Humanitarian aid to Ukraine
Dentons condemns the military invasion of Ukraine and is committed to supporting Ukrainian civilians impacted by the war through charitable giving and pro bono work.
Dentons Europe Foundation
In 2022 and 2023, in response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Dentons Europe Foundation donated approximately €420,000 to provide emergency relief to families and children displaced and traumatized by war. The Dentons Europe Foundation has given donations to more than 20 NGOs in eight different countries, which are providing aid to Ukrainian families and children impacted by the war.
Examples of some of the key projects supported by the Foundation include:
- Supporting numerous NGOs providing emergency human aid to Ukrainian families and children fleeing the war, including accommodation, food, clothes and other basic necessities of life, medical and psychological care, childcare and schooling, and other emergency aid.
- Donating €80,000 to Polish NGO Ocalenie to establish and run a day care center for Ukrainian kids in Warsaw – the center opened in July 2022 and our donation will keep it running for one year.
- Donating €50,000 to Avalon Foundation -- an organization focused on people with disabilities -- to help provide care and support for Ukrainian children with disabilities.
- Donating more than €120,000 to Ukrainian NGO Small Heart with Art for various projects including providing educational and psychological care for children traumatized by war. We also supported the construction and equipment of classrooms in three Ukrainian hospitals so that children in longer term medical treatment can continue their education.
- Donating €14,000 to Children of Heroes, a Ukrainian foundation which provides psychological, educational and other support to Ukrainian children who have lost one or both parents during the war.
In addition to the Foundation’s activities, various Dentons offices also organized local fundraising efforts. For example, our teams in Warsaw and Kyiv joined forces with other donors to raise €37,000 to purchase two ambulances with exit stretchers for Ukrainian patients. The ambulances were delivered to the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation, a Ukrainian NGO.
Pro bono
- Dentons has teamed up with European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL) and five other law firms -- Allen & Overy, Bird & Bird, Hogan Lovells, Norton Rose Fulbright and White & Case -- in setting up and running the Ukraine Pro Bono Collaborative (UPBC), which provides urgent pro bono legal advice to Ukrainian refugees in Poland. The collaborative operates in six locations across Warsaw and there is a duty phone to assist with queries from people from across Poland. Each day, a pro bono lawyer from one of the six firms is on duty at each of the sites to assist with legal issues.
- Dentons supported Safebow, a NGO aiding evacuation from Ukraine, to provide help to members of the Ukrainian LGBT+ community impacted by Russia’s military invasion. We also worked with Polish NGO Equaversity to ensure access to medical supplies for transgender as well as HIV-infected Ukrainians and to assist transgender Ukrainians with a “Male” gender marker on their passports, who were unable to leave Ukraine due to the martial law prohibition on men aged 18-60 from leaving the country.