The aggression against Ukraine calls for solidarity among all Europeans and within the international community. More than a million people have fled Ukraine over the past weeks which has already led to a major humanitarian crisis. We will remain mobilised, alongside all those who work for the values of peace and humanity in Europe.
We have put in place a number of initiatives for the victims of this crisis including:
Looking for a job in construction or cleaning?
Our employees are at the center of our strategy. The workplace is a place where everyone can flourish and where the difference is made by working together. We embrace and encourage diversity and inclusion, and this inclusive culture allows us to offer refugees a job in construction or cleaning.
We are currently looking into how we can offer job opportunities to those who have had to flee from their homes and settle in a new country.
Afghan refugees find shelter at Iris
In 2018, Iris organised a training course in industrial painting for high-voltage pylons for young refugees. The training and integration program was made possible by Rising You(th), VDAB and Elia, who joined forces with IRIS Anticorrosion to give the young refugees a status, a diploma with the required certificates, a job and a future. Moreover, by the end of the journey they will have mastered the Dutch language, which will speed up their full integration into our society.
In one fell swoop we have now gained twelve motivated painters for high-voltage pylons who have all passed the difficult language and safety tests. In this way we have found an inventive way of giving substance to bottleneck professions. With the emphasis on sustainability, because we have taken them out of their social isolation and they are now doing their bit for society by working.
ECS partner WISAG rents hotel for 300 refugees
Today, a noble business hotel at the trade fair becomes a place of refuge for 144 mothers and 148 children from Ukraine. It is the heart project of Michael C. Wisser, head of the Frankfurt-based WISAG Group. The large meeting room on the 6th floor becomes a mirror room full of cuddly animals. The 150 double rooms are ready, the children’s beds set up. Caregivers and volunteers are waiting. “At 8 o’clock we expect the first families who had to fly from Ukraine under terrible circumstances. We want to create an atmosphere in which they can come to terms with their traumatic experiences,” explains Dr. Annette Gümbel (49), Managing Director of the WISAG Children’s Aid Foundation. Partners include the DRK Frankfurt and the aid organization “Arche”. The hotel is rented for six months, with an option for a further six months. Michael Wisser says: “We entrepreneurs have to help in the current situation, which the state cannot do on its own.”