Impact

Since 2021, Collective Aid has:

  • Supported 111,150+ Individuals.

  • Distributed an average of 143,000 Essential Items Annually.

  • Provided WASH Services to 12,000 People Annually.

  • Published 10 Major Investigative Advocacy Reports.

  • Achieved a 20% Return Rate Among Former Team Members.

Subotica, Serbia:

Since November 2019, Collective Aid has been present in Subotica, supporting the people-on-the-move sleeping rough in the region around the Hungarian Croatian and Romanian border. Due to the dangerously cold winters, it is essential that we are there to distribute much-needed items.

We support the population in and around Subotica with clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, hygiene items, showers, laundry, food, and drinking water. We facilitate mobile showers near locations where people are sleeping rough.

We are part of the Border Violence Monitoring Network, which consists of many organizations working mainly in the Balkans and Greece that monitor human rights violations at the external borders of the European Union. This require our volunteers to identify people with injuries or mention violence and offer them to report those for advocacy purposes. We offer training on taking testimonies provided by Border Violence Monitoring Network agents.

It is essential that we - as one of the few organisations active in this region - step in to meet the urgent needs of the population and draw attention to violations and mistreatment.

If you want to support this project, donate here.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina:

Since July 2018, Collective Aid has been supporting people-on-the-move stuck in Bosnia and Herzegovina through multiple outlets and projects.

We are currently distributing essential aid like underwear, socks, hygiene packs, clothing, sleeping bags and shoes to people who are sleeping rough around Sarajevo. We collaborate closely with other organizations on the ground on the identification and referral of potential cases for basic legal aid and medical interventions.

In July 2021, we took over a Vision Care project from another organization. Collective Aid now works together in partnership with a local optician to help people-on-the-move get fitting glasses for themselves. In the second half of 2022, we distributed food vouchers in partnership with Caritas BiH.

We are part of the Border Violence Monitoring Network, which consists of many organizations working mainly in the Balkans and Greece that monitor human rights violations at the external borders of the European Union. Our volunteers are identifying people with injuries or mentioning violence and offer them to report those for advocacy purposes.

If you want to support this project, donate here.

Lesvos, Greece:

Collective Aid opened its free shop in Lesvos after taking over operations from LeaveNoOneBehind in July 2024. Our services on the island aim to match the immediate material needs of people on the move, while also advocating for change.

Through our free shop, we are working to offer essential services covering gaps in support, while striving to create larger changes to make our presence obsolete.

Our free shop is located inside of Paréa Community Centre, a space hosting several partner NGOs providing a variety of different services for those staying at the CCAC. Through our shop, our beneficiaries have the choice to select the clothing items they prefer. People can register and then receive clothes, ensuring a smooth process, preventing long lines and/or waiting times, and ensuring a comfortable, dignified and safe process for all service users. Currently, our shop is open three times a week and offers clothing services for men and women, where we are addressing the urgent lack of clothes to people on the island.

Outside of providing material support, we are part of the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), working to gather evidence of humanitarian crimes against asylum seekers who have experienced pushbacks and violence within EU borders. These pushbacks are not only often violent, but illegal under international law. Nonetheless, it has remained a common procedure used by Frontex and Greek coastguards to force people, including unaccompanied children and families, back to Turkey. The Open Assembly Against Border Violence in Lesvos states there has been over 22,000 pushback since 2020. This includes violent interactions and the stealing and/or destruction of people's belongings including phones, documents, and clothes they brought with them, among other items.

If you want to support this project, donate here.

Video by Romain Kosellek, hosted on Vimeo.