About FDS

[vc_row fullwidth=”true”][vc_column][mk_page_title_box page_title=”About us” page_subtitle=”We work in Poland, Europe and Africa.” section_height=”550″ bg_image=”https://fds.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fds-slide-4.jpg” bg_position=”center top” bg_stretch=”true” overlay=”rgba(2,2,2,0.36)” bg_effects=”parallax” font_size=”60″ font_color=”#ffffff” font_weight=”normal” sub_font_size=”26″ sub_font_color=”#ffffff” sub_font_weight=”normal”][mk_image src=”https://fds.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/fundacja-dla-somalii-separator-brick.png” image_width=”100%” image_height=”20″ svg=”true” group=”_general”][/vc_column][/vc_row][mk_page_section section_layout=”right” sidebar=”sidebar-1″][vc_column][mk_fancy_title tag_name=”h3″ style=”true” color=”#00afec” size=”26″ font_weight=”bold” txt_transform=”uppercase” letter_spacing=”2″ margin_bottom=”20″ font_family=”none”]

WELCOME AT THE FDS WEBSITE

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[/mk_dropcaps][vc_column_text]ur mission is to promote intercultural dialogue, diversity as well as exchange of cultural experiences. The objective of our everyday work is to promote tolerance and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. We believe that every human being deserves acceptation and respect.

We are the bridge between immigrants and Polish society. We support immigrants culturally and financially, allowing them to integrate better within Polish society and socio-economic reality.  Over the years of our activities, we help migrants from African, Asian and European countries, using state funds and grants, donations, international grants and the work of intercultural assistants, lawyers, trainers, experts and psychologists. We promote education and knowledge about other cultures and traditions of European, Asian, African and Arab countries.

One of the priorities of the Foundation is humanitarian and development aid with particular emphasis on the extremely difficult region of Somalia. The origins of the Foundation for Somalia existence are related to humanitarian activities for the community of African countries, in particular Somalia and Kenya. Throughout the years of its activities, the Foundation for Somalia with great care supports people of African origin who, as a result of refugee or forced or economic migration, find their way to Poland. These are citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan or Somalia, who are often repressed demanding people who are covered by a special form of support. The Foundation runs a kind of information center for people coming to Poland, run by an international team of specialists, intercultural assistants and volunteers. One should distinguish here consultation and information points providing individual integration, legal and professional advice, advice on educational opportunities in Poland, as well as psychological support, Polish language courses at various levels of advancement with elements of culture and integration activities, access to specialist information and knowledge on about various aspects of organizing life in Poland (including guidebooks and guides for foreigners, brochures, leaflets) and finally financial / material support.

An example of such activities is the project “We support foreigners in Mazovia”, implemented jointly with the Foundation for Foreign Language Learning “Linguae Mundi” – Project Leader and the Polish Migration Forum Foundation, and co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) Program and the state budget.

On the other hand, our task is to implement activities supporting the development and integration of the African Diaspora, strengthening the sense of unity (thematic meetings, debates, exhibitions, film screenings), cultural adaptation and improving the quality of life in the local community. Importantly, through a project to support migrant women experiencing gender-based violence, the Foundation for Somalia supports African women who are struggling with the problem of violence before coming to Poland. The place where Beneficiaries from African countries receive permanent aid is the Multicultural Center.

A large group of African men and women who are Beneficiaries of the Foundation’s programs and projects and cooperate with us are students, e.g. from Nigeria, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Cameroon. These groups participate in international projects aimed at professional development and intercultural integration, co-financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the European Commission under Erasmus + program, incl. COMPE4Mi – “Tools for professionals to assess and develop migrants’ competences”; MIVA – “Migrants’ Integration through Volunteering Activities” and HelpMi – Helping migrants to integrate in work environments”, as well as other local funders.

It is worth noting that the goal of the Foundation is to promote intercultural dialogue, integration of migrants with the host society as well as development and humanitarian aid, including cross-sectoral cooperation to improve the living conditions of Africans and refugees in neighboring countries, educational campaigns for adults and children, supporting volunteers and experts working for the migrant community from African countries.

Our work would not be possible without great work of our Team and extremely precious help and engagement of our Volunteers. We would like to thank everyone for help and support![/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][mk_button dimension=”outline” corner_style=”rounded” size=”large” outline_skin=”custom” outline_active_color=”#ff5200″ outline_hover_color=”#ffffff” url=”#zespol” align=”center”]

OUR TEAM

[/mk_button][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][mk_button dimension=”outline” corner_style=”rounded” size=”large” outline_skin=”custom” outline_active_color=”#ff5200″ outline_hover_color=”#ffffff” url=”https://fds.org.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/statut01.pdf” target=”_blank” align=”center”]STATUTE

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THE WAY WE WORK

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  • global, multicultural and development education
  • intercultural dialogue and socio-cultural integration
  • integration projects for migrants and refugees from Europe, Africa and Asia
  • work with children and youth from migrant communities in Poland
  • creating assistance center for mixed couples and their children
  • humanitarian aid for Somalia and other developing countries to and share solutions to achieve Poverty Reduction and the Millennium Development Goals for sustainable development and empowerment. In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights, capacity development and the empowerment of women and minorities.

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  • integration projects for representatives of different cultures
  • legal assistance and psychological help for migrants and refugees
  • projects promoting intercultural dialogue: conferences, training sessions, discussions
    research projects aimed at assessing stay conditions of migrants and refugees and the issue of integration
  • presenting current situation of people living in Somalia through movie shows and photo exhibitions
  • collecting medicines, equipment, money for the hospital in Adado
  • promoting voluntary work and civil society

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  • cooperation between organizations in relation to migration policy from EU and African countries
  • cooperation through international projects, workshops and training sessions for adults and youths, e.g. FRSE – Foundation for Educational System Development, Erasmus + Programme co-financed by European Commission
  • promoting human rights and other principles of democratic countries
  • supporting immigrants and establishing understanding in host countries

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  • building and equipping hospital in Adado
  • educational campaigns for adults and children in Somalia and Kenya
  • supporting volunteers and providing expertise in poor regions
  • raising awareness of work and education among Somali women and children
  • intersectoral collaboration for the improvement of living conditions of people in Somalia and refugees in the neighboring countries
  • supporting agricultural growth through development activities
  • development of international cooperation in this region

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FIND MORE PROJECTS HERE

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SUPPORT US!

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[/mk_dropcaps][vc_column_text]o you want to help us? This is a number of our bank account, if you would like to make a donation:

Bank Zachodni WBK 72 1090 2851 0000 0001 1732 4583

You can be sure that we will use all this money to achieve the most important goals of our Foundation – that is to support all migrants in Poland.

Thank you for support![/vc_column_text][mk_padding_divider size=”20″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][mk_fancy_title tag_name=”h3″ style=”true” color=”#00afec” size=”26″ font_weight=”bold” txt_transform=”uppercase” letter_spacing=”2″ margin_bottom=”20″ font_family=”none”]

AMBASSADORS

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FDS HISTORY

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[/mk_dropcaps][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1408360942331{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]oundation for Somalia has been established as a Somali-Polish initiative in order to promote intercultural dialogue and policy of diversity, as well as exchange of cultural experiences. The objective of our everyday activity is to promote the idea of tolerance and respect for human rights.

FDS was founded in 2007, registered 15 November 2007. We aim at educating society and expanding knowledge about culture and traditions of African and Arab countries, with particular emphasis on the extremely difficult region of Somalia. One of the priorities of the Foundation is humanitarian and development aid.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_divider style=”padding_space” margin_top=”1″ margin_bottom=”1″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1408360942331{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Foundation for Somalia wants to promote long-term stability and sustainable development to transform the lives of people in need. Our advocacy program and activities have main components: interreligious and intercultural dialogue, respect for cultural and religious diversity aimed at promotion of integration, human rights and mutual understanding, women and youth empowerment, agricultural development, humanitarian assistance and peace-building. Fundacja dla SomaliiSince 2008 we have supervised and organised the construction and equipping of the hospital in Adado. Then we arranged the expedition to show the situation in Somalia to a large group of people and thus to raise the awareness of the country’s problems. Since 2011 we have been working in Somalia and Kenya – in Somalia to help people affected by the drought disaster (more: Drought in Somalia), and in Kenya in the interest of the Somali refugees, who fled in mass exodus from Somalia to fight for their lives and survival.

Concurrently to expanding cooperation with our partners in Somalia and Kenya, we have commenced our activity in Poland and since 2009 we have been conducting projects and performing actions promoting intercultural dialogue, cultural experiences exchange and good practices among the youth. The projects turned out to be a great success among young people and showed the importance of their previous activities. Foundation for Somalia also established relations with partner organisations from UK, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland and Denmark.

The year 2011 has been proclaimed International Year for People of African Descent. On 26 January 2011 in UN Information Centre in Warsaw a meeting was held, participated by the government representatives, non-governmental organizations, universities and schools of higher education as well as the UN family in Poland, to discuss the creation of Polish Committee of International Year for People of African Descent 2011. The President of Foundation for Somalia became a member of the Committee.

On 25 November 2011 Foundation became an ordinary member of The Zagranica Group, which incorporates Polish non-governmental organizations which work with foreign partners and are involved in the international development cooperation.

In 2015 our President Abdulcadir Farah Gabeire died tragically in Somalia. Abdul was taking part in Somali presidential elections. He died as a result of an explosion in a car trap.

Since 2018 the Foundation is one of the partners in the project “Support of integration of foreigners in Mazovia” co-financed from the National Program of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. Guided by the needs of migrants we wanted to create a series of services that will help foreigners integrate into Polish society, and allow them to learn about the rules of functioning in the country. We focused on preparing for getting legal job through career counseling, Polish language classes, legal and psychological advice.

In February 2020 our President Elmi Abdi was granted the title of “Społecznik Roku 2019” (social worker of the year 2019) by the magazine Newsweek Poland.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/mk_page_section][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]