FDJ donates €200,000 to support Ukrainian refugees in France

Française des Jeux (FDJ), the main French lottery operator, created a campaign where it donates part of its proceeds from the games to help Ukrainian refugees arriving in the country.

This considerable sum will be split between two organisations, with the lion’s share – €180,000 – going to Bibliotheques Sans Frontières, also known as Libraries Without Borders.

The FDJ grant will fund the creation of a mobile application, to be developed in partnership with experts in French as a foreign language of the Ukrainian language.

This will primarily include educational content to support Ukrainian refugees learning French, but will also be designed to help them better integrate into French society.

“They can, for example, discover articles about French social codes and the administrative procedures necessary for children’s schooling or job search,” said the FDJ.

The app is currently being tested and should be released in September. In the meantime, the remaining €20,000 will go to the Ensemble Pour le Développement Humain, or Together for Human Development in English.

This organization has been active in welcoming Ukrainian refugees in France and will use the money donated by the FDJ to offer French classes and cultural tours, as well as educational and wellness workshops.

Charles Lantieri, President of the FDJ Corporate Foundation and Deputy Managing Director of the FDJ Group, said: “In the early days of the war, the FDJ Group made an emergency donation of €200,000 to the Red Cross to quickly help Ukrainians. Today, we want to help meet the long-term needs of refugees.

“That’s why we decided to support two associations, Libraries Without Borders and Together for Human Development, which directly support Ukrainian refugees living in France.”