About us
United for U (U4U) is an international “CrowdCaring” NGO, offering help to people in emergencies, including refugees from conflict and disaster zones such as Afghanistan, DRC, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, and others.
U4U is registered as an association under the Laws of Switzerland (REG number 1-2MI0MX), with activities in France and across Europe.
Our unique CrowdCaring method provides a direct volunteer-refugee conversation and a needs-resources connection. This is a state-of-the-art technical solution for our fundamental concept of decentralization and empowerment.
U4U does not pursue any political, ideological or religious goals, as well as collective or individual interests. It is established as a neutral humanitarian entity, mandated to assist all persons in urgent need of assistance, without any discrimination on any basis whatsoever.
Most of our activities today are devoted to resolving the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
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Our mission
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- Provide end-to-end 24/7 support, from critical first response to full integration into the host society
- Foster direct relationships between volunteers and beneficiaries, as well as the host society
- Focus on the most vulnerable, including women, children, elderly and handicapped
- Engage refugees as volunteers to foster community-building, self-help and integration
Our Focus
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- Neutral Mandate that is not limited to any particular state, political party, collective or private interest, or situation. Our members, partners, volunteers, hosts, and beneficiaries can be reassured by our independence and competence.
- Decentralized Humanitarian Aid is the U4U’s fundamental work principle, with volunteers creating direct connections and relationships with refugees and other people in need, as well as the host society.
- Our unique CrowdCaring method allows us to create a direct volunteer-refugee conversation and a needs-resources connection:
- Unique Programme of Guardian Volunteers, who create a vital cultural, linguistic and personal link between refugees and the host society. It allows our bilingual and multilingual volunteers to support the hosting families and refugees in building a good understanding between each other and ensure their amicable living together. Our volunteers accompany refugees and help them along the difficult journey even before their arrival.
- Curated Refugee-Host Matching platform for those seeking shelter. Before the state refugee housing systems were set up for Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, we were the first and only iNGO to run such a platform. This is not a simple online tool, leaving refugees to find hosts themselves, which can be very unsafe if not monitored correctly. We accompany refugees before their arrival all the way to the host, with whom we first established a direct relationship.
Active Engagement of Refugees as our volunteers or management team members, which helps community-building, healing and integration. We are managing a pool of hand-picked bilingual talent, training and on-boarding new team members every day.
Our results
We have achieved substantial results in just two months (24 February – 24 April 2022) with limited resources:
+400
refugee families
successfully placed with hosts in Switzerland, France, and other European countries by our Matching Volunteers
+190
families (refugee + host)
supported with all questions and needs by our Guardian Volunteers
+2600
volunteers (including 250 refugees)
mobilized in Switzerland, the European Union, Ukraine, and the US
+2900
refugees
helped with critical needs, including shelter, food, medical aid and mental support
+100
orphans
evacuated from Ukraine to Switzerland, under the supervision, and in close collaboration with, the Swiss authorities and the Embassy of Ukraine to Switzerland
Our Team
We are a multilingual, diverse team of experts, including Syrian, Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian refugees. We ensure a cultural, linguistic and professional link between the European audience and those in critical need of humanitarian aid.
Together, we combine unique expertise in human rights, neurobiology, public advocacy, engineering, refugee protection, mental health, social services, nuclear physics, UN affairs, software development, financial management, art therapy, medical support, and innovative financing, among others. Our core team speaks 28 languages!