How It All Connects
Our goal is to tackle lethal conditions at borders through collaborative, standards-driven, multidisciplinary action. The combination of relief, reporting, and collaboration is how we move towards system change.
Thanks to this approach we have managed to support over 120,000 individuals, distributed an average of 143,000 essential items annually and published 14 major investigative reports since 2021.
Belgrade, Serbia
Since January 2025, Collective Aid has been operating from Belgrade, supporting people on the move sleeping rough across Serbia.
Our teams deliver essential aid, clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, hygiene items, food, and drinking water, and provide access to showers and laundry services, including through our mobile facilities near informal camps.
Beyond relief, our Serbia programme conducts investigative research into the dead and missing, documenting the human cost of Europe’s border regime. We are also part of the Border Violence Monitoring Network, a coalition exposing human rights violations along the EU’s external borders. Our volunteers identify and document cases of violence, injury, and abuse, feeding evidence into regional advocacy efforts.
With humanitarian needs growing and organisations withdrawing, we are one of the few still active in Serbia, meeting immediate needs while pushing for systemic accountability.
If you want to support this project, donate here.
Photos by Janos Buck, Jericho Leavitt and Dan SchoolarSarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Since 2018, Collective Aid has supported people on the move stranded in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a key transit route where many face neglect, violence, and exclusion.
In Sarajevo and surrounding areas, we distribute clothing, shoes, sleeping bags, hygiene kits, and food vouchers to those sleeping rough. We collaborate closely with local partners to identify urgent medical and legal needs and ensure people are referred to appropriate services. In the past we have also operated free eye testing and glasses services in partnership with a local optician, helping restore not only sight, but also autonomy.
As a member of the Border Violence Monitoring Network, our teams here also record testimonies and evidence of pushbacks, abuse and detention conditions for more ambitious and strategic policy advocacy.
If you want to support this project, donate here.
Photos by Chiara Maggiore
Video by Romain Kosellek, Hosted on Vimeo
Lesvos, Greece:
Collective Aid opened its free shop in Lesvos after taking over operations from LeaveNoOneBehind in July 2024. In June 2025, we expanded our work by also taking over the Laundry and the Hygiene Free Shop. Together, these services aim to meet immediate needs while also resisting the systems that deliberately keep people in precarity. All of our services are based in the Paréa Community Centre, a shared space where different groups work collectively to support those trapped by the EU’s containment policies on the island.
Clothes Free Shop: Open three times per week, the shop provides clothing for men, women and children. People register and then choose the clothes they need in a calm and dignified process, avoiding long lines and unnecessary bureaucracy.
Hygiene Free Shop: Our Hygiene Free Shop focuses especially on single men, who are often excluded from humanitarian distributions. We are currently the only service on the island providing them with essential hygiene items. Once a month, service users receive a bag containing shampoo, soap, a towel, toothpaste, and a toothbrush, basic items that are essential for dignity and well-being.
Laundry: The Laundry operates Monday to Friday. People bring their clothes to us, which we wash, dry, and return within one to four days depending on our capacity. With 8 washing machines and 14 dryers, we provide access to clean clothes in a safe and hygienic environment, something that should be a right, not a privilege.
If you want to support this project, donate here.
Photos by Maria KalochristianakiInternational Programme:
No single organisation will be the one to address the crisis of deaths at borders. The international programme at Collective Aid is therefore vital in ensuring investment in the strength of other civil society actors and the ecosystem overall. Our multidisciplinary team engages with a range of civil society groups and leaders, sharing methodologies, resources, operational structures, and supporting local actors connect with international support networks. From shared supply chains and logistics hubs to joint advocacy and research to joint fundraising, our international programme exists to build a stronger, more connected humanitarian ecosystem that is capable of lasting change.
