Polish Humanitarian Organization

THE POLISH Humanitarian Organization (PHO) is an international nongovernmental organization registered in Poland that works nationally and internationally to “make the world a better place through alleviation of human suffering and promotion of humanitarian values.” The PHO has established missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, and other nations. It aims to fulfill its mission by “helping communities in crises to regain responsibility for their own future and become self-reliant. PHO shapes humanitarian attitudes among the public and creates a modern culture of mutual help. PHO combines effectiveness with the respect for human dignity.”

The PHO was founded by Janina Ochojska, who suffered from polio in childhood and eventually was sponsored by the French government to travel to France to receive treatment in the 1980s. While there, Ochojska encountered members of the Equilibre Foundation, who were then organizing truck convoys to Poland on humanitarian grounds. Enthused by this work, she [Page 834]transformed the existing Polish Equilibre branch to become the PHO and led a number of missions to the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere. Ochojska has been honored with a number of prestigious awards. Program activities include emergency response, field missions, wooden puppets, humanitarian education, and a refugee counseling center. The Wooden Puppet program was inspired by the story of Pinocchio, who, like the children they wish to assist, suffered from an empty stomach.

It is estimated that there are 330,000 children in Poland who require nutrition support, but state capacity to deal with this issue is very limited. Children suffer particularly where collectivized agriculture had been practiced during the preceding communist regime. The collapse of that regime led to the closure of the collective farms but no adequate substitutes have been organized. Hence poverty and starvation are significant issues in those areas and broadly throughout the country, where unemployment reaches 90 percent in some communities.

The Refugee Counseling Center assists people wishing to come and live in Poland. Around 500 people seek to take advantage of this service annually. The center aims to help refugees obtain fair access to the system and to persuade them of their possibilities and opportunities under Polish law, despite the many difficulties, while encouraging them to become active in society.

The principles of assistance are as follows: “The refugee should clearly state his expectations and co-de-termine the problem-solving procedure; the refugee must know the price of the assistance he/she receives. He/she should be aware of how many people are involved in assisting him and assistance received implies an obligation to assist others.” These principles are examples of attempts to create an inclusive society.

This is a secular and humanitarian response to environmental and man-made disaster, especially in targeted “post-conflict societies.” In a speech in 2002, Ochojska illustrated the principles of the PHO: “First: assistance means solidarity with those in need and helps to build a civil society in both donor and recipient countries. Second: assistance should unite people and not divide them. Third: humanitarian aid must respect and support human dignity, not destroy it.”