Poland donated €8.6 billion to help Ukrainian refugees in the first year of the Russian invasion. From the beginning of the war until mid-2023, more than 24 million refuge seekers crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border. Out of the 1.4 million Ukrainians who have remained in our country, 90 per cent are women and children. Such data can be found in the Report on the Aid of Polish NGOs to Ukraine.

The document was drawn up by the Confederation of Non-Governmental Initiatives of the Republic of Poland. The authors summarised the involvement of Polish NGOs in supporting Ukraine since the onset of Russian aggression. The report was presented at a conference in Kiev last week.

It shows that in the first months of the war, almost 29,000 social organisations of various kinds operating in Poland were involved in helping Ukraine. The involvement was extensive and was by no means limited to charities. More than half of the Voluntary Fire Brigades and nearly 40 per cent of the Countryside Women’s Associations helped Ukraine at the time. The value of the support provided in the first months of the war is estimated at over 650 million PLN.

Initially, aid was mainly targeted at refugees arriving in Poland and drives of material gifts were the most popular forms of assistance. As time went by, more and more organisations became involved in activities in Ukraine, while the state took over assistance of refugees in Poland. For instance, Ukrainian citizens were assigned personal identification numbers, enabled to work without a permit, and granted social benefits. Children were guaranteed education in Polish schools.

Assistance took various forms, from material support to psychological and legal aid. NGOs helped refugees to find accommodation and childcare and to navigate the Polish labour market. Volunteers provided them with certificates of professional qualifications and enrolled them in Polish language courses. Activities like these have helped more than one million Ukrainians to work in Poland today.

Sometimes the support took more original forms. The volleyball club Projekt Warszawa played a charity match for refugees and organised a volleyball academy for Ukrainian children. The In Blessed Art Foundation was selling icons on ammunition crates imported from Ukraine.

The entire report can be read here.