13,000 additional laptops, smartphones and tablets have been gathered and will be delivered to Ukraine through the Commission-supported initiative Laptops for Ukraine.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Commission has helped ship already 12,000 donated devices to Ukraine through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The additional 13,000 will be transported in the coming weeks.
Valeriya Ionan, Deputy Minister for Eurointegration at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, together with DIGITALEUROPE’s Director General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, will announce more information about the first shipment at DIGITALEUROPE’s annual flagship conference Masters of Digital, to be held on 8-9 March at the Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels.
This first Laptops For Ukraine shipment is made up of donations received at the collection point in Brussels from individuals and companies across Europe. Using the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism, the devices will be sent to Ukraine, where they will be distributed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation to students, nurses, and government employees impacted by Russia’s war.
Launched on December 1st, 2022, the Laptops for Ukraine campaign aims to collect over 50,000 laptops, tablets, and smartphones to help schools, hospitals and governmental administrations maintain essential services and ensure that Ukrainian citizens stay connected to the internet.
The initiative has rapidly spread and is now counting over 17 collection hubs across all over Europe, from Spain to Latvia to the Czech Republic. This shipment will be the first of many, as the donations from the other European collection hubs will be collected on a rolling basis.
Digital devices can help maintain basic services in education, healthcare and public administration in Ukraine, where the war has left thousands of people displaced and seeking safety in shelters outside their homes, while hundreds of schools and hospitals have been destroyed.
Companies and individuals can still donate spare, functioning devices in one of the 17 collection hubs in Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Estonia, Spain, France, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia. Moreover, new collection hubs are being launched. Citizens are invited to donate through one of the hubs and private companies can get in contact with the Commission to organise the transfer of larger donations.
More information on how to donate can be found on LaptopsForUkraine.com.
