Different company employees in Spain and Portugal have come together with a common goal, to support the Ukrainian people through a social movement “DIA x Ukraine”.
Las Rozas de Madrid, March 7, 2022. With the aim of being #CadaDIAMásCerca of the people who need it most, the DIA Group teams in Spain and Portugal have mobilized with a common purpose, to contribute to the Ukrainian people in the face of the humanitarian crisis they are currently suffering. Thus, “DIA x Ukraine” was born as an internal tide of solidarity that includes actions to deliver products, economic donation, and the implementation of initiatives to help refugees in their arrival in the Peninsula.
In Spain, this solidarity campaign brings together different actions such as the immediate shipment of food and basic care and hygiene items to Ukraine, collaborating with the Ukrainian community in the country.
15 thousand kilos of products have already been sent, of which 6 thousand kilos correspond to basic necessities especially non-perishable products, baby food and canned goods from DIA supermarkets and 9 thousand kilos of personal care and hygiene items such as wipes and diapers of Clarel. Deliveries were made at Atocha Starion (Madrid), Zaragoza from the Clarel warehouse and Catalonia (Sabadell), the latter to the NGO Sonrisas de Ucrania (Smiles from Ukraine). Solidarity actions will continue to be carried out in the coming weeks.
DIA Portugal is launching actions to support the arrival of refugees in the country, as Spain is doing. Likewise, the employment program has been intensified with new vacancies for vulnerable groups to respond to the need for labor integration of Ukrainian citizens who are arriving to shelters. This is another difficulty refugees now face. DIA’s Portuguese brand, Minipreço, has established an agreement with local authorities in the country to support such shelters.
DIA Group in Spain already hired 10 refugees in 2020. These refugees came from countries in the conflict zone. During 2020, more than 140 people at risk of exclusion became part of our workforce in Spain.
Likewise, DIA Group wanted to approach its Ukrainian employees to listen to them and understand how to help them. DIA has collaborated with the Red Cross through a 100 thousand euros monetary donation and has launched a donation site for all the countries where it operates with the company’s commitment to double the amount donated by employees.
From an institutional point of view, DIA Group is maintaining close contact with local administrations in Spain and Portugal in which the company has been interested in their needs and has offered its support.
Actions to help Ukraine are aligned with 2 of the 15 objectives that DIA set itself when launching its Sustainability Plan 2021-2023, which they informed about last year. These two objectives are Community Support and Diversity and Labor Inclusion.
