Our Work Enters a New Phase with the Opening of Kyiv Humanitarian Centre
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING SIGNED IN BUDAPEST BETWEEN ACT ALLIANCE MEMBERS FINN CHURCH AID & HUNGARIAN INTERCHURCH AID ON JOINT ENGAGEMENT IN UKRAINE
In addition to the Berehove and Lviv offices, Hungarian Interchurch Aid (HIA) is opening its third office in Ukraine, in Kyiv.
Apart from HIA, the new centre will also be home to all members of ACT Alliance – an international association of church-based aid organisations – active in Ukraine. First to join the undertaking are Finn Church Aid (FCA), a Finnish aid organisation with outstanding international expertise in the field of education. This week an FCA delegation led by FCA executive director Jouni Hemberg joined president-director László Lehel and other HIA representatives on a visit to Ukraine, and signed a memorandum of understanding between the two organisations upon their return to Budapest.
At the press conference held in Budapest on Friday 13 May, leaders of the two organisations announced the next phase of the joint relief programme executed in international cooperation. With 6 million refugees having already left Ukraine, and further 8 million displaced inside the country, HIA was presented with an enormous task as the leader of ACT Alliance’s response in Ukrane.
Jouni Hemberg and László Lehel both stressed that this cooperation is to be understood within the framework of ACT Alliance, and look forward to welcoming more member organisations working in Ukraine into this form of close cooperation.
