The Ambrela platform, bringing together 28 prominent humanitarian and development organisations in the Slovak Republic, closely monitors the situation and needs in Ukraine and expresses solidarity with the inhabitants of our eastern neighbour. The direct military invasion that began on Thursday, 24 February 2022, means destruction for the population of Ukraine, a large number of dead and wounded people, and a significant number of people fleeing.
In this situation, we can use our expertise and provide aid to those who need it. For this reason, within Ambrela’s Working Group on Humanitarian Aid (PS HP), we immediately prepared and sent a call to the Government of the Slovak Republic (specifically to the Prime Minister, Eduard Heger, and the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Ivan Korčok) on the issue of providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
As a long-standing partner of MZVaEZ SR in the field of humanitarian aid, we therefore call on the Government of the Slovak Republic to allocate financial resources for direct humanitarian intervention. At the same time, we also want through this appeal to express our support to the Government of the Slovak Republic and to lend a hand in providing humanitarian aid in Ukraine, including at the border crossings between the Slovak Republic and Ukraine. Already several member organisations of Ambrela have been active in Ukraine for a long time, either directly or in cooperation with local partners (including in the Donbas region), and they are currently also focusing their efforts on border assistance due to the expected arrival of a larger number of people.
In the appeal to the Government of the Slovak Republic, we propose considering the use of humanitarian aid instruments that are sufficiently fast and effective while also taking into account the principles of quality humanitarian giving: https://www.ghdinitiative.org/ghd/gns/about-us/about-ghd.html. Allocated funds can be used to cover the most urgent needs, such as water, basic food, shelter, clothing, and so on, all in line with humanitarian principles and SPHERE standards: https://spherestandards.org/. Non-governmental organisations have currently announced public collections for aid to Ukraine, and many of them, through their partners, have been providing aid in eastern Ukraine since 2014. More information about the financial collections of Ambrela members can be found here, and the new nationwide appeal Spoločne pre Ukrajinu here: https://www.donio.sk/kto-pomoze-ukrajine
In the appeal, the Ambrela platform states that it welcomes consideration of the possibility of the regular participation of non-governmental organisations (including Ambrela) in providing humanitarian aid. The appeal also proposes that the Government of the Slovak Republic consider inviting a representative of civil society into communication for the purpose of coordinating activities and effective cooperation between the state and civil society. We would be very glad if the government would consider providing direct humanitarian aid from the Slovak Republic to Ukraine under the SlovakAid brand, thereby combining forces for a good cause during these difficult days. The full text of the submitted appeal to the Government of the Slovak Republic is here: https://ambrela.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Vyzva_humanitarnych_organizacii_vlade_SR_k_poskytovanu_pomoci_Ukrajine.pdf