Action Hessen helps
| Action Hessen helps (AHH) |
|
|---|---|
| legal form | non-profit registered association |
| founding | 1995 |
| Seat | Ortenberg |
| precursor | Action Bosnian Aid |
| Chair | Tobias Greilich |
| Website | www.aktionhessenhilft.de |
The action helps Hesse (AHH) is a charitable non-profit- aid initiative from Hessen , mainly through projects in the fields of humanitarian aid , emergency aid and survival assistance in crisis, war and disaster areas and developing countries ensure worldwide support.
Emerging in 1991 from a political youth initiative that called itself "Aktion Bosnienhilfe" from 1993 onwards, a non-profit organization was established in 1995 that was finally renamed "Aktion Hessen hilft (AHH)". This was linked to the goal of mobilizing support for aid projects across Hesse that also went beyond the aid operations in former Yugoslavia at the time . In the meantime, Aktion Hessen hilft is active in over 20 countries around the globe.
people
The honorary chairmanship took over with the establishment of the association Christian Schwarz-Schilling , Federal Minister a. D. and later High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina , the operational chairmanship of AHH founder Tobias Greilich , who was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 2001 . The Hessian Landtag President Norbert Kartmann , the former Hessian Prime Minister Roland Koch , the former Hessian Environment Minister Wilhelm Dietzel and the former Hessian Education Minister Hartmut Holzapfel have acted as patrons of individual aid projects . Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel MdL and the former Hessian Minister of Education, Dorothea Henzler MdL , are sponsors of the current aid projects .
Projects
The activity of the association began after the outbreak of the civil war in the former Yugoslavia in 1991 with the first aid transport to Croatia ; by 1994 seven more aid transports followed, including to Slovenia . When the association was founded in 1995, the focus of activities shifted to Bosnia and Herzegovina , where eleven other aid transports supported refugees from Srebrenica , mostly widows and orphans of the Srebrenica massacre , and other Bosnian cities, and helped rebuild a first school. At the same time, a first aid project for mine victims took place in Vietnam .
When around 230,000 Kosovar Albanians were on the run as a result of the major Serbian offensive in July 1998 in the run-up to the Kosovo war , many of whom came to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schwarz-Schilling and Tobias Greilich agreed to visit a refugee accommodation in an old factory hall Sarajevo a massive aid program. As a result, a total of 16 aid convoys with accommodation materials, food, hygiene supplies, medication, medical equipment, etc. started every month and three refugee camps for thousands of refugees were set up from tents. At the same time, further aid campaigns took place in Vietnam, South Africa and Guatemala .
With the return of most of the Kosovar refugees to their homeland, the activities of Aktion Hessen hilft also shifted to Kosovo . While the first reconstruction measures were already taking place in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the restoration of destroyed living space has now become one of the main focuses of the AHH, alongside supporting refugees when they return to their homeland. For this purpose, numerous other aid convoys took place, which also served to support hospitals, schools and other social institutions and also drove to Serbia and Montenegro and Macedonia .
After further aid measures in Estonia , Georgia and the Ukraine , with the Elbe flood in 2002, the focus of Aktion Hessen hilft was on work in their own country. A large-scale joint project with the participation of around 50 Hessian initiatives provided people in the greater Lutherstadt Wittenberg area with essentials, with building materials and furniture.
Aid projects followed in Hungary , Poland and Iraq and finally after the tsunami in South Asia at Christmas 2004 in Sri Lanka and Indonesia . In Sri Lanka, AHH supported the establishment of a children's outpatient clinic and initiated numerous child sponsorships . In Sumatra, Aktion Hessen hilft is one of the sponsors of an orphanage for children who lost their parents in the tsunami . After the devastating earthquake, the AHH started an aid project for Haiti in January 2010 .
Most recently, the focus of work was on relief measures after the floods in Germany in 2013 and after Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines .
partner
In 1999, Aktion Hessen hilft received the status of an Implementing Partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees . The aid initiative has carried out numerous EU projects as well as projects of the Hessian state government to this day. She worked with numerous federal ministries as well as with organizations such as the German Society for Technical Cooperation , the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund , the German Humanitarian Foundation or Brücke nach Sumatra e. V.
Awards
For their work in the various aid projects, 16 AHH helpers have already received state awards such as the Operation Medal Flood Aid 2002, the Saxon Flood Helper Order 2002 , the Flood Medal of the State of Saxony-Anhalt 2002 , the Letter of Honor from the State of Hesse and the Federal Cross of Merit.