How businesses in Poland can support humanitarian activities

Everyone who lives on Earth is a part of a system of communicating vessels: we can imagine that carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere by a small production facility in Poland will contribute to some degree to exacerbating the humanitarian crisis caused by draught in the distant Somalia. Mitigating the effects of climate change is a space for action not only for non-government organisations, but entrepreneurs as well.

Polska Akcja Humanitarna (PAH – Polish Humanitarian Action) was established because Poles saw it was necessary and they could not remain passive observers of another man’s suffering. From its very beginning PAH’s activities have been supported by businesses, which proves that good relations with customers and increased profits can also be obtained through acting for sustainable development on a global scale. Currently, as part of regular partnership, PAH is supported by nearly fifty companies: both small, family-run businesses, and Polish branches of international corporations.

The need to increase PAH’s scale of operations and effectiveness leads to the professionalization of our activities. This also applies to the co-operation with our business partners. Heartfelt need, compassion, and a sense of responsibility for the fate of a wronged person remain the drive behind our joint operations. However, we also strive to show how PAH’s activities may coincide with our partners’ CSR strategies.

CSR managers usually assume that their company should support aid initiatives where the company operates or where the effects of the company’s activities can be felt. Therefore, it might seem that supporting an organisation that fights the effects of humanitarian crises all over the world lies far outside the sphere of interest of Polish entrepreneurs. After all, how can you link running a business in Poland with the responsibility for the droughts and famines in the distant Africa?

One of PAH’s tasks involves showing that market globalisation also leads to the globalisation of responsibility. This doesn’t only mean the consequences of moving production to another country or looking for new outlets far from Europe. One of the most urgent problems of the modern world is climate change. Awareness of man’s influence on climate changes and their consequences for the whole planet forces us all to act. Everyone who lives on Earth is a part of a system of communicating vessels: we can imagine that carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere by a small production facility in Poland will contribute to some degree to exacerbating the humanitarian crisis caused by draught in the distant Somalia. Mitigating the effects of climate change is a space for action not only for non-government organisations, but entrepreneurs as well.

PAH’s beginning goes back to 1992 and organising a convoy for besieged Sarajevo. Today, we also act, among others, in Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, and also in Poland where we run a programme of providing meals for schoolchildren (“Pajacyk”). Just like 27 years ago, today too we can count on the support of sensitive business partners who understand their unique role in building a more just and balanced world. Every day we strive to grow this group.

Author:

Polish Humanitarian Action

Last Updated on March 17, 2021 by Karolina Ampulska