Katiia Kharytoniuk (37) and her daughter Sofija (5) practice the alphabet together. Katiia arrived as a refugee in Poland from Uman, Ukraine, together with her two daughters. After three months staying in the home of a Polish family, she now lives with her daughters in a building at the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland parish in Bytom. The father of the family remains in Ukraine, as men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave the country. Photo: LWF/Albin Hillert

Poland

Country Program

The war in Ukraine sparked the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since the end of the Second World War. Almost 8 million people from Ukraine are registered as refugees in neighboring European countries, and more than 6.5 million are estimated to be displaced inside the country. (data UNHCR, Jan 2023). The majority of refugees fled to Poland. Currently, there are about 1.5 million refugees officially registered in Poland, but it is estimated that the country hosts several million, with a high number of border crossings back and forth due to the volatile security in Ukraine. 

To respond to the crisis, LWF in close collaboration with its member church the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (ECACP) and its local parishes, has established a country program in Poland. The program, registered as Foundation LWF in Poland (Fundacja LWF w Polsce), has a head office in Warsaw and six community centers and field offices across the country.   

What we do in Poland

Partners and donors

LWF and partners, from left: Anna Pilch (Foundation LWF in Poland), Mateusz Ploskonka (City of Cracow), Samuel Dypczyński Foundation LWF in Poland), Julius Kibet (Foundation LWF in Poland), Joanna Godfrejów (Parish Council of the Evangelical-Augsburg Parish), Łukasz Ostruszka (Evangelical-Augsburg Parish), Mariusz Siudek (The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association), Izabela Kucmin-Bemelmans (The Polish Scouting and Guiding Association), Grzegorz Grzonka (Internationaler Bund Polska) in the Cracow warehouse
  • ACT Alliance
  • All We Can
  • Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS)
  • Avalon Foundation
  • Church World Service
  • Corus International / LWR
  • DAA Austria
  • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe
  • Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (ECACP)
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church Wurttemberg
  • Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (FELM)
  • German National Committee of the LWF
  • Humanosh Foundation
  • Icelandic Church Aid
  • Kerk in Actie
  • Municipality of Krakow
  • Neighbor in Need
  • Patchwork Foundation
  • Polska Akcja Humanitarna (PAH)
  • UNHCR

LWF is calling for donations to support the churches and people of Ukraine, who are displaced or in need following Russia’s military invasion of the country.

6
community centers
to offer cash assistance to refugees
70k
people
supported in Poland
15.1
million
people in need of humanitarian assistance
58
staff
many of them from Ukraine

Photo: LWF/ Albin Hillert