Polish Humanitarian Action launched a new organizational structure, “Country Office Poland,” in May 2022, to effectively respond to the refugee crisis in our country.
The main goal is to help people who are fleeing to Poland from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
More than 1/4 of Ukraine’s population has been forced to leave their homes to save themselves and their loved ones. Millions of refugees have decided to come to Poland and other countries. Many of them have nowhere to return to – their homes have been destroyed, fields and roads mined, schools and hospitals are out of action. There is no electricity or running water in some parts of Ukraine, and the economic crisis is worsening. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people who arrived in Poland after February 24, 2022, are likely to stay for longer. Here they are starting practically from scratch, often with no means of subsistence and struggling with the challenges of adapting to a new environment. Their needs are truly enormous.
“The Country Office Poland” is a separate structure within PAH. It combines already existing support projects with new initiatives in the long term.
WHAT IS THE POLISH HUMANITARIAN ACTION DOING?
In the first months of the war, our activities focused on the Polish-Ukrainian border where, among other things, we ran relief points in Dorohusk, Zosin and Hrebenne, as well as material and non-material assistance to refugees. Currently, our assistance covers a very wide area of activities, including expanded programs of distributing aid cards, supporting Polish organizations in relief efforts – financially and substantively, providing psychosocial assistance, food support for refugee children and the youth, support with employment, integration, access to Polish language and/or education, distribution of food and hygiene kits in western Ukraine in cooperation with local authorities. We make sure that our aid programs are tailored to current needs, so our office is constantly working to expand the scope of our assistance.
In addition, PAH Poland also supports other activities in our country. In August 2022, we opened a logistics center (including a warehouse) in Bialystok to support and supply activists from the Granica Group and other NGOs, as well as individual activists who provide assistance to refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border.
For many years, PAH has run the “Pajacyk” program in Poland, which supports the health and proper development of children and young people in Poland. Pajacyk has been funding meals in schools and day-care centers since 1998, and since 2021 has also been funding mental health measures. We have also been conducting global education projects in and out of schools for many years.