“The situation is very serious in Mogadishu and the civilians are suffering. More than 100.000 people have fled the city since the violence began in 2009, but we are working hard to feed those left behind,” says DRC regional director Peter Klansø.

The resent violence has put pressure on the humanitarian efforts in Mogadishu – a city already characterized by the lack of security.

“Somalia as a whole, and Mogadishu in particular, pose one of the worlds most serious humanitarian challenges – but that is exactly the reason we are there. We know the region, the people and the circumstances, and our experience and local networking is the basis of our ongoing operation,” says Peter Klansø.

The violence in Mogadishu can potentially become even worse.

“It is very hard to predict the development but we are expecting and preparing for the worst. A lot of civilians in Mogadishu are counting on us, and we will do everything we can to uphold our effort,” says Peter Klansø.  

Danish Refugee Council is working in Puntland, Somaliland and Somalia. DRC’s mandate is to assist refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled their home areas due to conflict and/or natural disaster as well as the conflict affected communities who assist those who are forced to flee.

“Somalia is a challenging area of operation, and our long-term engagement is one of the keys to our success. In order to work effectively, you need close contact with the local communities. The projects we have just concluded are based on the wishes from the local beneficiaries – they identified and prioritised their most urgent needs themselves - farming assistance, a marketplace or a health clinic, and they were involved in the process of making it happen as well,” says Head of Desk for Horn of Africa, Sisse Aagaard Kristensen.

The Horn of Africa is one of the key refugee hotspots in the world with millions of people fleeing from conflict and poverty, which often are related to climate changes as well.

“Bossaso is a key transit-zone for refugees and IDP’s passing through from Somalia and Ethiopia on their way to Yemen. DRC is present in Somalia as well as Yemen, and we are aware that the humanitarian efforts are crucial in the region. The success in Bossaso is yet another reminder that it is possible to make a difference, even in one of the most unpredictable and unstable places in the world, “says Sisse Aagaard Kristensen.

Danish Refugee Council work in the Horn of Africa includes humanitarian programs in South Central Somalia, Somaliland, Puntland, Yemen, Ethiopia and Kenya.

‘What is urgent now, are the basics such as clean water, food, shelter, and access to medical aid. We need all the help possible, and therefore, Danish Refugee Council has decided to establish an extraordinary effort to help the victims in Pakistan’, says Ann Mary Olsen, head of the international department.

More than 20 million people are estimated to be affected by the floods in Pakistan – from north to south, and with constantly intensifying consequences. The international community has been encouraged to respond to the appeal for help. In addition to, providing expert assistance to the United Nations, to ensure the coordination of the aid efforts, the Danish Refugee Council will now strive to provide further aid.

‘Our key competences are providing emergency aid as a rapid response, and with the right expert knowledge. For that reason, we are sending an additional team consisting of emergency aid specialists to Pakistan to aid flood victims’, says Ann Mary Olsen.

The disaster continues to evolve and more floods are expected in the southern parts of Pakistan.

The extensive damage caused by floods has left a tremendous need for relief, and further needs for assistance to ensure aid coordination and logistics.

- It is crucial that we can deploy our experts as soon as possible in order for them to help ensuring quick and effective aid responses for those affected in Pakistan. What is needed now is safe drinking water, food and shelter. With the experts we are about to send to Pakistan, we can help supporting professional coordination of the relief efforts, says Ann Mary Olsen, who is head of the Danish Refugee Council's international department.

The deployment is funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allowing the Danish Refugee Council to help with disaster relief expertise to the UN system.

- This is a crucial moment for Iraq as the situation is still fragile and largely unpredictable. In Danish Refugee Council we wish to emphasize the need for continued aid to the people in Iraq, says Christian Jacob Hansen, programme coordinator in the Danish Refugee Council.  

Commitment to invest and secure the recovery of Iraq is crucial to prevent the volatile situation from further unravelling. However, the international community’s focus on Iraq is fading, and along with it the funding for rehabilitation and development activities.

Danish Refugee Council has been working in Iraq since 2003 in support of the people in need suffering from the consequences of war. Furthermore, a range of organisations are providing assistance in the neighbouring countries, in Syrian, Jordan and Lebanon, where more than 1.5 million Iraqi refugees are still residing. Many of them are hesitant to return to Iraq where the security situation is critical, and where there are still limited options for securing livelihoods.

The delivery of quality basic services remains a major challenge for the Iraqi public sector. Millions of people throughout Iraq are in need of water, electricity, adequate healthcare and access to proper housing.  

- The instability affects the development of sustainable livelihoods. Widespread unemployment and poverty is fuelling discontentment and the situation is keeping the Iraqi people in a deadlock. We need to make sure that both emergency needs are continuously addressed as well as long-term development, Christian Jacob Hansen from the Danish Refugee Council tells.    

Pdf: 'Fallen Off the Agenda? More and better aid needed for Iraq recovery'

The floods are the worst to hit Pakistan in decades. So far, more than 1,600 people have lost their lives, and the floods are threatening southern Pakistan provinces as well. 

In the wake of the flooding disaster there is an urgent need to secure drinking water. Wells have been flooded and need to be cleansed or reconstructed. Access to safe drinking water is further crucial to help preventing outbreaks of diseases.

DACAAR has worked in support of Afghan refugees since 1984 and has a long history of providing emergency water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) support to Afghan refugees in Pakistan. With its current base of operations in Kabul, Afghanistan, the organisation can respond with a very short notice to the emergency needs caused by the continuing floods in neighbouring Pakistan.

Many women in Myanmar lost everything two years ago when a violent cyclone hit their villages, destroying hundreds of thousands of homes, displacing families and ruining their ability to provide for themselves.

Every time a WOMAN TO WOMAN scarf is handed across the counter, the profit of EUR 6,50 is directed to women in Myanmar, helping them establish e.g. a small sewing or textile business and thus enabling them to provide for their families.

”By producing, selling and giving the overhead of the WOMAN TO WOMAN scarf on to humanitarian work, Saint Tropez is able to give a hand to the women in Myanmar that reaches into the future. A sewing machine and some fabric can empower these women and help them take charge of their own life and the life of their family,” says Hans-Peter Henriksen, CEO at Saint Tropez.

Saint Tropez gives the profit from the sale of the WOMAN TO WOMAN scarf to women in Myanmar. Saint Tropez and the International Humanitarian NGO, the Danish Refugee Council, are partners in WOMAN TO WOMAN. The Danish Refugee Council ensures that the money is directed to the right women, helping the most in the best manner possible.

”We are looking forward to give the support from Saint Tropez to the women of Myanmar. These women have lost everything – except the will to fight, live and create a better future for their children. They need our help to rebuild their lives. The partnership with Saint Tropez makes sure that we can meet their needs,” says Henriette von Essen-Leise, Head of Fundraising of the Danish Refugee Council.

The WOMAN TO WOMAN scarf is to be found in a wide range of stores in Europe from August 12th.

Read more about the WOMAN TO WOMAN scarf on Saint tropez' website:
www.sainttropez.com/

Read more about DRC in Myanmar:
http://www.drc.dk/relief-work/where-we-work/south-asia/myanmar/

Funding from the Danish Refugee Council earmarked for rapid emergency aid response as well as funding from international donors, has made it possible to design and launch a reconstruction programme with a short notice. The need for housing of the many displaced people has high priority and should be addressed immediately. In the Central Asian republic Kyrgyzstan winter sets in shortly with plummeting temperatures.

Danish Refugee Council has been tasked to rebuild 450 of a total of the 1,500 houses, and has further been designated by UNHCR to be responsible for ensuring construction materials to the entire international effort to ensure the reconstruction.

Besides the reconstruction efforts Danish Refugee Council will work to ensure legal assistance to vulnerable groups in affected areas in southern Kyrgyzstan, and further to help creating income-generating activities.

- It is important that we are able to assist many of those who are in need of legal assistance when it comes to issues related to land and housing. Many of the affected Kyrgyz ethnic Uzbeks have lost personal papers and documents in the riots, says Rikke Johannesen from the Danish Refugee Council.

- Finally, there are many who have lost livestock and other essential livelihoods, seeds have been stolen and small workshops or shops were burnt down. Those are among the people whom the Danish Refugee Council will help to recover, says Rikke Johannesen.

Danish Refugee Council has worked in Kyrgyzstan since 2003 through a network of local and international NGOs. Local experience along with vast global expertise, lead to Danish Refugee Council taking on the role as a key player in the international reconstruction effort.

The new headquarters is located in the southern Kyrgyzstan city of Osh, to where ten persons have been seconded by the Danish Refugee Council. From here they will work to ensure reconstruction in cooperation with a number of local staff.

Read more about the Danish Refugee Council's work in Kyrgyzstan:
www.drc.dk/relief-work/where-we-work/central-asia/kyrgyzstan/

Danish Refugee Council has worked in Kenya since 2005 with support for refugees including through projects in the Dadaab camp, the world's largest refugee camp, which houses over 270,000 people mainly from Somalia. Work in Dadaab camp has included projects on water supply and sanitation, and also training and business support activities.

- We know from experience from past elections that the situation can change very quickly in Kenya. Therefore we now await the outcome and will, where appropriate, quickly convert us to respond with help in the event that will be needed, says Claus Larsen, who is Head of Section in the Danish Refugee Council.

Following riots in the wake of the 2007 elections, the Danish Refugee Council worked with the support of Kenyans in Molo district. The work in Molo, among other things aimed to establish temporary housing and provide support to sustain livelihoods in collaboration with UNHCR.

Read more about the work in Kenya at the Danish Refugee Council website:
http://www.drc.dk/relief-work/where-we-work/horn-of-africa-and-yemen/kenya/

As a result approximately 3,000 families have been displaced from the city center to the outskirt where people live under trees as shade and drink muddy water from the river. An additional 3,000 families have been displaced from their Riverine village to further away communities who can host them.

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) took part in the flood response committee composed of various NGO staff and volunteers and has subsequently started an emergency response. To begin with the DRC has distributed non-food items – plastic sheeting, blanket, sleeping mat, kitchen set, bucket and water container – to 1560 families (around 10,000 people).

The emergency assistance has further been supported by UNHCR that has contributed non-food items to an additional 3,000 families, which is being distributed jointly by DRC and Save the Children employees to other displaced people who need basic shelter.

Due to the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, DRC has also with immediate effect started providing trucked water, a daily volume of 126,000 liter of safe drinking water is being distributed to approximately 10,000 people. Further DRC has build 65 latrines by now, more are under construction.

DRC has previously responded to various emergencies in the Hiraan region of Somalia, by providing trucked water or distributing Non-food items to displaced people. DRC is also supporting a mitigation plan of drought and flood by building river embankment along Shabelle river and water reservoirs in pastoral area.

DRC has been present in the Hiraan region since 2005 and are providing livelihood recovery support to the population with agriculture, income generating activities/vocational training, cash for work activities and repairing or building social infrastructure such as school, water facilities and road and market places.

This DRCs emergency response capacity in Hiraan is funded by SIDA.

Read more about the work of DRC in the Horn of Africa.