NGO projects can be submitted to “Support for Ukraine” – the new program of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation – by June 10. PAFF has earmarked over PLN 1.5 million for longer-term activities supporting Ukraine that are carried out by Polish non-governmental organizations.
The objective of the “Support for Ukraine” Program, which was launched in March, is to extend and enhance the activities of Polish non-governmental organizations that are conducted in cooperation with their partners in Ukraine as well as those implemented in Poland that are aimed at taking care of refugees from Ukraine. Grants can also be used for supporting coordination of Polish NGO activities for Ukraine and refugees in Poland, also in cooperation with other institutions and/or environments.
In the grant competition for longer-term projects, i.e., activities with a longer time perspective (up to 12 month) and those of a systemic nature, the applying NGO can receive up to PLN 50,000 for initiatives such as:
- Adaptation and integration of war refugees from Ukraine in Poland, including specialist support for making their stay easier (legal, civil, and public services guidance and counselling, etc.), or support in employment on the Polish job market;
- Support for children and young people of school age, especially their education during their stay in Poland, e.g. organization of extra classes, including those integrating them with the local community, as well as classes helping them overcome the differences in curricula and learning Polish;
- Counteracting discrimination and other negative behaviors which war refugees from Ukraine may face in Poland through social campaigns, information actions addressed to various groups of recipients and carried out primarily at the local level;
- Counteracting disinformation and fake news, and securing reliable information about the community of war refugees from Ukraine in Poland as well as about the situation in Ukraine;
- Projects carried out in Ukraine in cooperation with Ukrainian partners, e.g. educational, care-taking activities, supporting children, young people, persons internally displaced in Ukraine, and implementing solutions to assist those who have suffered from the war.
Applications to the competition are being accepted until June 10, 2022. The competition results will be announced on July 5, 2022.
The “Support for Ukraine” Program is an extension of a special initiative launched within the “Region in Transition” (RITA) Program – a PAFF undertaking managed by the Education for Democracy Foundation. At the beginning of March 2022, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the immediate relief actions by Polish NGOs, the fast intervention “Ukrainian path” was initiated under the grant competition carried out within “Region in Transition”. The “RITA” Program’s organizational and financial resources available at that time were earmarked for this new, extraordinary purpose. As soon as the separate “Support for Ukraine” Program was created, the “Ukrainian path” became a part of it, as previously announced.
422 Polish NGOs submitted applications to the call for proposals of intervention projects. This lasted until March 15. On the basis of assessment by independent experts and the decision made by the Grant Committee, grants are going to 59 nongovernmental organizations in 14 provinces in Poland. Most of them operate in small towns and villages. 15 projects will be directly implemented in Ukraine.
