Prague, Nov 10 (CTK) – Fifty billboards with inscriptions in different foreign languages reading “Czechs, thank you!” were put up by the Czech People in Need humanitarian organisation in Prague, Brno and Ostrava early in November, the organisation has told CTK.
The NGO received the advertising spaces for free and other partners of the campaign also contributed their work free of charge.
The campaign features thanks from Syria, Afghanistan, Burma, Ukraine, Georgia, Cambodia and Ethiopia.
The current second stage of the www.cesidekujem.cz (Czechs, thank you) campaign is showing life stories of the people who have been supported by development and humanitarian aid.
“Through the specific stories, we are showing how our help works. We are assisting people in poor countries so that they become able to help themselves. We support their education and remove the barriers preventing them from breaking free from poverty,” said Jan Mrkvicka, head of the NGO’s development and humanitarian section.
People in Need has helped more than 18 million people over the 25 years of its existence, supported by tens of thousands of Czech donors. It is currently helping in 30 countries.
“For 25 years, we have been improving people’s access to education, drinking water, healthcare, ways to feed themselves, and we have been distributing basic humanitarian aid such as food as well. We see that we are indeed helping specific people,” the NGO’s head Simon Panek said.
The history of People in Need dates back to 1992 when a group of journalists active in places of crisis across the globe headed by Czech journalist Jaromir Stetina founded a team of journalists and humanitarian workers named Epicentrum, which began to help in the war-stricken Upper Karabakh.
The organisation later turned into a foundation active within the Lidove noviny daily newspaper. In 1994, People in Need registered as a foundation of the Czech Television. In April 1999, it re-registered as an NGO.
