NGO OF THE MONTH: FIRDAUS, SWITZERLAND
June 1st, 2017
Firdaus – which means “paradise” in Arabic – is a Ticino humanitarian association which, since 2015, intervenes in contexts of extreme vulnerability and whose aim is to support people who find themselves in difficulty along their migration route.
Conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq have led to a significant increase in the number of refugees. These are people who have abandoned their homes, lost family members and are often separated from their families. Without economic means and extremely weakened by the circumstances of travel, migrants are subject to a condition of exclusion by the migration policies of European countries.
Through community fundraising, solidarity and volunteer work, Firdaus is able to sustain and temporarily relieve these families and attempts to fill the gap in the lack of services provided by the state.
OBJECTIVES
- Demand respect for human and children’s rights for refugees
- Raise awareness on the issue of migration
- Support refugee families in camps and those living in precarious conditions
- Facilitate family reunification of refugees with close family members in Europe
- Raise awareness of the need for humanitarian corridors
- Child protection
ACTIVITIES
- Fundraising for different projects
- Remote support of Syrian-Iraqi refugee families in Yalova (Turkey)
- Volunteering activities in migrant camps in Greece: retailing of essential goods and the creation and animation of play and recreational spaces for refugee children
- Material support (food, clothing, blankets) and legal aid to unaccompanied minors and refugees of African origins blocked and refused at the Italian-Swiss border
- Collecting stories and accounts from refugees that demonstrate the impossibility of completing a safe migration path and respecting human rights
- Raising awareness on the theme through meetings in schools, conferences, information stands, public and local events
http://www.childsrights.org/en/news/ngos-of-the-month/1536-ngo-of-the-month-firdaus-switzerland