Norwegian Refugee Council

Norwegian Refugee Council

Type	Non-profit NGO
Founded	1946 under the name Aid to Europe
Location	Oslo, Norway. Global programme activities
Key people	Elisabeth Rasmusson, Secretary General
Method	Refugees, IDPs, Activism, NGO
Website	http://www.nrc.no

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC, Norwegian: Flyktninghjelpen) is an independent, humanitarian non-governmental organisation which provides assistance, protection and durable solutions to refugees, internally displaced persons, and returnees worldwide. NRC promotes and protects the rights of people who have been forced to flee their countries, or their homes within their countries. It is the only Norwegian organisation that specialises in international efforts aimed at this target group. The majority of approximately 3000 staff members are national employees in NRC’s projects in around 20 countries in Africa, Asia, America and Europe. All projects are run from a small and efficient administration in Oslo.

History

The Norwegian Refugee Council was established in 1946 under the name Aid to Europe, to assist refugees in Europe after World War II. Today NRC is organised as an independent, private foundation. They work closely with the UN and other organizations.

In 1998 the Norwegian Refugee Council established the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) in Geneva. The IDMC contributes to improving national and international capacities to protect the assist of the millions of people around the globe who have been displaced within their own country as a result of conflicts or human rights violations.

Program activities

The Norwegian Refugee Councils actions are concentrated on five core activities:

• Building of homes and schools
• Distribution of food and non-food relief items
• Information, counselling and legal assistance
• Camp management
• Education

In Norway NRC provides information and counselling on return and repatriation. The organisation also conduct trainings and seminars on the situation for refugees and IDPs.

Secretary General

Elisabeth Rasmusson assumed the position as Secretary General in January 2008, replacing Tomas Colin Archer.

External links

• Official website (English version)
• Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
• NRC in Armenia.
• NRC Camp Management Toolkit
• IDP Voices