ReliefWeb

Today, the global refugee crises are more complex and long running than previously with more than 65 million forced to leave home – most being women and children. The complexity means a growing need to supplement the existing ways of addressing the issues in order to provide more and better assistance to the growing number of affected people.

Therefore, the Danish Refugee Council and Ole Kirk’s Foundation have developed a new type of cooperation between a foundation and a humanitarian organization, which allows the Danish Refugee Council to respond to crises in only a matter of days.

This is done through a global emergency fund, to which Ole Kirk’s Foundation have donated the first 15 million DKK over the next three years. These funds can be activated by Ole Kirk’s Foundation in humanitarian refugee crises, where a prompt response is crucial. On top of this, Ole Kirk’s Foundation has also donated 10 million DKK to long-term efforts to assist refugees in the MENA-region.

• In order to respond most efficiently to refugee crises, we need to optimize the use of our resources, so we can allocate them to where the need is most urgent. The collaboration with Ole Kirk’s Foundation is innovative because their donation is flexible and has not been donated to specific projects, but instead lets us be well prepared for the crises, which we know are coming, but unfortunately are unable to predict where will happen, says Secretary General for the Danish Refugee Council, Andreas Kamm.

The innovative collaboration will allow the Danish Refugee Council to provide faster and more efficient aid, which will benefit more displaced persons. This month, to give an example, Ole Kirk’s Foundation within a couple of days provided funding for Danish Refugee Council’s acute work in Northern Uganda – an area, which had received about 400,000 new refugees from South Sudan in addition to the close to 200,000 refugees that were already there.

• The global refugee situation represents one of the world’s most serious problems. My family and I wish to contribute to the alleviation of this situation and especially to reach some of the many children living under inhumane conditions during an emergency situation often followed by a long period of time in refugee camps. Ole Kirk’s Foundation has the opportunity to provide Danish refugee Council with the flexibility needed in order for them to react with speed and do their work in the best possible way. I am very impressed by the work being done by the Danish Refugee Council and therefore I am extremely pleased by the collaboration we are now launching, says Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, Chairman of Ole Kirk’s Foundation.

On top of the global emergency fund Ole Kirk’s Foundation are also donating 10 million DKK over the course of three years to the Danish Refugee Councils long-term effort for refugees and internally displaced people in the Middle East. Here the purpose is to improve quality of life during the often protracted displacement. This is done through the Danish Refugee Council’s work in community centres. Here a wide range of activities are available – among them safe spaces for women and children, livelihood assistance and help to improve relations between refugees and host communities. The combined efforts through the emergency fund and the community centres will make a great difference, says Andreas Kamm:

• We are very grateful for the courage to new approaches, which Ole Kirk’s Foundation displays through this collaboration, so we together can ensure faster and better aid to more people.