Slovak non-governmental organizations (mostly member, observer and partner organizations of the Ambrela platform) during the second month of the military invasion and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine transported another more than 700 tons of humanitarian aid to their eastern neighbour. The distribution of aid is still possible thanks to the solidarity of the Slovak population.
Since the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine, the Platform of Development Organizations – Ambrela, which coordinates 29 humanitarian, development and education organizations in Slovakia, has been acting as the coordinator of the working group for the humanitarian aid area. Ambrela also collects and evaluates information from its members (for example: Človek v ohrození, Slovenská katolícka charita, Nadácia Integra, ADRA Slovensko, saleziánske SAVIO) and their Ukrainian partners, so that with the data it can further promote effective aid distribution in the region. Ambrela organizations together with local partners therefore help not only refugees from Ukraine on the Slovak side of the border, but also directly distribute humanitarian aid in the territory of our eastern neighbour. Already in March, Slovak NGOs transported 709 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. In April the figure was similarly high.
“In April Slovak NGOs transported a further 712 tons of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Members and partners of Ambrela are helping in locations in Zakarpattia, as well as in the cities of Kharkiv, Kyiv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Mariupol, Chernivtsi and others. We thank the involved organizations and individuals for the solidarity shown and their tireless effort to help,” says Ambrela executive secretary Daniel Kaba. According to Ambrela platform data, the value of material aid in April was 1.5 million euros and consisted primarily of food, medical materials and medicines, hygiene items, and also accessories for shelter units.
According to current UN OCHA data, 5.7 million people have already had to leave Ukraine, while 7.7 million people are internally displaced within their war-torn homeland. “To date, 385,000 people have crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border in flight—mainly women with children. Because of these facts, the operation of the humanitarian aid and development cooperation system is changing across our entire region. For this reason, on 23–24 May we are organizing in Bratislava an international development forum – Ambrela development forum (ADF), so that we can reflect the current humanitarian crisis arising from the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. We will look at innovative ways of providing foreign aid, but also emphasize the importance and role of civil society in this situation,” adds Ambrela executive secretary Daniel Kaba. During the mentioned ADF forum, representatives of leading humanitarian and development organizations from Central and Eastern Europe will analyze the effects of this crisis and seek possible solutions and recommendations for the entire foreign aid sector.
The Platform of Development Organizations – Ambrela is the umbrella in Slovakia for 29 mostly non-governmental organizations that deal with humanitarian aid, development cooperation and global education at home and abroad. This year it is closing the three-year project ‘Global Goals and Migration’, supported by the EU through the DEAR programme, and within it also an awareness campaign ‘Faces of Migration’. Its goal is to increase awareness among Slovaks about the reasons and mechanisms of migration (especially forced migration) from the perspective of international development, and through the stories of specific people from abroad to explain to the public what people fleeing war experience and why they need help. Since more than 385,000 people from Ukraine have already crossed the Slovak border since the beginning of the invasion, the topic of asylum cannot be avoided—children and young people ask about it at home and at school—which means that not only the media and relevant ministries, but also our NGOs, must respond with suitable content. The Ambrela campaign ‘Faces of Migration’ is therefore receiving new impulses and greater significance.
Ambrela prepared a comprehensive list of activities at the end of February (available here: https://ambrela.org/spravy/pomahajte-s-nami-na-ukrajine/) that its organizations carry out as part of aid to Ukraine, as well as their aid drives. At the same time, the Ambrela team also created media materials in March – a ‘media kit’ (for reading here: https://tvaremigracie.ambrela.org/media-kit/) intended to familiarize media workers, as well as communication managers in partner organizations, with the activities, outputs and possible successes of the mentioned three-year Ambrela project and the awareness campaign Faces of Migration. There was also also educational material for schools, the ‘edu kit’, about what the campaign ‘Faces of Migration’ shows us and, in general, the topic of migration and asylum through human stories and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (for reading here: https://tvaremigracie.ambrela.org/novinky/edu-kit-ku-kampani-tvare-migracie/). More about our activities on the web: www.ambrela.org and https://tvaremigracie.ambrela.org/.
Note: Data on their dispatched humanitarian aid shipments for the period 1–30 April 2022 were provided to the Ambrela platform by its members ADRA, Človek v ohrození, Slovenská katolícka charita (including Spišská katolíkská charity and Gréckokatolíckej charity Prešov), Nadácia Integra, SAVIO and partner organization Depaul Slovensko. Member VŠ zdravotníctva a sociálnej práce sv. Alžbety together with partner STEP-IN had not managed by the April reporting deadline to submit exact figures for transported aid. The total mass and value of humanitarian aid from Slovak NGOs for April 2022 is therefore still somewhat higher than the reported data.
Text: Platforma Ambrela (www.ambrela.org), Photo: Tony Frič (www.caritas.sk)