European Foundation
for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions

The tripartite EU agency providing knowledge to assist
in the development of better social, employment and
work-related policies

EU PolicyWatch

Database of national-level policy measures

Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.

Factsheet for measure PL-2022-12/2355 Updated – measures in Poland

Lesser Poland Humanitarian Shield

Malopolska Tarcza Humanitarna

Country Poland , applies regionally

    • – PL2 MAKROREGION POŁUDNIOWY
Time period Temporary, 17 March 2022 – 31 August 2023
Context War in Ukraine
Type Other initiatives or policies
Category Measures to prevent social hardship
– Other humanitarian measures
Author Jan Czarzasty (Warsaw School of Economics)
Measure added 20 May 2022 (updated 10 July 2023)

Background information

Many Ukrainian refugees came to Lesser Poland Voivodeship to seek shelter from the Russian invasion that started on 24 February 2022. As a result, the local government, in cooperation with state authorities, created Bill Nr. LII/726/22. This measure establishes the Lesser Poland Humanitarian Shield. This measure is a product of the special act (Dz.U. 2022 poz. 583) which aims to simplify processes to help refugees.

Content of measure

The local government has divided the humanitarian programme into five segments.

  1. The first segment will support the NGOs that are involved in activities, which will help the refugees to adapt to and integrate into local communities. NGOs can seek funding via small financial grants for the development of volunteer networks around the area, open offers or via a special way of funding, made possible by the special bill of the Polish government.
  2. The next segment concerns the job market and will help refugees find work or gain qualifications to get a new one.
  3. The education segment will provide Polish teachers with special training. Additional learning materials in Ukrainian will be developed.
  4. The transportation segment will provide refugees with free public transport.
  5. The social segment will provide refugees with, among others, free psychological help.

The cost of the package is estimated at PLN 10 million (€2.24 million).

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

04 June 2023

End date of the Lesser Poland Humanitarian Shield is 31 August 2023.

Use of measure

No information to be reported.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Does not apply to businesses Migrants or refugees

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
Local / regional government
EU (Council, EC, EP)
European Funds
Local funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

Trade unions Employers' organisations
Role Unknown Unknown
Form Not applicable Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

  • Unknown
  • Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Unknown.

Views and reactions

Unknown.

Sources

Citation

Eurofound (2022), Lesser Poland Humanitarian Shield, measure PL-2022-12/2355 (measures in Poland), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/PL-2022-12_2355.html

Share

Eurofound publications based on EU PolicyWatch

30 January 2023

 

Measures to lessen the impact of the inflation and energy crisis on citizens

Governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine. This article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch database from January to September 2022.

Article

12 September 2022

 

First responses to cushion the impact of inflation on citizens

Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Article

12 September 2022

 

Policies to support EU companies affected by the war in Ukraine

This article summarises the first policy responses that governments across the EU have started to implement to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.

Article

5 July 2022

 

Policies to support refugees from Ukraine

This article summarises the first policy responses of EU Member States, including those of the social partners and other civil society actors, enabling refugees to exercise their rights under the Temporary Protection Directive.

Article

Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.