Andrzej Duda is set to lead the function, entitled “Stand Up for Ukraine,” alongside the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the state PAP news agency reported.
They will be joined virtually by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to officials.
Scheduled for Saturday, April 9, the event is being organised by the advocacy group Global Citizen, Duda's foreign-policy aide, Jakub Kumoch, told reporters on Wednesday.
‘Poland’s essential role’
The fundraiser “recognises Poland’s essential role in supporting refugees fleeing the invasion of Ukraine,” officials said.
Duda’s office said that Poland was hosting "more than 2.5 million refugees" and playing "an important role as a humanitarian hub, dispatching to Ukraine support from all over Europe.”
The Warsaw event will crown a broader social media campaign by von der Leyen, Trudeau and Global Citizen to raise funds and mobilise other forms of support for refugees and people internally displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reporters were told.
‘Billions of dollars needed’
Meanwhile, organisers said the fundraiser needed to collect “billions of dollars” to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
They said: “Twelve million people need assistance currently because of the war in Ukraine. More than 6.5 million are displaced internally. And in less than three weeks, over 3.5 million people have left Ukraine and fled into neighbouring countries.”
Global Citizen said that “nearly 2 million among them are women and children."
Thursday is day 36 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Poland on Thursday reported it had welcomed 2.39 million refugees fleeing Russia's war on Ukraine.
The Polish president this month signed into law a measure to offer wide-ranging support to Ukrainians escaping the Russian invasion of their country, which began on February 24.
The measure grants them legal residence in Poland and ensures access to education, healthcare and social benefits.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, prezydent.pl, globalcitizen.org