This special grant program was launched by the Polish-American Freedom Foundation in response to the war in Ukraine. It is aimed at assisting Polish non-governmental organizations which provide aid to civilians in Ukraine and refugees fleeing to Poland from the war. To date, PAFF has allocated more than PLN 8 million to the program.
Priority has been given to those NGOs that have well-established cooperation with their partners in Ukraine, as well as those operating in Polish villages and small towns where Ukrainian war escapees were arriving and staying.
Funding is also available for coordinating Polish NGOs’ activities for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees – including cooperation with other institutions and communities.
Under open grant competitions, “Support for Ukraine” provides funding for projects which provide Ukrainian children and youth with education and care during their stay in Poland, and support those staying in Ukraine; deliver legal, civic, professional and psychological aid to Ukrainian refugees in Poland, along with assistance in accessing public services; prevent acts of discrimination and hostility against Ukrainian refugees, counteract disinformation, and provide reliable information about the Ukrainian refugee community in Poland and the situation in Ukraine.
„Support for Ukraine” builds on a special initiative that was launched as part of the RITA program. At the beginning of March 2022, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, RITA opened an ad-hoc “Ukrainian pathway” in its grant competition. All organizational and financial RITA resources available at the time were redirected to the new path. Once “Support for Ukraine” was established, the “Ukrainian path” became part of the newly created, separate program. In March 2022, 422 Polish NGOs presented their initiatives in the competition for grants for intervention projects. The Grant Committee selected 59 projects: 44 implemented in 14 Polish provinces, and 15 in Ukraine. Those projects were aimed at protecting the life and health of the civilian population in Ukraine: evacuation within Ukraine and to other countries, supplying medical and personal protection items, supporting medical staff, humanitarian aid workers, and journalists, equipping and adapting locations that help civilians function under the conditions of war (e.g. buying camp beds, blankets, telecommunication equipment, generators), as well as supporting Ukrainian refugees in Poland, providing them with accommodation, means of subsistence, food, transport, and psychological, legal and informational aid.
The second intervention grant competition, announced in the fall of 2022, was addressed to Polish NGOs that carried out activities improving access of Ukrainian children and young people – both those staying in Poland and those living in Ukraine – to school and non-school education. A total of 96 submissions were filed, and 24 projects received funding. Those were aimed at organizing support in the areas of psychology, teaching and child-rearing; hiring intercultural assistants at schools; giving learners the possibility of studying their mother language, literature and history in the Polish educational system, holding remedial classes, and assisting Internally Displaced Persons from south-western Ukraine (two projects in Ukraine).
The second program pathway focused on supporting long-term projects. In June 2022, 246 such projects were submitted to the competition. The Grant Committee selected 33 initiatives, which were implemented in 14 Polish voivodeships, while eight projects were conducted in Ukraine. Project actions, continued through July 2023, covered Polish language teaching, psychological aid for refugees staying in Poland and IDPs in Ukraine, career support for disabled IDPs, and preparing intercultural assistants at Polish schools.
Two open calls were conducted for 2023. The first competition, in April, attracted 215 applications; the Grant Committee awarded funding to 29 projects. 19 projects were run in Poland, and 10 in Ukraine. The second grant competition was announced in September; 22 of the 130 submitted projects were selected for funding. 15 initiatives are being carried out in Poland, and seven in Ukraine. The selected projects aim to support war refugees from Ukraine staying in Poland by providing them with legal and public service advisory, psychological aid, as well as assisting Ukrainian children and youth in acquiring formal and non-formal education, and supporting local communities in Ukraine, especially those which accepted high numbers of IDPs. The purpose of several projects is to counteract discrimination and hostility that refugees from Ukraine may be exposed to. One project seeks to combat disinformation and deliver reliable information about the community of Ukrainian refugees in Poland and the situation in Ukraine.
The Foundation has disbursed $2,354,091, including $613,313 for the current edition.