The first edition of the " Grant Program „Hi Girls!” was created as a response to the needs of millions of refugees who were forced to flee from war-torn Ukraine. The grants are to be allocated to social initiatives that will help improve the situation of Ukrainian women and children. The aim of the program is to support local projects that will help them create a second home in Poland.
As part of the Program, funds collected on the Support Fund for Women and Girls from Ukraine “Hi Girls!” will be distributed. So far, almost 1.5 million PLN has been collected, of which one million zlotys has been donated by Dominika Kulczyk, President of the Management Board of Kulczyk Foundation. Money for long-term assistance is collected on the Foundation's accounts and via the Patronite portal: www.patronite.pl/czescdziewczyny
- Poles will not be forgotten by History, what they did for Ukrainian women. An open border, open houses and flats, open hearts. However, as a Sisterhood, we believe that more can still be done - to provide these people with a permanent shelter, to take care of them. Help them take the first step. What is important and what I understand from the perspective of an entrepreneur is the fact that we should be prepared for long-term support for them. Thinking about help not as a sprint, but as a marathon - says Dominika Kulczyk, President of the Kulczyk Foundation.
The most important criteria taken into account when awarding grants are:
1. Support for family relationships.
2. Psychological support.
3. Support for social adaptation in the new reality.
4. Creation of new jobs.
5. Activation of women and the elderly.
6. Support for humanitarian channels.
7. Support for education and scientific initiatives.
8. Support for cultural initiatives, especially in the local dimension.
9. Business activation of Polish-Ukrainian relations.
10. Durability of the proposed social infrastructure.
The winning projects will be selected by the Polish-Ukrainian Sisterhood, a coalition of 25 women from Poland and Ukraine, which was established on April 4 in Warsaw. The sisterhood will award grants in both this and subsequent editions of the Program.
The slogan "Hi Girls!", on which the entire initiative is based, is universal, however. And it also applies to women refugees who have had to leave their country in many other places around the world. The Sisterhood's activities under the Grant Program will also be addressed to them and such projects can also count on funding.
Applications for participation in the Program, completed using a special form, may be submitted until May 15, 2022 at the e-mail address granty@kulczykfoundation.org.pl. Applications will be processed until June 16, 2022.
The application evaluation criteria and any additional information can be found in the Program Regulations. The form and regulations have been published on the website www.higirls.pl. The maximum amount that can be applied for under the Program is PLN 100,000.
The Polish-Ukrainian Sisterhood include:
Magdalena Adamowicz - Lawyer, Member of the European Parliament
Walentyna Berezenko - Doctor, Head of the Children’s Hepatology Center of the State Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Kiev
Henryka Bochniarz - Economist, Chairman of the Main Council of the Lewiatan Confederation
Elżbieta Bodio - Vice-President of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce
Iryna Deszczyca - Wife of the Ukrainian Ambassador in Poland
Ewa Ewart - Journalist, Director and Producer of Documentary Films
Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram – Attorney, Co-Founder of the "Free Courts" initiative
Agnieszka Holland - Director, President of the European Film Academy
Janina Ochojska - Humanitarian activist, President of the Polish Humanitarian Action
Maryna Kaftan - Education expert, Member of the Reform Support Team at the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
Myroslava Keryk - Historian, President of the "Our Choice" Foundation
Bogumiła Kaniewska - Literary Scholar, Rector of the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań
Halyna Karp - Councilor of the Ivano-Frankivsk region, former Deputy Minister of Energy
Aleksandra Klich - Journalist, Editor-in-chief of "Wysokie Obcasy"
Dominika Kulczyk - Entrepreneur, President of the Kulczyk Foundation
Nataliya Kravets - President of the Ukrainian Center for Education
Olha Matviienko - Professor at the Department of Pedagogy of the Kiev National Language University
Marta Lempart - Social activist, initiator of the National Women's Strike
Joanna Mosiej-Sitek - Journalist, Deputy Publisher of "Gazeta Wyborcza"
Monika Płatek - Lawyer, Associate Professor at the University of Warsaw
Olga Struk - Entrepreneur, Founder of Arthur Murray Dance Studios
Olga Tokarczuk - Writer, Poet and Essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize
Olena Volyarska - Associate Professor of the Kiev National Language University
Oksana Zabużko - Writer, Poet and Essayist, Institute of Philosophy of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences
Iryna Zapatrina - Professor of Economics, Founder of the Institute of Public-Private Partnership in Kiev
Since the beginning of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, almost 2.7 million refugees have crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border. They are mostly women and children. The employment data show that as many as 75% of people from Ukraine who started work in Poland at that time are women.
In order to provide them with long-term assistance, based, inter alia, on job creation, professional activation, support for education and culture, the Support Fund for Women and Girls from Ukraine was established.
On Women's Day, the most important Polish media also published a letter addressed to Girls from Ukraine. It was signed by a large group of famous Polish women - entrepreneurs, journalists, artists and social activists. Details of the action are available at www.higirls.pl
