The famous danish weatherman Mikael Jarnvig appeals to invest money and technology to provide water, food and energy to the world's poorest. Otherwise, our children and grandchildren will witness a climate catastrophe of dimensions, he says. Jarnvig recommends Mission East's climate efforts.
Mission East has just held a workshop with community members in Nepal. Here, they told us what works well and less well in our relief and development work.
For the first time ever, Mission East is now inviting the people we help to contribute their vision of what Mission East's activities should look like in the future.
Nepalese hospitals cannot manage to treat all Covid-19 infected people due to lack of equipment. Mission East supplies sanitizers, masks and other protective equipment to hospitals in the country's poorest region.
Nepal is currently battling the second wave of the Corona Pandemic, a wave that is the worst the country has seen since Covid-19 spread to the country in March 2021. The country has overtaken India in the number of infected and Corona-related deaths per capita.
The right diagnosis has led to the right help so that 11-year-old Dilovarsho from Tajikistan can return to school.
Dilovarsho had lost the desire to go to school. His reading was poor, and his vocabulary was not too good either. Therefore, he did not speak like the 11-year-old boy he was. He became an easy victim of bullying and was often beaten by his school mates.
Managing Director Betina Gollander-Jensen was both moved and inspired when, in a virtual tour of the ISIS-ravaged Sinjar, she met recipients of the help of Mission East.
"I have had a fantastic meeting with employees and beneficiaries in Sinjar!"
The famous danish weatherman Mikael Jarnvig appeals to invest money and technology to provide water, food and energy to the world's poorest. Otherwise, our children and grandchildren will witness a climate catastrophe of wide dimensions, he says. Jarnvig recommends Mission East's climate efforts.
Violence against women is a taboo in Iraq. Now the women are responding by paintings at one of Mission East's civic centers in Sinjar, Iraq.
“In our culture, women are expected to remain silent when it comes to violence, whether the violence is domestic violence, rape or assault by a stranger. But silence cannot heal wounds or solve the problem."
An agricultural project has taught Mr. Sauma to grow a variety of crops so that his children can eat fruits and vegetables all year round. Today he is involved in leading the village's agricultural projects and is expanding his own farm with breeding of chickens, pigs and fish.
Myanmar is in deep crisis. The military regime has cracked down hard on any resistance since took power and ousted the democratically elected government 1 February 2021.
Mission East established a rehabilitation center for children with disabilities in Tajikistan eight years ago and stopped support after two years. But the center in Penjakent continues on its own with the benefit of 95 families.
The war in Syria affects the entire population. The worst situation is for those who have lost their jobs due to fleeing their home, land or business. They have no income and no money – and therefore the food is scarce.
Uncle Mohamad from the Aleppo hinterland used to be able to support his family. In the 1970s, he worked as a farmer and supported his wife and seven children. He was completely dependent on his agriculture and the products he cultivated, sold and lived on.
After 10 years of war, the country needs emergency aid and development more than ever. Mission East distributes emergency aid and helps affected families get back on their feet.
Secretary General Betina Gollander-Jensen spoke at Mission East's annual meeting in Hellerup on 30 May 2021: “The target group will contribute to our new strategy. We must apply for a new partnership agreement with Danida. We will remain in Afghanistan even if military support is withdrawn. We are setting up a new office in Syria to follow up on the projects."
We share excerpts of Betina’s message here:
Mission East's annual general meeting last Sunday showed an organization that can adapt and reach far with help for the most needy. A vote showed overwhelming majority for the for the current board and the new leadership in Mission East.
After former Secretary General Kim Hartzner was voted down as board member and chairman at the general meeting last Sunday, he has chosen to stop his work in Mission East and now recommends the current board and secretary general's work to continue the organization’s mission.
After last Sunday's annual general meeting in Mission East, the founders and former general secretaries Kim and René Hartzner now announce that together they will "stop our active work in Mission East".
At the annual meeting on May 30, the aid organization can celebrate progress for the benefit of the world's needy.
The corona pandemic defined 2020 – and also for Mission East. Over 250,000 people worldwide received help for virus protection. This is just one of the reports that will be presented at Mission East's annual meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Sunday afternoon, 30 May.
Nepal is the new India. The UN calls for urgent action. The corona pandemic must be curbed now. Mission East is on the spot; only the economy sets limits.
The news of the escalating Corona pandemic in India reached the news media three weeks ago. Today, a disaster in neighboring Nepal is on the way.
44 percent of Nepalese people tested have been infected with Corona - almost 8,000 new cases of Corona infection are registered per day. Compared to the country's population of 29.5 million, the infection rate is at about the same level as India's.
An Easter-message from our Secretary General Betina Gollander-Jensen:
It sprouts and grows around us. Seeds and bulbs that used to lie dormant under leaves, moss and branches have now awakened to new life. Shrubs and trees with bare branches shoot new shoots. Spring has come and demonstrates before our eyes that life in all its manifold richness will always overcome the dead, dry, frozen and petrified.
JOB OPPORTUNITY: If you want to be at the forefront of the overview and development of financial management in an ambitious Danish NGO, then we are looking for an astute and dynamic Economy, Administration and Compliance Director in a newly created position.
Violence against women is a taboo in Iraq. But now the women are striking back through paintings as part of a project at Mission East's community center in Sinjar.
"In our culture women are expected to remain silent when it comes to violence, no matter the violence is a domestic violence, rape or assault from a stranger, silence cannot heal wounds and address the problem.”
Mission East's reading groups and civic centers for Corona-affected families are acknowledged by a Danish professor of pedagogy.
Climate change has put extra pressure on the people of the already vulnerable Palata district of Nepal. Both their farmland and forests have been damaged, and it is difficult to get food on the table. Now a project that Mission East is part of will change that development.
Sustained droughts, irregular rainfalls and other climate-related problems have made the area around the village of Thirpu one of the driest and most underdeveloped areas in the Palata rural district of Kalikot, a remote and hard-to-reach mountain district in Nepal.
Nepal's Corona-affected children will receive help from a large-scale TV fundraiser on February 6.
When a national collection runs across the screen on national Danish television on February 6, 2021, some of the funds will help Nepal's Corona-affected children and their families through Mission East.
For the students in the small village of Umarak, attending classes at the local school was a daily risk. The building was both unsuitable and outright dangerous. Mission East now made the school day safe with the opening of a brand new school.
The new school opened in December 2020, and the timing could not be better: January is the coldest month in Tajikistan with temperatures that can reach well below zero. The old school was uninsulated and therefore so cold that it was decidedly unsuitable for teaching.
2020 was a challenging year on many fronts. But challenges are not only bad, they can also hold good opportunities if we pause and learn from the things that were difficult.
At the local civic center in Batroun, Lebanon, Sarah and 23 other vulnerable Syrian women are busy sewing face masks. In addition to giving Sarah an opportunity to help other vulnerable people, the project has also had a great impact on her personally: she can now continue her studies.
Sarah is a student. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the growing economic crisis in Lebanon, her parents can no longer pay for her education.
The Corona pandemic has taught us the importance of local staff, local partners and equipping locals to mitigate disasters. Everything that Mission East is good at, says futurist Marianne Levinsen.
- The expertise you have gained in disaster areas, you can now transfer to other countries in need, she adds.
PORTRAIT: Betina Gollander-Jensen is appointed as the new Managing Director of Mission East from 1st of January 2021. She comes from a position as International Manager of Caritas and has previously been abroad with DANIDA and the UN in South Africa, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya.
Innovation and consolidation. Local cooperation and tight financial management. Focus on the individual in need and strengthen the entire organization.
PRESS RELEASE: Betina Gollander-Jensen is appointed as new Managing Director of Mission East with the starting date of January 1st, 2021. She comes from a position as international manager at Caritas and has previously been abroad with DANIDA and the UN.
Betina Gollander-Jensen is appointed as the new Managing Director of Mission East from the 1st of January 2021. She comes from a position as International Manager at Caritas Denmark.
Ashrin, Albert and their two children had to flee Karabakh when Azerbaijani planes bombed their home and a church where their children were hiding. Now they are safe but they have lost everything.
Ashrin and her family were uprooted when Azerbaijan broke a 1994 ceasefire and launched a massive bombing raid on Karabakh on September 27, 2020. The bombs from planes and drones hit several cities and military installations.
A fragile ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan leaves 75,000 displaced Armenians without food, clothing and the ability to withstand the cold winter and COVID-19. Mission East joins forces with other NGOs to help.
The six-week-long conflict over the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh took an unexpected turn when a peace agreement was reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia with Russian intervention.
76,000 people in northeastern Afghanistan receive hygiene equipment from Mission East, which also provides information on how to best protect against COVID-19.
COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in Afghanistan, and communities that are already in a vulnerable situation due to conflict, internal displacement and extreme poverty are particularly at risk - and that risk is exacerbated by poor hygiene.
Mission East is working hard to reach and help as many people as possible in the Takhar and Badakhshan provinces of northeastern Afghanistan.
Thousands of vulnerable people continue to receive support to fight COVID-19. Here is the latest report from Mission East's COVID-19 response.
We receive regular updates from our COVID-19 response around the world.
Family after family receives information about COVID-19 along with hygiene items, protective equipment and boxes with food as our dedicated staff and partners reach out to urban areas, rural areas and remote mountain regions to serve the most vulnerable.
Over the past week there have been stories in the press about Mission East. Here is a short clarification of the situation.
Mission East has received public grants from Germany since 2003. Over the years, these grants have risen steadily and have enabled us to help even more vulnerable people especially in Afghanistan, Iraq, Tajikistan and North Korea.
BRIEF NEWS: As something new, Mission East's partners are now engaging in exploiting Myanmar's forests in ways other than logging for timber.
They inspire the local population to pick fruits and nuts, grow vegetables, catch fish and game, find medicinal plants and extract resin and fiber from bamboo and other grasses. The efforts are part of the sustainable use of their environment to increase their food security and nutrition. The local partners have also participated in several courses to ensure that sustainable agriculture projects reach their goals.
Here's an overview of our extensive Corona response: How are we supporting - and what are the challenges?
Mission East was quick to respond to the humanitarian crisis following the COVID-19 outbreak with a large-scale COVID-19 emergency relief plan to help over 350,000 people in five selected countries: Nepal, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq.
On March 20, Mission East launched a large-scale Corona relief package with the capacity to help over 350,000 people in five selected program countries: Nepal, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq. Since then, Tajikistan and Myanmar have been added and the capacity has grown to include 625,000 people in extreme poverty, refugees, internally displaced persons and people with disabilities. They are among the most vulnerable during a pandemic like Covid-19.
Dipar is one of the women in Myanmar who, despite all odds, has overcome a childhood and youth with poverty, distress and marginalization due to her gender, poor educational opportunities, hunger and wars. Today, she is working to improve the situation of her countrymen and women in Chin State through sustainable agriculture.
Poverty and exclusion are linked. If we want to fight the former, we must do something about the latter. Mission East has developed an inclusion guide for organizations and others who want to make inclusion of everyone who is subject to social marginalization and discrimination an integrated practice in day-to-day work.
Many refugees associate guilt and shame with the violent experiences many have had during their escape. War refugees experience terrible mental trauma. How do they get on with their lives?
We have asked Louise Schwartz from the Department of Trauma and Torture Survivors in Odense.
What makes survivors of trauma and torture survive, or rather, overcome terrible war experiences?
Nadia Nadim has gone all the way. From fleeing the Taliban to becoming Denmark's female power striker and first Danish national team player with a refugee background. In this exclusive interview with Mission East she discloses what has given her the impetus to go after the trophy.
Karam had to flee from Islamic State's occupation of Mosul. Today he drives into the same Mosul as driver for Mission East. Meanwhile, he puts aside the anxiety and the bad memories. Of course, I have to help my neighbors, he says.
Karam was part of the team that ran into Mosul after the city had just been exposed to some of the worst bomb attacks, and parts of the city were still in the midst of active conflict. Along with four other Mission East employees, Karam provided relief packages to the hungry population after Islamic State was pushed out of town.
The security situation in Afghanistan is the worst since the Taliban war started. Public infrastructure has collapsed, and even die-hard war correspondents are increasingly staying away. But how do ordinary Afghans handle the permanent state of emergency? The Afghans have an ability to find solutions where there are none, Mission East's experience shows.
"We sit here drinking tea and playing games. It's just a way to kill time because we're scared and powerless about what's happening in our country."
Sakari Koivula is Mission East's Country Director in North Korea. The energetic Finn has experience with development assistance from several African and Asian countries. But never has the effort been as effective as in North Korea, he says. And food security comes first. When a population can feed itself, what other problems they have are solved.
It is not enough that we help those displaced. Those who receive the refugees feel left behind and also need help. That is why Mission East is now moving into Syria and Lebanon with support for both the Syrian and Lebanese host communities.
Mathias lives in Kirke Hyllinge in Central Zealand with his mother, father and little brother. He has been blind ever since he was almost newborn. Still, he feels like a seeing blind, as he calls it, since he doesn't feel restricted by his visual impairment - something he and his parents have worked on throughout his life:
“There are some things for which I always need help. But I want to make sure there are as many things as I can do myself. My parents and I have done this too. I just want to be as independent and self-reliant as possible. "
It began with disaster relief to Armenian war victims 27 years ago. Since then, the focus was on all children's right to learning and, most recently, inclusion of children with disabilities in schools. Mission East's office in the country is now being transferred to a local partner in Armenia, through which we continue our work.
In the world's most troubled and vulnerable countries, Mission East works with both short-term disaster relief, long-term development and everything in between, which helps get a country and its people back on track - also called 'nexus'.
When Mission East moves into a country with relief, a long stretch of work begins. It spans from providing food, water and blankets in emergency situations to a slow rebuilding of a community before actual development work begins.
She has been collecting clothing, hospital supplies, furniture, beds and medicine together for Bulgaria and South America, especially Bolivia, for over 30 years. Concert pianist Astrid Møller is a fiery soul who is passionate about helping the world's poorest. Astrid Møller was born with a help gene.
Adolescents in Iraq are key nexus players in the process of restoring everyday life in Sinjar. That is why Mission East helps the young people where the needs are
The Yezidis in Sinjar district are currently at ground zero. They stand in the ruins of what was once their home and need to find a new foothold.
Three meals a day, three kinds of vegetables at each meal, and three food groups each week. It is the recipe that should make the population healthy so that they have the profits to learn new sustainable cultivation methods and thus lift the remote Maraland out of poverty.