NGO’s support of refugees
Back to: Know-How: Support in Finding Accommodation (Slovenia)
As a consequence of the low financial support from the public authorities, the non-governmental sector, with volunteer-oriented actions, is largely responsible for material, social, housing and mental care for refugees. Slovenia’s non-governmental sector and volunteer work comprehensively cover the area of support and assistance to refugees and immigrants, with the following activities:
- humanitarian aid,
- activism,
- human rights monitoring,
- counselling, lobbying , pressure on authorities,
- legal aid,
- informing refugees,
- global education (awareness),
- psychosocial help,
- translation,
- religious care,
- cultural mediation.
A number of organizations in Slovenia give refugees and immigrants humanitarian aid: Humanitarian Charity Society UP Jesenice, Odnos society, Humanitarian Society ADRA Slovenia, Red Cross Slovenia, Slovene Philanthropy, Slovenian Caritas, and Association of Friends of Youth Slovenia.
Volunteer work in the form of humanitarian aid through the distribution of food and various civil initiatives, the following organizations are very strong: Amnesty International Slovenia, Civil Initiative Staknimo glave, Humanitas Society, Association for the Development of Voluntary Work Novo mesto, Institute for African Studies, KROG Institute.
Legal assistance
Many organizations help refugee issues with advocacy:
- Amnesty International Slovenia
- Association Odnos
- Institute for African Studies
- Peace Institute
- PIC
- Sloga
- Slovenian Philanthropy
- Slovene Karitas
- Unicef Slovenia
- Povod Institute
- Association of Friends of Youth of Slovenia
- Humanitarian Charity Society UP Jesenice
- Association for the Development of Volunteer Work Novo Mesto
Information is also very important, and many organizations voluntarily take part in assisting and supporting refugees and immigrants with this. Many organizations are engaged in several activities at the same time. Some organizations have been active for a long time, among them Red Cross Slovenia, which has been acting as a humanitarian organization for 150 years and has been organizing many refugee assistance actions (eg collection of clothing and basic consumer goods).
Amnesty International Slovenia has also been operating for a long time as an organization for human rights, as well as providing information, awareness, concrete assistance and care for vulnerable social groups, such as refugees and immigrants.
Help and support is also offered to refugee and immigrant children. This is done in the form of psychosocial assistance, conducted by the Slovene Philanthropy. For this purpose, a psychosocial help manual for children refugees was created.
In summary, we can say that the most exposed and those with the greatest extent of assistance and support in the field of refugees and immigrants are the following organizations:
- Amnesty International Slovenije – Amnesty international Slovenia
- Človekoljubno dobrodelno društvo UP Jesenice – Humanitarian Charity Society UP Jesenice
- Društvo Humanitas – Society Humanitas
- Društvo Odnos – Odnos Society
- Humanitarno društvo ADRA Slovenija – Humanitarian society ADRA Slovenia
- Inštitut za afriške študije – Institute for African Studies
- Mirovni inštitut – Peace Institute
- OVCA, Društvo za osveščanje in varstvo pred diskriminacijo – OVCA – society for awareness and safety against discramination
- Pravno-informacijski center nevladnih organizacij – PIC – Legal-Informational Centre for NGOs
- Rdeči križ Slovenije – Red cross Slovenia
- Sezam – Sesame
- SLOGA – Platforma NVO za razvoj, globalno učenje in humanitarno pomoč, SLOGA – platform NGO for development, global education and humanitarian aid
- Slovenska filantropija – Slovenian Philantrophy
- Slovenska fundacija za UNICEF – Slovenian foundation for UNICEF
- Zavod GLOBAL – Global Institution