Kyiv, 5 May 2022 – Now you can support Ukrainians who need help and who have left an application for aid on the eDopomoga (eHelp) platform through using the SaveUa chatbot on the Viber and Telegram applications. Developed by a team of IT volunteers in the early days of the war, the chatbot is now one of the partners of eDopomoga. The platform itself was developed by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Ukraine, and the government of Sweden. 

The site was developed to bring together people who are seeking support and those who are able to help them. Ukrainians affected by the war can file on the site an application for aid with a list of things they need, and benefactors can buy or provide the goods that are needed. 

To help Ukrainians in need of aid with the SaveUa chatbot in the Viber or Telegram applications, you need to click "Start" and complete verification, or you can continue without it. After clicking on the "Help with money for products" button, you will be taken to the eDopomoga platform, where you can make a donation to support others. 

Note that in mid-April, a new feature appeared on the site – Help online. Now, after selecting an application for help, users can pay for a social certificate covering the cost of the necessary goods, which the applicant then uses to buy the good they need themselves. In this way, people from abroad can now use the site to provide help directly to Ukrainians. 

UNDP provided technical assistance for the development of the platform under the “Digital, Inclusive, Accessible: Support to Digitalization of Public Services in Ukraine Project” project (DIA Support Project), which it is implementing with the financial support of Sweden. The DIA Support Project was launched in 2021 and aims to bridge the digital divide between different generations and different social groups. Its main goal is to increase the accessibility of new digital solutions so that everyone in the country can use public electronic services and no one is left behind. 

Media inquiries: 

Yuliia Samus, Communications Team Leader, UNDP in Ukraine, Yuliia.Samus@undp.org