The Polish-American Freedom Foundation has earmarked an additional PLN 4 million to support Ukraine. In line with its earlier announcements the fast “Ukrainian path”, under the “Region in Transition” Program (RITA), was transformed into “Support for Ukraine” - a new, special grants-giving program.
The program is addressed to Polish NGOs that help the civilian population in Ukraine and war refugees coming to Poland. It will be managed by the Education for Democracy Foundation.
In response to the dramatic escalation of war in Ukraine, started by the unprovoked Russian invasion on February 24, the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and its partner organizations promptly began to engage in activities supporting Ukraine. As part of both its international and domestic programs the Foundation has launched material and financial aid for the civilian population in Ukraine in the form of supplying medicines, medical equipment and food, as well as transportation and aid in coordination efforts. At the same time it offered support for war refugees from Ukraine in Poland. To carry out these tasks the Foundation redirected over PLN 3 million within its current budget. With these actions, PAFF tries to meet the needs of numerous former and current Ukrainian participants of its three international programs: Lane Kirkland Scholarships, “Region in Transition” (RITA) and “Study Tours to Poland” (STP). Over the 2000-2022 years Poland was host to 8,426 citizens of Ukraine under these undertakings, including 541 Kirklanders, 1,330 participants of the RITA program and 6,575 visitors under the study tours (4,477 professionals and 2,098 university students.)
To support efforts of the Polish NGOs that immediately offered help to our Ukrainian neighbors, the Polish-American Freedom Foundation Board of Directors has decided to disburse additional funds and establish a special grant program – “Support for Ukraine” – with a budget of PLN 4 million.
The new PAFF program has the following objectives:
- Supporting activities of Polish non-governmental organizations carried out in cooperation with their Ukrainian partners in Ukraine.
- Supporting activities of non-governmental organizations in Poland that are aimed at taking care of refugees from Ukraine.
- Supporting coordination of Polish NGOs’ activities for Ukraine (also in cooperation with other institutions and/or environments), mainly related to refugees from Ukraine but also initiatives implemented by Ukrainian partners in their country.
Priority will be 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 people who are escaping the war are settling. Grants will be awarded both to initiatives of Polish organizations conducted by themselves and those implemented jointly with Ukrainian partners, especially for:
- Intervention projects – grants of up to PLN 25,000 for activities related to securing civilian populations, supplying medical products and means of personal protection, equipping and adjusting locations to the war situation, as well as supporting refugees in Poland;
- Longer term projects – grants of up to PLN 50,000 for activities supporting children’s and young people’s education in Poland, adapting war refugees from Ukraine to the conditions on the Polish job market, and counteracting discriminating practices against them.
The “Support for Ukraine” program will be guided by the experience gained in implementation of the fast intervention path launched at the beginning of March 2022 as part of the “Region in Transition” Program (RITA) – a PAFF undertaking managed by the Education for Democracy Foundation (FED), as well as the over 20-years of experience gained by the “RITA” Program Manager in cooperation with numerous organizations in Poland and Ukraine.
For more information please contact:
Sylwia Gajownik, the Education for Democracy Foundation, Tel. +48 535 854 424
Agnieszka Świeczka, the Education for Democracy Foundation, Tel. +48 605 787 757
