About us

Forum „Razem” — social organizations for Poland and Ukraine — was established to build understanding, enable cooperation and create solutions for people with refugee and migration experience in Poland and for the Polish society.

The aim of the Forum is to create space for multilateral cooperation, with particular emphasis on local and international non-profit organizations responding to various challenges that can be observed in Poland in connection with the war in Ukraine.

Forum "Razem" is an initiative co-created by the Polish Humanitarian Action and Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. Both organizations are supported by an advisory team composed of representatives of the Stefan Batory Foundation, the Grupa Zagranica, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the Club of Catholic Intelligentsia and the Leaders of Change Foundation. Technical support is provided by Netguru.

We invite all non-governmental organizations and grassroots initiatives working for refugees.

We want to respond to the challenges of the refugee crisis hand in hand with international organizations. It is possible only if Polish organizations have a joint representation and receive support in cooperation with international structures.

We want to share knowledge and tools; build partnerships to implement sustainable solutions that will be independent of international interest and funding in the long term.

We want to build social capital through the combined effort of the civil society and migrants.

Forum vision:

Polish society addresses the challenges related to the war in Ukraine and migration to Poland in an inclusive and fair manner, providing the basis for further development of both countries and the region.

Long-term goal:

Polish social organizations implement various systemic changes for the public good in partnerships with other stakeholders, using the potential of migrants, supporting them and their host communities.

Mid-term goal:

The aim of the FORUM is to support Polish social organizations in the fields of:

  • Informing various stakeholders (especially the members of the Forum) about activities, plans and challenges faced by NGOs / social organizations, as well as about the context and the nature of the crisis or the changing social and economic phenomena that affect the situation of people in need, NGOs and various systems;

  • Identifying synergies, partnerships, overlapping activities and gaps in aid, to shape the response to the refugee phenomena in Poland in accordance with humanitarian values, transparently, inclusively and fairly;

  • Co-creating systemic changes in key public areas while relying on the potential of the Polish civil society, the capabilities of migrants and refugees, and the energy of change makers;

  • Providing atmosphere of cooperation and understanding in which one can openly discuss the various humanitarian, social, economic and cultural issues, challenges and capabilities;

  • Building the competences among the Forum members to react with the highest possible quality, enable further development, introduce positive change and build a social base for the subsequent reconstruction of the Ukrainian society;

  • Identification of scalable social innovations in response to migration and related challenges in public systems.

The Forum is a wide-ranging cooperation initiative for social organizations in Poland. It creates a democratic space for local organizations and initiatives to inform, share knowledge, look for partnerships and synergies, and mutually strengthen their actions in response to the challenges related to the migration of refugees from Ukraine to Poland.

The Forum focuses on mid-term and long-term activities that serve systemic solutions.

The Forum functions parallel to the coordination forum of international organizations, which was established under the aegis of UNHCR. Thanks to the Forum, we can include Polish organizations in this mechanism, ensuring their subjective participation in international activities. The Forum closely cooperates with UNHCR structures, ensuring synergy between the activities of international and national organizations.

Currently, the Forum conducts the following activities:

  • Registration of organizations and collection of information about their activities;

  • Regular meetings for registered participants in close cooperation with international organizations and UN agencies;

  • Co-creation, co-lead, and facilitation of cooperation within thematic working groups — currently there are groups led by UNHCR and co-led by the Polish NGOs;

  • Connecting organizations that need support with entities offering support (in the ares of finance, competences, management, knowledge and solutions). These entities will include other Polish and international organizations, including for-profit;

  • Creating a knowledge library — collecting information on activities and good practices, as well as gathering educational, information and communication materials;

  • Promoting the Forum's own activities and sharing information through mailing and other communication activities.