Who we are
Estonian Refugee Council provides support services to beneficiaries of international protection in Estonia and humanitarian aid to people who have fled their homes abroad. We are one of the main competence centers on forced migration and integration in Estonia.
Is to stand up for the rights and well-being of people suffering from humanitarian crises in Estonia and abroad.
Is a world where people who had to leave their homes feel at home in a new place.
We provide assistance based exclusively on identified needs of the crisis-affected people, without discrimination on any identity markers. Our activities are not driven by the interests of any other institution, and we do not and will not work with any stakeholders to further military, political or religious interests.
We design our programmes in ways that are accessible and inclusive to all people in need, taking into account the intersectionality of gender, age, disability, socioeconomic status and other social identity markers. We ensure the participation of crisis-affected people in all stages of response resulting in needs-based and inclusive interventions that ameliorate the circumstances of affected populations.
We refer and cooperate with other principled actors and, if possible, state institutions in countries where we operate. We ensure that when people approach us for assistance, they are assisted in a comprehensive manner to address their diverse needs.
We aim to remain dynamic in our programme design and implementation, to respond quickly and rework our approach upon changing needs or contextual factors. We systematically collect and analyse evidence about the results of our work and learn from the mistakes and successes. We share our findings with other humanitarian actors to foster community-wide learning.
We believe in the localisation of aid and seek to work in meaningful partnerships with and improve the capacity of local actors and duty bearers. We design our programmes with local needs and capacities in mind and ensure that our interventions are complementary to local capacities.
We advocate on behalf of the crisis-affected people, based on the information and knowledge we gain in the assistance process and on the best available evidence. We are a rights-based organisation and work to ensure that rights and well-being of crisis-affected people are protected and enhanced. We work to mainstream protection considerations in all our programmes.
We ensure that our programmes follow the “do no harm” principle when working with people we assist. We actively gather feedback from the people we assist and act based on their complaints and feedback without delays.
We monitor ongoing and potential crises and try to position ourselves preemptively to be able to respond fast and effectively in case of emerging crises or escalation of ongoing ones. We aim to be prepared and take action to reduce the humanitarian impacts of forecasted hazards before they occur or before their most acute impacts are felt.
We aim to work in ways which limit our footprint on the environment and help to mitigate climate change. We seek to reduce waste and adopt environmentally friendly practices throughout our country operations and programmes.
Our Team
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