Portrait of Humanity is one of my favourite competitions and I am so happy to have been selected,  it celebrates the many faces of humanity and the similarities that bind us together and highlights so many important issues It’s a huge honour to be shortlisted with my image of this incredible human Dr Olena. I met her whilst on assignment in Ukraine,  the strength and resilience she and her colleague showed was deeply inspiring.

Dr Olena stands in the Neo natal ward in the bunker of the Poltava City Maternity Hospital, built by medical staff themselves so they could continue work during the war. They have delivered numerous babies and conducted major surgeries in the bunker. Before the room served as a basement but now fully equipped and safe for newborns, mothers, pregnant women and the hospital staff. Russia’s invasion has caused widespread death, destruction, displacement and suffering leaving at least 17.6 million innocent people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and protection. The impacts of war on women in Ukraine are vast. They range from sexual violence as a tactic of war, decreasing birth rates, increasing miscarriage, preterm births, increased rates of SGBV, increase need for safe abortions, and worries for a repopulation push of Ukraine after the war and what that will mean for women’s choices.