TIPOS in cooperation with the Plea for Humanity redistributes first resources for acute refugee aid.

The first funds from the donation of TIPOS will be distributed to organizations providing practical assistance in a worsening refugee crisis in the coming days. Reallocation is based on the decision of the Council of the Plea for Humanity. The Council consists of initiators of the Plea, independent expert and representatives of the Tipos company as non-voting observers.

In the first round aimed at addressing the most urgent humanitarian organizations spending was reallocated 343.228,89 € among seven organizations. Support for a maximum period of five months received, for example, field hospital of organization Magna – Children at risk in the Serbian-Croatian border, the prof. Krčméry team, People in Need, but also integration activities of Slovak Catholic Charity in Slovakia. Other organizations will be able to continuously send their requests. for consideration and decision to the Council of the Plea for Humanity.

“We are very pleased that we can get help in the front line to resolve the humanitarian crisis,” says one of the initiators of the Plea for Humanity and director of the Open Society Foundation Slovakia (OSF) Ján Orlovský. “I believe, we all agree, that we have to avoid a situation where people will freeze under our windows. That is why we need to support organizations which are doing everything to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian disaster,” says Orlovský.

The public can watch disbursement of funds on a transparent bank account administered by the Open Society Foundation. OSF is responsible for the financial administration of donation for these purposes. For more information on the supported projects visit OSF website . In this round of redistribution more than half the donation has been used. New grant call will be opened in the upcoming days. This call will be aimed to cover other acute needs as well as systematic activities to humanitarian and integration activities.

Orlovský also warns that this approach is not a systemic solution to the problem. “We have information about the situation directly from the field from organizations and volunteers. And it is an extreme test of the capacities of non-governmental organizations and individuals. Dimensions of this situation are extremely wide and without the logistical support of the government it exceeds the capacity of any civic activity. We believe that countries in the region including Slovakia should use maximum of its own capacities of ​​civil protection and crisis management and involve them in the field. ” Plea for Humanity urges the Government to address the humanitarian disaster in the Serbian-Croatian border quickly and to use all the tools and capabilities at its disposal.

Plea for Humanity was founded in August 2015 as spontaneous civic initiative, which responded to the tragedy of 71 refugee victims in Parndorf. The aim of the Plea was to raise a wider public interest in the tragic situation faced by people fleeing war. Moreover it aimed to call on the government of Slovakia to convene the roundtable of all stakeholders that can contribute to alleviating the largest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the end of World War II.

List and annotations of supported projects can be found HERE.