Non-Governmental Organization

The Swedish Red Cross (Svenska Röda Korset) is one of the 175 national societies that compose the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The Swedish Red Cross is religiously and politically independent. The main goal is to prevent and relieve human suffering in Sweden and in the world.

Oikos – Cooperação e Desenvolvimento (Cooperation and Development) is a Portuguese non-governmental organisation whose goal is worldwide development. To this end, we work with communities in the poorest regions and countries regardless of their geographical location. From Emergencies to Development, Education, Social Mobilisation and Public Influence, Oikos’s work currently encompasses Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Peru and Portugal.

The main activity has been providing free legal aid to socially vulnerable population in Croatia, both in administrative and court cases, including in-court representation. The BGO continues the work of the Norwegian Refugee Council that was present in Sisak from 1999 to 2004.

ASW, the Action for World Solidarity Organization, is an independent organization involved in development policy. It has been sponsoring basic projects in India, Africa and Brazil since 1957. Our main aims are to promote women's rights, protect the environment and defend political, social, economic and cultural human rights.

These projects have all been started by people within the communities themselves. They are working together for a better future and they need our financial support to continue their efforts. We do not send experts or development workers; instead the projects remain the responsibility of the people who start them.

We know that the situation in the developing countries cannot improve unless change takes place in the developed world, too. Our second major aim, therefore, is to provide people with information on our project partners, their needs and their progress.

We provide this information in exhibitions and presentations, as well as in our journal "Solidarische Welt." In addition, we show how everyone's actions in Germany and the rest of the Western World affect the lives of people in developing countries and what each one of us can do to help our partners. In the "ASW-Test" series we examine how consumer goods for the German market are produced in developing countries, and how this affects the conditions there. We also provide information on what consumers here can do to stop unfair production practices.

AKÜ is an open forum of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) and experts for advocacy, public awareness and joint development projects. AKÜ acts as a national platform for development NGOs in Estonia. AKÜ informs its members about development news, facilitates participation in seminars, trainings and field studies, and cooperates with similar networks in Europe.

AKÜ participates actively in Trialog project (Development NGOs in the Enlarged Europe) and in CONCORD working groups (European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development).