European coops for Ukraine

 

Ukraine: how are European coops supporting those affected?

 

The conflict in Ukraine has led to the loss of many lives and caused the displacement of more than 2 million refugees. Local coops are scrambling to quickly adapt their operations within the country and beyond. “We need to change our strategy. We need inputs, materials, and investments to support small producers and keep them alive.” said Iryna Volovyk in an interview with aroundtheworld.coop on March 2, 2022.

Cooperative associations have not waited on the sideline. On the contrary, we have witnessed an unprecedented solidarity movement. Members are providing humanitarian aid in numerous different ways. On this page, we will keep track of all the initiatives we receive in support of the Ukrainian people.

 

 

National cooperative associations have mustered their members to provide humanitarian aid. In the following list a breakdown of regional actions. The document will be updated with the received contributions.

 

In Denmark, ICMIF member LB Forsikring announced on 1 March that it has expanded the coverage on its contents and liability insurance so that Ukrainian refugees who move in with one of the insurer’s policyholders will also be covered.

 

In Finland, cooperatives have donated to Ukraine via the Finnish Red Cross – all together already a staggering 1 million euros.

  • Among other actions S Group SOK Corporation’s regional co-operatives from around Finland and S Bank decided to donate EUR 10 for each their employees. This equals to nearly EUR 300 000. Their customers another EUR 175.000. More information here.

In France,

  • FNCC with other consumer cooperatives have released a statement and are joining forces with other European consumer cooperatives to set up a solidarity project. More information here.
  • Fédération nationale des Caisses d’Epargne (FNCE) has gathered EUR 1.5 million for the French Red Cross. More information here.

 

In Germany cooperatives join forces and already gathered EUR 637.000.

  • The German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV) with its partners Raiffeisen Verband DRV, and the Mittelstandsverbund ZGV call for donations to support the German Red Cross. More information here.
  • Zentralverband Deutscher Konsumgenossenschaften e. v calls for donation to the joint initiative by Caritas Germany, the German Red Cross, Unicef ​​and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe. More information here.

 

In Italy,

  • Confcooperative Habitat calls upon housing and community cooperatives to make available spaces for refugees and to report those to them. More information here.
  • Legacoop calls for donations to WeWorld-GVC. More info here.
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In Israël,

  • IsraAID (founded by coops and connected to the Cooperatives Europe Development Platform) sent an emergency response team to Moldova already in the beginning of the war and opened 5 ‘Mother & Baby Space’ tents near the border with Ukraine. They are providing urgently needed items like diapers and baby food, children’s activities, warm blankets, seating near the border crossing in Palanca. Their team is also distributing resilience and hygiene kits in Kishinev and other locations in Moldova. More info here.

 

In Poland

  • The National Supervision Union of Spolem Consumer Co-operatives reports activities from various members to provide support to the displaced. For example, Społem Augustów provides food to local refugees.Consumer cooperatives are collecting non-perishable food to send to the Ukrainian people.
  • The National Cooperative Council calls for local cooperatives to provide shelter, food, work and other immediate support to refugees. More information here.
  • The National Association of Co-operative Saving and Credit Unions joins forces with other banks to donate products to Ukrainians.
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In Sweden

  • Svensk Kooperationen and We Effect call for donations. More information here.
  • Folksam donated SEK 1 million (EUR 92.000) to the Swedish Red Cross to support Ukrainians and calls upon others to donate.
  • HSB Riksförbund donated a total of SEK 875.000 (EUR 83.000) to the Swedish Red Cross. More information here.
  • Kooperativa Förbundet (KF) gathers SEK 5.3 million (EUR 513.000) to UNICEF and the Red Cross for crisis efforts on the ground in Ukraine. Read more.
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In the United Kingdom,

  • Cooperatives UK supported by the Midcounties Co-operative and other coops call for donations to The Disasters Emergency Committee to support Ukrainians. More information here.

 

In Ukraine

  • The Cooperative Academy from Dnipro (central Ukraine) are setting up a fundraising here. It is coordinated by Iryna Volovyk and Sofia Burtak with logistic help from Katarzyna Kalinowska (Food Co-op Dobrze in Warsaw) and Sara Vicari (arountheworld.coop in Rome) who will be responsible for organising the shopping and transferring goods to Ukraine.
  • COOP Ukraine calls for donations to rebuild infrastructure and to prevent a human catastrophe in the cooperative movement. More info here.

 

In Europe

  • Fairbnb.coop is creating a platform that can be used by NGOs and humanitarian organizations to find hosts for refugees. The first version will be available in the next few days. More info here.

 

Share with us your story at [email protected].

Find more information about the actions at the international level.
 Read our statement.
 Read the International Cooperative Alliance’s statement.

 

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