She devoted her life to social activities. From 1976, she was a member of the opposition to the communist authorities and later an activist in the Solidarity trade union, which played a significant role in overthrowing the communist system in  Poland in 1989.

She first came across the idea of a humanitarian organisation in France in 1984, where she had an operation. As a volunteer, she worked for the EquiLibre Foundation, coordinating French medical and food aid for Polish hospitals and organising support convoys to Bosnia. Then she transferred her humanitarian activities to Poland, creating the Polish EquiLibre Foundation, later transformed into the Polish Humanitarian Action Foundation. She organised the first Polish aid mission in Kosovo, then in Chechnya, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Sudan, Darfur and the Palestinian Authority.

She is a laureate of many prestigious awards, including:

• distinction of the POLCUL Foundation from Australia (1993),
• the title of ‘Women of Europe 94’ awarded by the European Community in Brussels,
• Medal of St. George awarded by the Tygodnik Powszechny magazine (1994),
• Pax Christi International Peace Award (1995),
• Atsushi Nakata Memorial from Japan (1996),
• Jan Karski For Courage and Heart Award granted by the American Cultural Centre and the House of Freedom in Washington (2002),
• Order of the Legion of Honour – awarded by the President of the Republic of France (2003),
• Józef Tischner Award in the category of pastoral and social initiatives co-creating the ‘Polish shape of dialogue’ of the Church and the world (2006),
• Jerzmanowscy Award (2009) as an expression of recognition for her humanitarian activities,
• Lech Wałęsa Award (2010) for many years of promoting the idea of ​​interpersonal solidarity through charity,
• decorated with the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2011).
• Humanitarian Hero of the Year Award (2011) for contributions to humanitarian aid,
• Grand Prix Traveller 2012 award, distinguished by the ‘Personalities without barriers’ award,
• Crystal Mirror Award,
• Polish Humanitarian Action was awarded the title of ‘Friend of Africa’.

Since 2019 she has been a Member of the European Parliament, a member of the Development Committee and the Subcommittee on Human Rights. In the European forum, she supports campaigns on cancer prevention and treatment.

– I work in the European Parliament because I believe that my 28 years of service in the non-governmental, humanitarian and development sectors will allow me to make a significant contribution to solving Poland’s and Europe’s problems and crises – she says.

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