganda. 
Yet in the end, culture always stands for freedom. It deals with human beings and knows what human beings really need for true happiness – the ability to act out of free will in all spheres of life. 
So, if the system asked their support to reform, they enthusiastically and maybe without foreseeing what it would lead do, somehow changed the tissue of the Soviet society itself. Soviet citizens in Soviet Union republics` capitals started sensing that it is safe to go forward and demand more and more freedom – freedom to decide, democratic elections, the end of censorship, and finally, for occupied nations, regaining freedom. 
Siloviks were helplessly watching how cultural and media elites took freedoms the party had not bestowed on them, using also their powerful link to the people. The people truly respected the cultural elite. They respected the economic elite less, because the economy was in horrible condition, so the elite was obviously not delivering. And they simply despised the political elite. 
The cultural elite relied on the people. It took various forms: the singing revolution, the Baltic chain, the Congress of Estonian Cultural Unions, to name just those who operated in Estonia. There were stronger societal disruptors who risked putting their neck out like the Estonian Congress, which earlier than most demanded total liberation of our country. They had a big role in testing what can be done without ending up in prison. The cultural elite was careful not to overstep, but nevertheless too strong to be collectively sent into Siberia or something like that. Their strength stemmed from love and respect of the people. And the siloviks did not dare until it was too late. Then they failed. 
So, culture has a huge role and huge responsibility on where states go, be they more or less democratic. I believe that if we worry about the future of democracy, we really have to worry about the future of culture, because we have turned much more into consumers than nations glued together by culture. We communicate with each other mostly through trade rather than mostly through culture. 
Also, the culture of Russia today has not been able to hold the siloviks in check, because they have not cosseted the cultural elite like soviets did. Hence culture has no power as it has no resources and the only culture which has resources is the same as in west – the part of it which is easy to sell. But quick and easy sales can not form the only tissue of culture. There must be the slow-moving, more philosophical kind, if you wish. 
The kind that understands society, describes it, warns us about the risks ahead, keeps us alive by making sure even the powers are reluctant to overstep the mark of using death threats to keep their power over society. 
This kind of culture of course exists, but if it is starved, that means it does not reach enough people to influence us as a society. Big composers reached everyone because rulers supported their work and organized resources to air them. Big writers or painters often starved, but since society was not so consumeristic, giving up on thinking was not as FOMO as it is today. 
How many Zelenskyys nowadays still earn their living by making sketches where they seem to play piano with their unusual body parts, that is my question? How many Remarques write advertisements? And how much resources must a society dedicate to keeping elite culture in the place it deserves – in the hearts of enough people to influence the society and to prevent it from degrading into the mass which roamed the congress of the United States in the aftermath of the last elections? How do we make sure culture is in the positions it needs to be to prevent people ever believing in the justifications of genocide? How do we make sure that culture is able to grow our kids into empathetic beings who never grab a firearm and shoot their classmates? 
It seems I asked many questions in one breath. Yet I did not. I reworded the same question in 5 versions and could continue with 50 other versions, but it is still the same question – how to put culture back in its position of keeping powers enlightened? 
Today, in our Crazy times, how to be carried through on the wings of culture that are always providing hope for the good and restraint for the bad? 
I have no answer, because we need many people in our societies to ask this question first. If there are enough of those who ask, the answer becomes self-evident, because then obviously culture would be regaining its place as the glue of our society. As it served during the enlightened moments of times that were in hindsight less crazy than today. 
But culture has been able to act its miracle in relatively short periods of history in relatively few places on the planet. We can therefore never take it for granted that it keeps us safe. We must work on the problem tirelessly. Crazy times show that we have yet again failed. 
The guidance? Comes again from the Scorpions: 
Take me to the magic of the moment 
On a glory night 
Where the children of tomorrow dream away 
In the wind of change
If that is still possible, we have hope. Gentle lyrics. Gentle exhibitions trying to involve us, but not to scare us. Like the one in Davos Russian War crimes House. Gentle, sensitive, but a powerful guidance. Humankind badly needs to dream and see the magic…

Keynote at ELIA Leadership Symposium

Thank you for the opportunity to talk to you here, at the Institute of Peace, at this time of war. War in Europe. 
War between the free and world and the other world, world of tyranny. 
Make no mistake of that &#8211; this war is about freedom.
It is the war started by those people who do not even believe of the free will of the people to live as the UN Charter of Human Rights has promised all people should live. It was started by a regime who promised, but did not respect its own promises to not force the borders of any independent nation or limit the freedom of choice of any nation in its quest for peace, prosperity and partnerships. 
Who went as far as to promise, specifically and in the spirit of Helsinki agreements, by Budapest memorandum, security to a country it is now destroying.
Aggression in Ukraine is therefore not a war against only Ukraine. It was started in defiance of every aspect of international rules based world order. It is the war against such world order. 
It was started to stop Ukraine being part of the strongest democratic partnerships ever built, the European Union and NATO. 
It was started in 2014, when Ukrainian people demonstrated under the flags of EU on Maidan. It is the war fought to break that will then demonstrated by the people of Ukraine.
And yet it is the war Putin unleashed because he miscalculated. He went to the war confident that Ukrainian people do not care that much about who their rulers are to put up a fight. 
A fight for the survival of their dreams. Yes, he has never understood that the will of the people really exists. 
That the will of the people in democratic nations is such that you cannot break it with showing readiness to dissuade them from their chosen part even with military aggression. 
Every time people in neighbouring countries to Putin&#8217;s regime manifest their willingness to be part of the free and democratic world, he deems this western influence, western willingness to enlarge its sphere of influence. The man has never understood that people are drawn to such a way of governance, drawn strongly enough to defy the risks on the way.
Being Estonian, I know how difficult and dangerous is the route to first, freedom, and second, to the alliances and unions which help to protect the freedom. 
There is no such thing like free world expanding its sphere of influence. The free world has a so strong pull that nations are ready to take high risks or even fight for the right to belong. 
And yet, while Putin does not even believe that free people have their own will and that they are not to be made pawns in the chess game of antagonistic world views, he is out to break that will. 
The Orwellian world of killing people for exercising their right to decide their own future while not even believing people have the ability to figure out what their dreams are by democratic process. That is what Putin&#8217;s world view is. That is what his miscalculation was &#8211; and not only his, I have heard sceptical voices before February 24th from our side too. 
Will they fight? 
Yes, they will. 
Why will they fight? 
Because we failed. We failed to see Georgian war for what it was. We failed to see Crimean occupation what it was. 
Yes, Ukrainians could have done better at reforming their country, building independent institutions and generating level playing field for business development. 
There is a reason why Ukraine could not join EU and NATO at the end of the last or beginning this century. Lack of reform. But the people of Ukraine made clear in 2014, on Maidan, where they think their country should be going. 
How long will they fight? 
Until they have reestablished their right to decide the future of their country, whole and free. Until they have our support to provide them with all necessary equipment to keep going. As long as we give them hope that one day they can be part of the democratic alliances they are fighting to join, but even more importanlty, fighting to sustain.
Are they fighting for our freedom, too? 
Yes, they are. Because if the aggression in Ukraine can, in any distant or not so distant future, be considered as a step worth taking, there will be next steps. No autocrat will respect the will and willingness of the free and democratic world to defend itself. We would have lost. 
Is our support to Ukraine therefore self-protection? 
For some among us, yes. Even for those among us who think they are 2-3 countries removed from Russia, it is self-protection. But even if it were not, we should do all it takes to help Ukrainians to win this war. It should be our honor. 
Because people sincerely believing in value of democratic freedom should always support the other people who want it for themselves, too. 
Article 5 of NATO is not about self-preservation of all NATO members. It is not about the security guarantee which only holds if we make sure it is never tried, tested and found lacking in any Member State. 
It is about also doing the decent thing. 
And as such, supporting Ukraine is also doing the decent thing. Not much is demanded from us today. Military support, resources to keep going and a promise to keep up fighting morale &#8211; a promise that at least EU one day will take in Ukraine and help its people to sustain democracy, build the rule of law and achieve long lasting peace and prosperity.
The war will end one day, and it will end when Ukrainian people have achieved what they are fighting for &#8211; the right to decide their future alliances themselves. 
Where will Ukrainian borders be then, I will not speculate. 
Where will Russian regime be by that time, I will not speculate. 
In the perfect world, Ukrainian win will topple Russian regime and all will live happily ever after. But the world is not ideal. 
When Ukrainian people stop and negotiate or are forced to stop and negotiate, the war Ukrainians are fighting for the whole free world might not be over. Most likely it will not be. 
Will we then put freedom ahead of air conditioning or heating the houses in Europe? That is what I am most afraid of &#8211; we cannot hope Ukraine alone will fight this fight between free world and totalitarianism to the end. 
They will probably stop, having given themselves a right to continue as an independent state and us the time to prepare for future acts of this war.
Then the ball is in our hands. And this is my worry &#8211; do we realise it is and do we realise what is at stake? Or will we fall back into our old ways of discussing appeasement, painting Putin out the corner, finding excuses to continue with doing business and removing sanctions?
I am a mother of three sons already or soon at the age to serve if necessary. I am looking at the future through the eyes of the Ukrainian mothers of the sons serving today. 
And I know that mine would have to one day if we are weak, if we do not recognise that the war must continue with economic means, making sure that democracies of this world stop enriching menacing autocracies of this world.
It is my obligation to stand here to say to you &#8211; once cannons are quiet, it gets tougher for the politicians of the free world. 
Our fight must continue, sanctions must stay in place. It is long term, painful, will demand a lot of strategic patience.
But we have to be through it, not knowing when we finally are through with it. 
Dictatorships must learn by seeing &#8211; we are able to be patient, accept economic pain and stick together for the free world, even through considerable hardships. If we fail, the worst is to come. Where from &#8211; Russia or elsewhere, is irrelevant. All autocrats are watching how Ukrainian people are buying us time. they will watch how we use this time. 
This will decide whether my 3 sons will have to serve the way Ukrainian boys are now serving, to defend the future of my 4 toddling grandchildren. 
How many times we must buy time with blood until we recognise we have to remain strong also when there are interruptions in hostilities? We are on borrowed time at least from 2008, Georgian war. Somebody else is sending their sons to die now third time in this short time span, to buy us time. Will we finally do something meaningful with this bought time or will we remain in such a horrible cycle? 
It is for us, the politicians of the free world to decide. President Biden has said there will have to be a long term position on sanctions. 
Prime Minister Draghi has said the choice is peace of air-conditioning. Welcome frankness starting to define our resolve. We need more of that. When this phase of the war is over, let’s do our part. 
When military track has temporarily ended, economic track must be sustained. For the free and democratic world.
It is all that clear and simple, this future of European security and transatlantic cooperation you asked me to speak about. How on earth can we go wrong? Yet I know we are more at the risk of going wrong than getting it right. Prove me wrong, please!
&nbsp;

President Kaljulaid speaking at the United States Institude of Peace

President Kaljulaid at USIP: this war is about freedom

Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Kersti Kaljulaid, UN Secretary General’s Global Advocate for Every Women Every Child, 
Former President of Estonia
As bombs rain down on defenceless communities in Ukraine, we have been reminded yet again of the extreme vulnerability of women, children, and adolescents in conflict zones—and of the risks which health workers, trying to address their needs, face in times of conflict and crisis. 
On the occasion of World Immunisation Week, we acknowledge that basic health entitlements—from midwifery services to routine vaccination—are a crucial lifeline, especially under conditions of conflict. Yet, too many women and children are denied these services. The horrifying situation in Ukraine is the latest in a growing number of humanitarian crises triggered by conflict; in 2020, a record fifty-six active conflicts <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Strand%20and%20Hegre%20-%20Trends%20in%20Armed%20Conflict%2C%201946-2020%20-%20Conflict%20Trends%203-2021.pdf">were documented</a> and last year Sub-Saharan Africa experienced its <a href="https://unocha.medium.com/two-years-into-covid-5-things-that-matter-to-the-aid-community-cfb720a471cc">highest number of coups</a> in 20 years. Thus, while Ukraine has captured the world’s attention, there are a number of other long-standing and growing conflicts that also deserve attention and political mobilisation from the global community.  
Health and aid workers who are providing care at the frontline face immense and increasing challenges and risks. These circumstances also make it even more difficult for the most vulnerable women, children, and adolescents to access the care they need. 
When health and aid workers become targets of conflict, the principles outlined in international humanitarian and human rights law also come under attack. Many health workers become casualties of conflict, either as accidental victims of attacks, or as deliberate targets. <a href="https://www.humanitarianoutcomes.org/sites/default/files/publications/awsdfigures2020.pdf">Violence</a> against aid workers <a href="https://insights.s-rminform.com/attacks-on-aid-workers-the-cost-of-saving-strangers">claimed 484 individual victims in 2020,</a> 117 of whom died, making 2020 the worst year on record for the second year in a row. In Ukraine alone, 147 attacks on health     care personnel, facilities, supplies and transport <a href="https://extranet.who.int/ssa/LeftMenu/Index.aspx?utm_source=Stopping%20attacks%20on%20health%20care%20QandA&amp;utm_medium=link&amp;utm_campaign=Link_who">have been verified</a> as of 19 April 2022, resulting in 73 deaths and 52 injuries. <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/impact_conflict_children_Yemen_2022.pdf">In Yemen</a>, in an analysis by Save the Children in 2021, nearly half the healthcare providers interviewed reported being present at a healthcare facility during an attack, and 93% of health workers surveyed said that services at health facilities where they work have been repeatedly suspended due to attacks. 
Where health workers are at risk, the lives of women, children, and adolescents are imperilled as well. More than <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00131-8/fulltext">10 million deaths in children</a> younger than five years between 1995 and 2015 globally can be directly and indirectly attributed to conflict. <a href="https://els-jbs-prod-cdn.jbs.elsevierhealth.com/pb-assets/Lancet/stories/series/women-children-conflict/Series_Executive_Summary-1611317338787.pdf">Women</a> of reproductive age living near high intensity conflicts are three times more likely to die than women in stable settings. Similarly, as a result of the killing of eight polio workers in Afghanistan in <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/02/1112612">February 2022</a>, the national polio vaccine campaign was suspended in two provinces in Afghanistan — one of the few countries where polio is still endemic despite global efforts to achieve eradication. Conflict has caused <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27237735/">polio</a> to re-emerge in otherwise polio-free countries. For example, <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/258698/9789241512763-eng.pdf;jsessionid=230C1F5528639EE61E94A067D3D9F45B?sequence=1">Syria</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6608a6.htm">Iraq</a> have seen polio outbreaks for the first time in decades after the emergence of civil war.
Syria provides another stark warning of the reversal in progress that occurs when health workers are not able to provide services. It had achieved <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/STC01657_Immunisation-report_FINAL_OCT2020_FINAL-2.pdf">80%</a> coverage of the combined vaccination for diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus (DPT) by 2010. However, after years of devastating armed conflict, the coverage rate dropped to 47% in 2018. Similarly, Ukraine had 76% DPT vaccination coverage in 2012, but it <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R7BecCx_JGxIAZQVcQDtzhAo_La2ASJ5/view">fell sharply</a> to 19% in 2016 after the 2014 Ukraine conflict. A similar, or worse, outcome is feared during the current conflict. 
A marker of the inequities that children and their families face as a consequence is the prevalence of “zero-dose” children in such contexts. These have received not even a single dose of the DPT vaccine. Zero dose children and their families live in communities excluded from social protections, and may <a href="https://www.who.int/immunization/monitoring_surveillance/who-immuniz.pdf">lack access</a> to some or all essential services across the continuum of sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health. 
A multi-sectoral and equitable response
To protect those who protect us, there is an urgent need for targeted co-ordination of investments to promote safe service access, including delivery of vaccines and other essential services and commodities through multi-level and multi-sectoral private-public efforts. For instance, when meaningfully engaged, local NGOs and civil society can significantly enhance the reach and operational flexibility of health interventions. 
Where the government is party to an internal conflict, the humanitarian principles of neutrality, independence, and impartiality are often violated. In these cases, the UN and other non-partisan actors need to lead a multi-sectoral and locally sensitive response based firmly on humanitarian principles. 
If health workers are to provide vaccines and other essential services in these settings they require constant protection, as urged by the UN Security Council (Resolution 2286) and mandated by <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/document/respecting-and-protecting-health-care-armed-conflicts-and-situations-not-covered">international humanitarian and human rights laws</a>. The international community should hold states and armed groups accountable for upholding international humanitarian law in the territories they control. 
In addition, health workers should be recruited, trained, and resourced <a href="https://www.branchconsortium.com/_files/ugd/30a6b0_65221a851690498796f656ed81cce7aa.pdf">locally</a> wherever possible. This will help foster trust between health workers and the communities they serve, given their unique understanding of the local contexts. This is also vital to ensure a sustainable workforce, lower security threats, and greater retention of staff.
Global progress toward the health SDGs depends on recognising these disparities and targeting those settings that most need support to ensure continuity and access to services. Two years of the pandemic have already set us back badly, so there is no time to lose. 
As the bombs continue to rain down in Ukraine and elsewhere, it is more necessary than ever to invest heavily in the safety and protection of health workers and to ensure continuity of services and supplies under fire.

Women, children and adolescents face extreme vulnerability in conflict—and so do the health workers striving to protect them

President Kersti Kaljulaid today opened an Ukraine-themed open-air photo exhibition on Weizenbergi street in Kadriorg, next to the ice cellar. The exhibition focuses on her visits to Ukraine before the war of 2022.
&#8220;Estonian-Ukrainian ties have been very close for many years. That is why I also often spoke to my Ukrainian colleagues and visited Ukraine regularly &#8211; the last time only a week before the start of the great war. Many of the areas visited are now in ruins, occupied or under fire. However, there are many memories left from these visits and, yes, pictures, &#8221; president Kaljulaid described the story of the exhibition.

President Kaljulaid opens Ukraine-themed photo exhibition

The President Kaljulaid Foundation has transferred the first 100 000 euros to Ukrainian free media, fundraised by donations in the past weeks.
&#8220;Thank you to all donors! There&#8217;s a saying that the first casualty of war is truth. This generosity demonstrates understanding regarding how important the free press is towards the functioning of a democratic country and for getting a true picture of the situation both inside the country as well as abroad. The journalists of Ukraine are doing the most difficult jobs of their lives in unimaginably difficult circumstances,&#8221; president Kersti Kaljulaid said.
After the war began, the Kersti Kaljulaid Foundation has been in contact with many large media houses of Ukraine to figure out the most essential ways to support them. &#8220;It&#8217;s very clear &#8211; nothing works without money, including journalism in the middle of a warzone. Their incomes have collapsed as you can&#8217;t exactly sell ads in the circumstances. On the other hand, they have new large expenditures for relocation, logistics, communications and so on,&#8221; she explained.
In the first round, the Kersti Kaljulaid Foundation supported the media houses of Ukrainskaya Pravda and Novoe Vremya, both among the most widely distributed in Ukraine.
&#8220;The war hasn&#8217;t stopped. Therefore we will continue to support the independent media of Ukraine,&#8221; said President Kaljulaid. &#8220;There&#8217;s a shortage of many things in Ukraine, but there&#8217;s also a shortage of money &#8211; money to buy fuel, food, accommodation, means of communication. The international community owes much to the independent media of Ukraine. Today we prove that we care that their jobs can continue.&#8221;
The President Kaljulaid Foundation still implores everyone to support Ukrainian media channels.
To do that,
<ul>
<li>make a transfer to the account of President Kaljulaid Foundation MTÜ: EE667700771006842520 (SWIFT: LHVBEE22)</li>
<li>enter “For Ukrainian independent media” in the transfer details box.</li>
</ul>
Everything thus collected will be transferred to independent media outlets of Ukraine.

The President Kaljulaid Foundation transfers 100 000 euros to Ukrainian free media

It’s both the most important and most difficult time of their lives for Ukrainian journalists. Their working conditions are dismal &#8211; they worry about the safety of their families, loved ones and themselves, and must at the same time contend with questions such as where to live, how to buy gas for their vehicles, or what to buy food with.
The international community, not to mention the citizens of Ukraine, are indebted to the journalists of Ukraine. It’s directly up to the free and independent publications and journalists how factual info spreads during a fast-moving conflict and how the entire world reacts to the horrors of war dealt upon the people of Ukraine by Putin.
In the past week, the incomes of Ukranian publications have all but collapsed. And yet their expenses and uncertainty about the future have risen to unimaginable levels. They need to relocate, they need to create working conditions in extremely difficult circumstances. They need communications, food and living quarters. And their families need basic necessities.
If we are able to help the journalists of Ukraine to do their jobs, it’s our duty to do so. The best evaluators of what they are in need of are the free and independent journalists of Ukraine themselves. Therefore, the President Kaljulaid Foundation implores everyone to support Ukrainian media channels.
To do that,
<ol>
<li>make a transfer to the account of President Kaljulaid Foundation MTÜ: EE667700771006842520 (SWIFT: LHVBEE22)</li>
<li>enter “For Ukrainian independent media” in the transfer details box.</li>
</ol>
Everything thus collected will be transferred to independent media outlets of Ukraine.

Help support Ukrainian independent media!

Today – on the day of Unity of Ukraine – former president of Estonia H.E Kersti KALJULAID paid a sudden visit to the City of Dnipro in the Eastern Ukraine to join the Board meeting of Yalta European Strategy.
During the pressconference president Kaljulaid made a statement which can be found here:
What would be better palce to spend the day of unity of Ukraine today than here with you in this museum in Dnipro? The Eastern-Ukraine Anti-Terrorist Operation museum I have visited already before and I really wish didn’t have to exist at all. But we do. And this is a strong signal. This is a strong signal and evidence, that while the whole world is talking about the beginning of the war, trying to estimate the potential of the beginning of the war, the war has been ongoing. It’s the 8th year of war for Ukrainian people. And that is why we stand here today in the City of Dnipro in Eastern Ukraine to remind the World. 
We still hope that Russia will de-escalate the tensions, there is still space to do it. But we have to remember that it is only Russia who can and has to do. No ohter country has escalated it. 
We are ready to insist and we will always insist for the right of Ukraine to choose their partners and allies freely. Estonians have always stood for open doors policy of NATO and we continue to be on that position. 
I hope that this situation finds a peaceful solution based on international law. In this Ukraine stands for all of us – peaceloving democratic nations, law-abiding nations – and therefore we all stand for Ukraine. One for all, all for one and there can not be any ohter way of thinking. 
We sincerely hope from Estonia that this year, next year, the years after will be peaceful because otherwise there will be far more sad faimilies not only in Ukraine but also in Russia. There will be more tragedy. And the basement of our internatoinal security arrangement will be sincerely shaken if not broken. 
That is why we are here today. 
Слава Україні!
Kersti Kaljulaid 
President of Estonia 2016-2021 
Global Advocate of the United Nations Secretary-General for Every Woman Every Child
President Kaljulaid President Kaljulaid joined supervisory board of Yalta European Strategy (YES) in last november. YES was established in 2004 and initially convened in Yalta on the Crimean peninsula. In recent years, the forum – which has transformed into the platform’s annual submit – has taken place in Kyiv. It is one of the biggest political conferences in Eastern Europe, involving a range of debates throughout the year in addition to the main event.

President Kaljulaid in Eastern Ukraine: today Ukraine stands for all of us!

Global Advocate of United Nations Secretary-General Kersti KALJULAID addresses the global community in the beginning of 2022.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy New Year!
I would truly wish to see that the next year is happy for every woman, every child and every adolescent on this planet. Yet I know, this is not the case. Partially yes, it´s the pandemic. Many women do not dare to go to the doctor or to the midwife, or they cannot go. Many kids have lost access to school and also to the school meals.
But not only pandemics, wars and conflicts are going on. Despite the call of the Secretary-General for ceasefire, at least for pandemics. Life of women and children in conflict is hard. More children are starving than before the pandemics. We cannot get the time back which we have lost. But we have to first crawl back up the mountain, up the hilltop, to be able to guarantee that every child and every woman in this world can safely say with confidence “Happy New Year!”, and truly believe that this new year will be happier.
I also wish to greet all those people who have contributed to the EWEC movement or the United Nations, and also more widely, who have contributed to make life of children, women and adolescents better on this planet.
Thank you all, together we can truly say – Happy New Year!
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Global Advocate of EWEC Kersti Kaljulaid addresses the global community in the beginning of 2022

Before Christmas, I managed to see Martin Crimp’s Attempts on Her Life at the Estonian Drama Theatre. A masterpiece! Oddly enough, the play echoed The Love for Three Oranges, which soothed the brutality of the subject matter of the piece and made it watchable and thought-provoking.
On my way home, I began to think about the dissimilarities of the worlds of different generations and how they affect art. My life and that of the generations before me was shaped by the Soviet era, where the responsibility of an individual for their welfare was cut down to the bare minimum, as people without freedom do not have responsibility either. One of the cultural phenomena of this peculiar era was casual joking on ‘permitted’ topics, which we took with us into our new-found freedom. 
Once we gained our freedom, all sorts of restrictions and taboos vanished. This led to the birth of Kreisiraadio and other similar relaxed, carefree, risqué humour that left no room for a deeper subtext. Admittedly, some jokes were tasteless even back then, but there was no condemnation for moral, ethical or even environmental reasons.
Something began to change some time before the current pandemic – the carefree freedom and forward momentum characteristic to my generation left room for younger minds to reflect on the burden we are capable of carrying. How do we take responsibility for ourselves and our fellow citizens, but also for the future of Earth and humanity? Responsibility first entered art and culture in the form of playing with the idea of reuse in fashion, worrying about disappearing ecosystems and the rights of women and minorities and designing sustainable urban spaces for the future (which, admittedly, still remains in exhibition halls for the time being – visit the Museum of Estonian Architecture or have a look around Oaas).
In any case, we, a generation who rushes through their working life, largely motivated by consumption, have, in a way that is still a bit confusing to me, raised a new type of Estonian who is more reflective and perceives the worries of the world as their own. The welfare of humanity as a personal responsibility.
Our young theatre people and artists are constantly addressing the evils of this world. They are hardly more melancholic by nature than we were back in the day. They are simply more sensitive and attentive. Even the most comic plays of their generation carry a certain sombre worldview. There is still laughter because you need to get rid of the angst, but it is as if there is no room for carefree joking.
I am very grateful to this generation of 20-40-year-olds. The future is likely safer in your hands.
However, some of those future builders can still be found among current decision-makers. These are the people who have the will to break through the grey wall of bureaucracy and move forwards with offshore wind farms. Or with hydrogen plants or pumped hydro storage. Or with last-mile vehicles. Or with sharing economy. Or with Estonian-language schools by 2035 if there is no way we can manage it earlier. Or with topics concerning the mental health of young people. Or all of those nurses and doctors who sigh but still treat those who could have had it easier if they had protected themselves. And so on – wherever you look, people are building the future of Estonia. At home and away, by coming back and leaving again.
If the state does not take action, people will, either voluntarily or as entrepreneurs, show the state how things can and should be done. We have achieved a lot in the last year. 
This sensitivity towards future needs and personal responsibility is very encouraging. We are going to complete the green transition, thus ending both the reign of the virus and segregation in the Estonian school system. On the international scale, we will take increasingly more responsibility for the world. Each one of us is making Estonia better because future-sensitive Estonian people see that this is necessary. Even if the role of leadership is too big a job for those we have elected to do it, we will certainly move closer to these great objectives in 2022 thanks to Estonian people, who are increasingly more considerate and sensitive.
And with one big difference – we have learned from the impetuousness of the 90s that nobody must be left behind. Changes, even if they are positive and necessary, inevitably affect all of our people. Transitioning from oil shale energy to oil shale chemistry is good, but this change is difficult for many people in Ida-Viru County. We need time to get used to and adjust to seeing wind turbines on the horizon. The birth of a unified Estonian-language school triggers concerns in some schools over how to ensure that everyone in class makes progress in accordance with their abilities and receives sufficient attention. The macroeconomic numbers are reaching new heights, driven by Harju County, but we can no longer speak of many county centres as hubs of local life.
All positive changes also entail something complicated, unknown and difficult. People affected by change must feel that their greater than average contribution to the greater good is noticed, acknowledged and compensated. Many people will certainly have to adjust to something new for the common good, but as a society, we can make this adjustment as easy as possible.
Let 2022 be a year of decisions that are considerate yet still bold. We cannot make any mistakes. We are living in a time where some of us are doing exceptionally well and others really poorly. We are likely to continue to move forwards rapidly in 2022 on average, but we have the power to do so by being considerate of one another.

Kersti Kaljulaid: Let’s complete the green transition and end the reign of the virus and segregation in the school system

The Estonian Public Relations Association (EPRA) awarded this year’s title of PR Manager of the Year to President Kersti Kaljulaid, who has helped maintain focus on values important to Estonian society with great clarity and vigour both during her term of office and afterwards thanks to her active communication activities.
“The toolbox that comes with the office of the President of Estonia consists almost exclusively of communication solutions because the power of words is their only lever of power. President Kaljulaid used this power in Estonia and in the wider world in a distinctively value-based, effective and selfless manner, leaving a deeply positive mark on both our daily lives and the current and future expectations of the President of the Republic in our society,” President of EPRA Margus Mets explains the decision. President Kaljulaid’s activities in both domestic and international media as the protector and keeper of the image of Estonia, even when the words and actions of some other state leaders offended the sense of justice of the majority of society, are also worth acknowledging.
President Kaljulaid thanked the association for the acknowledgement. “When I took office, I promised that I would not remain silent when our security is in question, when our freedoms are at stake or when those weaker than us are treated unjustly, and this is the creed I followed during those five years. However, back when I worded this principle, I did not expect the topic of freedoms to become so central during my term in office – I guess that shows that many of the freedoms that were once carefully and presciently written into the constitution have not actually been thoroughly discussed, understood, worded and, where necessary, disputed in our society. This work will keep both me and the sitting heads of state busy in the future,” said President Kaljulaid when accepting the award.
<blockquote>When I took office, I promised that I would not remain silent when our security is in question, when our freedoms are at stake or when those weaker than us are treated unjustly</blockquote>
According to Mets, the president’s choice of when to speak up and on what topics and when to remain silent is a message in itself. “Likewise, the president’s choice of words, tone and performance also have value as a separate message. This is what constitutes the main task of every leader and manager, including PR managers – to find the right moment and the right words and to lead or explain the content and background of a decision in a way that enables the audience to take time to delve into details and increases their willingness to understand. Our professional association believes that Kersti Kaljulaid has been very good at this, which is why we want to thank her and highlight her as an example,” Mets notes. “President Kaljulaid has been a statesman in the truest and broadest meaning of the word, sending necessary messages even when everyone around her understood that these would not boost her personal popularity or bring any conjunctural political benefits in the short term. I would like to see more of this kind of selflessness in the speeches of our state leaders and less of the cynical-pragmatic political technological approach that prevails.
Last year, the EPRA annual award was given to Estonian medical professionals because in addition to doing their main jobs, doctors, nurses and carers played a crucial role in the coronavirus crisis, providing objective information to the society, quelling fears and providing science-based explanations of the reality that surrounds us both in the media and individually to each of their patients and charges. The award was accepted by Dr Arkadi Popov, who became the spokesman for the sector during the pandemic. 
The Estonian Public Relations Association awards the annual PR award to a person or organisation whose communicative activities have had the greatest impact in Estonia. Candidates submitted for the award may but do not have to work in the field of public relations, but their activities and public appearances must widely resonate in Estonian society.

Kaljulaid recieving EPRA award from Margus Mets

President Kersti Kaljulaid wins Estonian Public Relations Association’s Annual award

Hi, everybody!
I come from Estonia. You know what? To this day, Estonia is the only society in our world you could call totally digitally transformed. 
Why?
Because the Estonian government offers all its services online, almost 100%. The only thing you cannot do online is get married. But this is not a technical difficulty. We have chosen it to be this way. You have to show up to your own wedding.
Contrary to that, when you have a baby, you don’t have to go to the local municipality office to register the birth. Because, of course, when a baby is born in Estonia, the doctor creates in the e-health registry a record for a baby boy or a baby girl of 3 kilos, 50 cm, and in the background, the baby gets its digital-ID. Nobody pushes any buttons for that. And now the parents will log on and name the baby, online, all from the hospital bed or from a quiet place in their home. You don’t have to go to a crowded place and risk catching a disease. Catching a disease is a big risk for babies, and today, even grownups understand that. Estonian mothers don’t understand why elsewhere globally people have to go somewhere with their newborns to register their birth.
The same applies to all services the government offers. You realize that you passed a certain line when something goes wrong and it doesn’t function for a while. A couple of years ago, we had a hiccup in our system caused by a chip-maker. I will not name it but it was one of the biggest global chip-makers. And Estonians almost rioted. Some of our people had to go to a government office to renew their digital-IDs. Nobody knew where the government offices are in Estonia! And some people – shock and horror! – had to wait 30 minutes or even an hour (!) to get their new digital-ID up and running. And then we realized: yes, indeed, Estonia, while it is now home to seven unicorn companies, is a small economy. It doesn’t have digital behemoths in the private sector.
<blockquote>Each and every time somebody in the office looks at any file the government has on the citizen, there will be a digital fingerprint.</blockquote>
But societal change depends on what the government really does. And if for a generation the government has offered everything online, services online in the best-practice format of the private sector, this really changes the society. Why? Because it is inclusive. It is inclusive. Everybody in society – young people, grown-ups, the elderly – they are all involved. They are all together in this.
How does this happen? Well, 30 years ago, when Estonia re-gained its independence, the private sector was already becoming digitalized. And what we did, we thought that governments around the world would do very quickly. To this day, we are astonished that they didn’t. We are even more astonished that people think that it is safer to carry around papers with sensitive, private data and leave them in offices, in files for anyone to read.
Digital documents are much safer. The Estonian government has promised to our people that each and every time somebody in the office looks at any file the government has on the citizen, there will be a digital fingerprint. And we can see these fingerprints and we can make and inquiry. If we think that it was not necessary for the government official to look at my data, then the government sues these people – takes them to court – because they were nosing around in the system, in the data, which they were not supposed to do.
Of course, nobody in any government office has access to one person’s whole dataset, because this dataset does not exist. It’s in different, various databases. And only the person themselves can aggregate everything which concerns them. But yes, if you work at the tax board, for example, you have access, technically, to the tax file of, let’s say, your old boyfriend’s new girlfriend or vice versa. Some people initially felt the urge to look. But, you know, they very quickly learned that there would be a serious fine for such an action.
Why I am telling you this? Because this is the biggest, most important element of trust between Estonian society and the government. The government has promised that they will not use this data themselves or allow civil servants to use this data for a benefit other than to the citizen – be it for the government, be it just curious – it is not allowed. This is in the law.
There is another corner-point of our digital system, and that is the digital identity. Actually, it’s amazing how few people in today’s world, when we all act and transact online, probably spend 30-50% of our money online, how few people have an access to a government-guaranteed legally accepted and legally protected digital-ID. There should be one for every citizen around the world. In Europe there is. In the European Union there has been a decision – and I believe Estonia has been a catalysing element in this process to achieve it – 20 years after we had our digital-ID, the European Union took a decision that every European citizen, all 400 million of them, has a right to a digital-ID. These IDs had to inter-operate across the European borders because the European Union is a single market. But it took 20 years to achieve this.
And many people, even in the rich world, to this day have to be anonymous online, and have to act and transact using nicknames and passwords. And all these systems created by the private sector, they all lack by definition one important element. This kind of ID which is not government guaranteed, supported and developed, they do not have the legal framework which really makes them safe. Because no technology itself is safe.
There has to be legal space surrounding it which is permissive for technology development. But at the same time which also makes sure that nobody can present themselves as someone they are not. In the Estonian system, if I log on, and buy, let’s say, a pack of solar cells for my own rooftop, and I buy it from an Estonian company who sends me the contract via our e-system, it is encrypted from end to end. That means that no, I am not getting from Google or Amazon endless advertisements to buy more solar cells thereafter. It’s a fully encrypted government protected digital ecosystem.
<blockquote>There has to be legal space surrounding it which is permissive for technology development.</blockquote>
And it has changed our society. It has made our society far more equal because the government is open 24/7, 365 days a year. Women, who have a heavier burden of household work in Estonian society too, can access government services whenever their children are asleep. And this has totally changed our societal culture. When the pandemic started, we were able to see that almost half of the jobs which Estonians do could be done remotely. To be honest, I’ve been saying for more than five years that globally, everywhere, that geography and work are less and less linked. Nobody believed it. But now with the pandemic everybody saw it with their own eyes.
But again, for Estonians it was easier to do because our offices also use our safe digital-ID ecosystem. So, going online did not pose additional risk to the data safety of any enterprise, either public or private. And yes, indeed, private as well. Because, of course, our digital-ID, it’s like a passport – you use it in the private sector and in the public sector. There is no differentiation.
<blockquote>It has made our society far more equal because the government is open 24/7, 365 days a year.</blockquote>
You must not have different systems for private and public spaces if there are digital ID-systems. Why? Because you don’t have two passports for transactions with the government and transactions with the private sector. The digital-ID is simply a modern passport. It is simply something that helps you act and transact online. But it has all the necessary characteristics of a passport. Sometimes people ask, how do you then do things when a hospital has a digital-ID, a police-officer has a digital-ID, a company has a digital-ID? Well, they don’t. The role of management remains exactly as it was in the analogue world. A CEO can represent a company, but they can do it with their digital passport, not only with their analogue passport.
In Estonia, we also use technology which is environmentally friendly. Because our digital infrastructure resembles Bitcoin so much that for years people were asking whether the person who created Bitcoin and blockchain was an Estonian. They were not. KSI, our technology, also gives you a signature, encryption and timestamp, but it is far more environmentally friendly. It uses far less energy, and it is extremely important that while we are going through the green turn that we are also able to digitalize our system in an efficient way. Lots of energy can be saved if you are using the correct tools for the correct operations.
Blockchain is used in the Estonian digital ecosystem, but it is used where you really need it. It is when some service adjusts datasets in different systems and needs to do so in exactly the same second. Then we do use blockchain.
For example, we have a proactive service where Estonians do not have to apply because the government knows they are entitled to this service. It is a top-up to our retired peoples’ pension if they live alone. Well, we live in a cold country, so heating your house is expensive, and therefore we have decided to pay a top-up to the pensions of single pensioners. And they don’t have to apply. They don’t even have to know such a service exists because our datasets will show: they live alone, they are retired. And the top-up automatically arrives into their bank account. You see where you need blockchain in this one. It is an event-based service which involves datasets changing in various datasets at the same time. And this is where the Estonian e-government model is moving. Because people ask: Why do we have to apply for this service? You know I need the service.
Let’s come back to the beginning of a life. A baby is born. We have a universal child support system in Estonia. Now, why should parents go and apply for this child support? The state knows there is a baby. The state knows that the parents have bank accounts because they pay taxes. Therefore, the state can logically just start payments to the parents. The parents do not need to apply; technically, this is not a necessity. And we have now about 80 services in our government portfolio that we call event-based proactive services which will be offered to people without the citizen having to request them.
It is a high-trust element in the system because now you are moving to an area where systems do aggregate data from various parts of the government database and draw conclusions about citizens. But these services are only used to help citizens, and the government has strict regulations and rules in place. For example, if they want to conduct a criminal investigation and follow people, they still need to get a special order. It is not possible to investigate any person through the system. But to support the person, to pay a top-up to pensions, this is possible in Estonia.
<blockquote>The only way citizens trust a digitally transformed society is if they know that they still control their own data.</blockquote>
And these differentiations are extremely, extremely important. Because the only way citizens trust a digitally transformed society is if they know that they still control their own data. And they only allow it to be used to their own benefit. It has to be written in the law. In our case, in this new digital proactive government, we are right now doing work in our ministries and parliament to come to an agreement about how these proactive services can be used as well as at which points people have opt-ins and opt-outs. Because some people may not want even these positive services to be offered to them automatically. And they must therefore have an opportunity to opt out.
Many people in the world have asked me that what the best place to start digitalizing your society is. And many often think it is with digital voting because many often have big diasporas and they want these parts of their society to participate. Well, my suggestion is: never start with a high-trust service. Start with little services which people can use and see they are safe. Registering children for school or kindergarten, applying for social support – these are also good to be done online because then your neighbours do not see that you are applying, and in Estonian society you sometimes don’t want, for example, people to know that you are on social support. So, these kinds of services should always go first.
And I even have a dream. You know, I have been working as a UN global advocate for women and children for half a year now. And I’ve realized that many countries do not have digital population registries. They should have. And they should start by registering online the birth of each and every baby globally.
To end my presentation, I come back to where I started. But it is extremely important that, globally, no birth goes unnoticed. Do you know how many do nowadays? Twenty per cent. I also see in developing countries that there are governments that are interested in digitalizing their public registries. Some have done so. My dream is that every citizen in the world becomes a global digital citizen at the moment when they are born. Then we can offer them vaccinations, food support, education. Then we can be sure that nobody is lost on this planet.
<blockquote>This is my call to all governments globally: please, make it possible that your future generations can be true global digital citizens.</blockquote>
And this is my call to all governments globally: please, make it possible that your future generations can be true global digital citizens. Yes, it offers great economic opportunities. Yes, we can dream of a global services market. People working from Tunisia or from Fiji in Estonian book-keeping, for example, or well, writing code for somebody in Iceland. But we should start from really low ambitions: getting every child globally registered online. Making sure that nobody is lost on this planet.
From Estonia, we have catalysed a lot of global digital governance thinking. We have established the E-governance Academy together with UNDP. I believe we have had a huge influence on European e-governance prowess. But my dream is global. We should all be globally connected, but legally protected, digital citizens for a global society.
Thank you for listening!

Kersti Kaljulaid speaking at Future Investment Initiative stage

President Kaljulaid’s keynote speech at Future Investment Initiative

President Kersti Kaljulaid visited Saudi Arabia in the last week of October, during which she met with the heads of government of the kingdom, assisted in creating opportunities for Estonian companies to make new bilateral business contacts and took to the stage as one the keynote speakers at the prestigious Future Investment Initiative forum.
“There has been a marked rise in interest among Estonian companies in the countries on the Persian Gulf, and a number of sectors see a great deal of potential there,” explained Taavi Linnamäe from the office of President Kaljulaid. “A lot of projects are already underway, but the cultural differences between our countries mean that business diplomacy is also very important. In fact it is often what is needed in order for actual cooperation to be achieved.”
<blockquote>There has been a marked rise in interest among Estonian companies in the countries on the Persian Gulf.</blockquote>
During her time in the country, President Kaljulaid met with the heads of the Saudi government, the ambassador of the European Union to Saudi Arabia and the founders of Neom (the ‘city of the future’) and visited the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. The meetings were primarily designed to foster business diplomacy, create new opportunities for Estonian companies in Saudi Arabia and promote business contacts between the two countries. Coinciding with President Kaljulaid’s visit to the kingdom, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Andres Sutt was in the Saudi capital Riyadh with a business delegation of Estonian companies.
President Kaljulaid was also one of the keynote speakers at the Future Investment Initiative forum being held in the Saudi capital, her address focussing on the ways in which technology is transforming our societies. The former head of state also contributed to a discussion on the changing economy and the work of the future.
Estonia and Saudi Arabia entered into diplomatic relations in 2003. Estonia’s first ambassador to the kingdom, Jaan Reinhold, presented his credentials in Riyadh in March this year.

President Kaljulaid esineb Future Investment Initiative foorumil Saudi Araabias

President Kaljulaid makes first visit to Saudi Arabia

This week saw President Kersti Kaljulaid take her place on the supervisory board of the Yalta European Strategy (YES), Ukraine’s most important foreign-policy platform. Her aim in joining the board is to keep democratic nations and the public focussed on developments in the country.
<blockquote>Democratic and prosperous Ukraine that is corruption-free, follows the rule of law and has an honest business environment is in the interests of Europe.</blockquote>
“How things are progressing in Ukraine has always been important to me,” President Kaljulaid said. “The war that is being fought in the country is not just Ukraine’s war, but a matter for Europe and the democratic world as a whole. We must stand together in the name of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and never accept changes to European borders enacted through military force. We must keep this matter in the public eye; we must not allow it to be forgotten. Ukraine is at war and needs Europe’s support, the same way that a democratic and prosperous Ukraine that is corruption-free, follows the rule of law and has an honest business environment is in the interests of Europe. I championed this during my time as president and I consider it no less important today.”
President Kaljulaid officially joined YES on 1 November and will serve on its supervisory board for the next three years. The board is chaired by former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski. Its other members are former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger, former Secretary General of NATO and Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Vice President of the Havas Group Stephane Fouks and EastOne Group founder Victor Pinchuk.
YES was established in 2004 and initially convened in Yalta on the Crimean peninsula. In recent years, the forum – which has transformed into the platform’s annual submit – has taken place in Kyiv. It is one of the biggest political conferences in Eastern Europe, involving a range of debates throughout the year in addition to the main event.

Kersti Kaljulaid pidamas kõnet YES foorumil Kiievis

President Kaljulaid Foundation and Estonian embassy in Paris collect over €50k for Ukrainian children