Solidarity: How To Help Ukraine?
If the information relayed by the media about the war in Ukraine has touched you and you want, at your level, to show solidarity with the Ukrainians, know that there are several ways to help Ukraine. Here is a summary of public or private initiatives to which you can contribute.
What are the different possible actions?
As the dedicated webpage of service-public.fr (see link below) reminds us, there are four main ways to help Ukrainians from France:
- financial donations
- volunteer missions
- material donations
- the reception of refugees
Which association should I donate money to?
If you want to help all the people affected by this conflict and in particular the Ukrainians who have taken refuge in the countries bordering Ukraine, you can make a donation to the international NGOs that are intervening there.
This is of course the case with the French Red Cross, to which you can make a donation via its website. You can also send a check to the following address French Red Cross, CS 20011 59895 Lille Cedex.
You can also financially support the NGO Care international, the NGO ACTED, Unicef, Doctors without Borders or the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Note also that the Fondation de France is launching an appeal for generosity to support the millions of people affected by this conflict on the page: https://dons.fondationdefrance.org/solidarite-avec-les-ukrainiens/~my-donation?
The Fondation de France will help associations based locally in Poland and Romania that are already providing basic aid to Ukrainian families.
How do I volunteer?
If you want to help various associations through volunteer assignments, go to JeVeuxAider.gouv.fr!
This platform proposed by the Civic Reserve connects volunteers with associations, public institutions and municipalities that offer volunteer missions.
These missions are open to anyone over the age of 16 and residing in France, with no nationality requirement.
To address the humanitarian emergency related to the war in Ukraine, the platform has selected the most urgent volunteer needs on a special page entitled Mobilize for Ukraine: https://www.jeveuxaider.gouv.fr/engagement/benevolat-ukraine/
How to make a material donation?
Associations mobilizing to help Ukrainians also need basic necessities, medical equipment and medicines.
This is why many municipalities and associations have launched local collections to meet these specific needs.
If you want to help Ukraine with a material donation, check out the lists of basic necessities.
NGOs ask donors to privilege Hygiene and health products (such as antiseptics, bandages, wipes) as well as canned food.
How to welcome refugees?
If you have the possibility and the desire to welcome refugees, get information from your municipality or from associations that help people such as the Red Cross and the Secours Catholique.
You should know that the French government has also launched an official platform called Je m'engage pour l'Ukraine to support French people who would like to host Ukrainian refugees in their homes: https://parrainage.refugies.info/
This platform, which is an initiative of the Ministry of the Interior, also allows people to get involved in associative projects, to carry out interpreting missions and volunteer missions to help Ukraine.
Finally, to participate in the various initiatives to support Ukraine, you can consult two sites that are private but reliable initiatives:
- the WeUkraine site: https://www.weukraine.fr/
- the site EU4UA on which you can offer accommodation to Ukrainian refugees: https://fr.eu4ua.org/
