The Russian Federation's invasion on Ukraine forced over 4.6 million Ukrainian citizens to leave their homes and flee abroad. According to UNHCR data from 12.04.2022 more than 2.6 million came to Poland. This number is constantly increasing. In addition to the physical help of thousands of volunteers and people who provide, in many cases free of charge, shelter for refugees, tech solutions are also created – both by NGO's and governmental entities. We'll take a look at a few of them. 

Mobile ID for Ukrainians – diaa.pl 

Diaa.pl is a feature of mObywatel mobile app for Ukrainian citizens who have received a Polish PESEL ID number. It allows you to confirm your identity as effectively as your identity card or passport – whether for the purposes of using medical services or when signing an employment contract. It contains the most important personal data – such as name, photo and PESEL number. 
Diia.pl can be used by people who have an active governmental trusted profile. Therefore, it is worth remembering to ask the governmental agency where the PESEL number was assigned to activate the trusted profile immediately. 

The mObywatel app is available for Android and iOS phones. 

The Ministry of Health app will help communicate with a doctor 

LikarPL is an application developed by the Ministry of Health. It is intended to reduce communication problems encountered by refugees during doctor appointments. The application allows you to fill in a form containing basic information about the patient's health in Russian, English or Ukrainian, and will provide the doctor with data transcribed into Polish. It also works the other way, transcribing information from the doctor into Ukrainian. 

- After completing the form, you must remember or write down its individual number. The patient will give the number to the doctor before the medical consultation, the doctor will also ask about the date of birth. Based on the data provided, the application will find the completed form. It can also be downloaded or printed. The form is available in Ukrainian, Polish and English - the Ministry informs.

The application can be downloaded in a mobile version, but there is also a desktop app. All the patient has to do is fill out the form on the Ministry's website. 

Safe Stay will ensure safety during transport and stay 

Free Safe Stay alarm application was created with safety of refugees in mind, and helps them travel in Poland and report potentially dangerous situations. It was invented by a group of volunteers and was created thanks to the support of the Polish Development Fund Foundation. It was made by the Polish company Billennium. 

How does Safe Stay work? Thanks to GPS location and the option of quick notification about threats, Safe Stay makes it easier to reach the user. In addition, the app offers access to a free multilingual helpline, and on-call consultants accept requests and help you get adequate help.  

Safe Stay also includes a module to provide safe transport with a vehicle owned by a private person. Once you've downloaded the app, all you need to do is enter your personal details and phone number, and ask your driver for their details and take a photo of their license plate number before you ride. Personal data is deleted after the trip and not passed on. 

UA SOS will help you find shelter 

Tech to the Rescue is a technology foundation that connects NGOs with technology companies and allows them to jointly create projects. As part of the "Tech for Ukraine" campaign organized by the foundation, several projects supporting refugees have already been created. The first one is UA SOS – developed in cooperation with, among others, the Ukrainian House, Noble Package or PAH. It is a platform that collects offers of accommodation for refugees, which are verified by partners from NGOs.  
More than 5,000 people have found shelter thanks to it, but even more are waiting for accommodation. To use UA SOS, you need to register and the offer to use accommodation must be confirmed by both parties. 

Dopomoha.pl – help map in Ukrainian 

Another solution created by Tech to the Rescue is dopomoha.pl – the first map of help available for the Ukrainian refugees in their language. It shows the location of important points and places providing humanitarian and medical assistance available to refugees throughout Europe – from reception points, through information centres, hospitals, to consulates and embassies of Ukraine.  
There are more projects being created by Tech to the Rescue – over 100 NGOs have already applied to the foundation, including ones from Poland, Ukraine, Romania, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. 35 projects have found a technology partner and are working together to create solutions.  

Start your life in Lodz with Tropiciel app 

Tropiciel application was a simple tourist app with walks through Lodz, but as its creators, were creating its Ukrainian-language version when the war broke out, they have quickly decided to react quickly by creating the application aimed at Ukrainian refugees arriving in the city.  

Tropiciel currently contains information that will help with the first moments in the new city – it contains, among others, a list of aid organizations, a package of information necessary to legalize your stay, a list of schools in Lodz conducting preparatory classes for Ukrainian children, an index of mobile operators, including assistance in obtaining a Polish sim card, or the addresses of hospitals and clinics.  

An important element of the app is a function allowing NGOs, companies or organizations to add descriptions of their own aid activites in the guide.

All the applications described are free of charge and available in Ukrainian and Polish. We hope that in the near future there will be more technological solutions that will help refugees.