DRC a key player in a crisis-ridden world
26.05.15
Danish Refugee Council's annual report for 2014 is now available. Read Secretary General, Andreas Kamm's statement and download the full report.
There are currently 51 million refugees and internally displaced people in the world – the largest number since the Second World War. For the first time ever, the UN has declared as many as four L3 emergencies, the classification for the most severe crises. Danish Refugee Council is a key humanitarian player in all of these four emergencies that are taking place in Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Concurrently, DRC is heavily involved in the humanitarian work in a number of other areas plagued by instability, conflict and massive humanitarian needs, including Afghanistan and Somalia, and in November 2014, emergency aid programmes were established in Ukraine.
The 2014 level of assistance was the same as in 2013, at an international budget of DKK 1.7 billion. The 5,000 people in our international department have provided emergency aid, demining assistance and long-term solutions for 2.5 million refugees and displaced people in 36 of the world’s hot spots. However, the record number of emergencies means that there is a strong mismatch between the need for humanitarian assistance and the resources made available by private and institutional donors. Sadly, our assistance is needed more than ever before.
More than 90% of the world’s refugees and internally displaced people are still in their neighbouring areas – their own or neighbouring countries. Even so, Europe and Denmark are also affected by the world’s conflicts. The number of asylum seekers has increased and in Denmark the reception of 15,000 asylum seekers in 2014 has given rise to political initiatives and intense debate.
Through the media and current dialogue with Danish politicians, DRC has maintained a strong voice in this debate, defending the fundamental rights of asylum seekers.
Concurrently, DRC is making a considerable contribution in relation to the increasing number of asylum seekers. Our legal consultants provide counselling during the asylum procedure, our integration department provides a range of professional services to local authorities through Lærdansk centres and Integration Network, and our more than 5,000 volunteers are heavily involved in positive integration efforts across the country.
We do our best at the national as well as international level. However, our best is never good enough, and we work continuously to improve and expand our efforts.
I would like to thank our many employees, cooperation partners, contributors and donors who make it possible for us to develop our organisation and our national and international work.
Secretary General, Andreas Kamm, Danish Refugee Council
