UKRAINE EMERGENCY: IN POLAND A NEW START FOR 150 WOMEN WITH SUPPORT FROM INTESA SANPAOLO
One year after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the NGO AVSI, with its historical partner AVSI Polska and thanks to a donation from the banking group, has trained and placed 150 Ukrainian women in permanent positions on the Polish job market
Milan, 1st March 2023 – Integration, training and women's empowerment: these are the three pillars of the project "Labour inclusion for Ukrainian refugees in Poland" launched in August 2022 by the NGO AVSI with its historical partner AVSI Polska and support from Intesa Sanpaolo in response to the wave of migrants entering Poland due to the war in Ukraine. This innovative project successfully combined language training, soft skills courses, technical training with psychological and legal assistance, culminating in job placement.
Twenty-five local companies operating in various sectors were involved in the project: from the mechanical engineering and electronics industry, to logistics, financial and insurance services, consulting and education. The six-month project also included a financial aid component involving vouchers for the most vulnerable Ukrainian refugee families and placing and supporting 50 Ukrainian minors in Polish educational programmes, from kindergartens to nursery schools.
Intesa Sanpaolo's support is part of its ESG commitment to societies and communities, which has led the Bank to promptly donate €10 million for solidarity and hospitality measures benefiting the Ukrainian people, including projects focusing on humanitarian protection, housing, direct financial support, health and psychological assistance, distribution of basic necessities and integration of refugees.
"In just a few months, the project has responded concretely to the needs of those – especially women with children – who have fled Ukraine. They needed to work to support themselves and to integrate into the new country. To do so, they put their skills to work." Donato Di Gilio, president of AVSI Polska, commented: "The project's strength was its ability to match the needs of Polish companies and job market with the skills and training of female refugees."
"In Avsi's project, we found those values of solidarity and inclusion that characterise the Bank's ESG initiatives, and which made it possible to act promptly to seek a long-term solution for numerous Ukrainian families at a time of serious difficulty. When Intesa Sanpaolo decided to make a major donation at the outbreak of the conflict, it identified Avsi as one of the most reliable partners to benefit from the resources," commented Paolo Bonassi, Head of Strategic Support Intesa Sanpaolo.
For further information:
AVSI - Anna Zamboni - cell. +39 344 0215675 | anna.zamboni@avsi.org
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AVSI
AVSI, which has been operating in Ukraine since after the 2014 Donbass conflict, took action to help Ukrainians in Poland, Romania, Moldova and Italy immediately after the war broke out.
AVSI Polska, founded in 1993, is a founding member of AVSI and devotes its efforts to various areas such as training and job orientation, promotion of local entrepreneurship and emergency projects in response to the war in Ukraine. AVSI Polska also promoted the humanitarian aid initiative Italian Solidarity in Poland in cooperation with the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Poland and the Warsaw Committee of the Dante Alighieri Society.
About Intesa Sanpaolo
Intesa Sanpaolo is Italy’s leading banking group – serving families, businesses and the real economy – with a significant international presence. Intesa Sanpaolo’s distinctive business model makes it a European leader in Wealth Management, Protection & Advisory, highly focused on digital and fintech. An efficient and resilient Bank, it benefits from its wholly-owned product factories in asset management and insurance. The Group’s strong ESG commitment includes providing €115 billion in impact lending by 2025 to communities and for the green transition, and €500 million in contributions to support people most in need, positioning Intesa Sanpaolo as a world leader in terms of social impact. Intesa Sanpaolo is committed to Net Zero by 2030 for its own emissions and by 2050 for its loan and investment portfolios. An engaged patron of Italian culture, Intesa Sanpaolo has created its own network of museums, the Gallerie d’Italia, to host the bank's artistic heritage and as a venue for prestigious cultural projects.
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Last updated 1 March 2023 at 11:51
