Giro555 has so far raised 168.9 million euros for victims of the war in Ukraine, the organization announced on Thursday. That money is now being used for, among other things, aid to people returning to areas previously occupied by Russia. Refugees are also trained as volunteers to provide aid in Ukraine and surrounding countries, Giro555 action chairman Kees Zevenbergen told NU.nl on Thursday.
Eleven aid organizations and seven host organizations united, such as the Red Cross, the Refugee Foundation, Cordaid and UNICEF, are united in Giro555. At the start of the war in Ukraine, these organizations mainly provided immediate emergency aid to people in Ukraine and neighboring countries, such as Poland and Romania.
That immediate emergency aid is still provided, says Zevenbergen. But now help is also provided to people who travel back to their home.
“Ukrainians are retreating to areas occupied by Russia, such as the heavily besieged city of Bucha and the western Ukrainian city of Irpin.” The cities have been destroyed and many basic necessities are no longer available, he says.
“That is why the Red Cross is, for example, busy repairing the water pipes in Bucha. That is important, because without water people cannot live.” Aid organization Cordaid supplies solar generators to devastated cities with the money from Giro555. So people have electricity again.
Also money to victims who help as a volunteer
In addition, the money raised is used to train people who want to help with the work of the aid organizations. Among them are also people who have fled themselves, says Zevenbergen.
“They learn, for example, how to deal with refugees with trauma or with people who are in a panic. The distinction between refugees and aid workers is becoming less and less clear.”
Zevenbergen sees the donations to Giro555 decrease. In the beginning millions of euros were collected per day, now a lot less. He does say that the action is still alive among many Dutch people.
‘Can last a few more months in this way’
“8 million euros in more than a month is not as much as was raised in the beginning, but it is still a lot of money. People are still donating and there are still several actions throughout the country this summer.” It was expected, according to him, that the donations are less than in the beginning.
When asked how long the aid in Ukraine can continue, Zevenbergen gives a clear answer: “At the moment there are means to keep it going for at least a few more months in the way that all organizations work now.”
Improvement: An earlier version of this article stated that aid organizations have enough volunteers. That information was incorrectly passed on to NU.nl† The article has been edited.