General
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Beirut’s schoolchildren need our help to rebuild their lives
Beirut’s schoolchildren need our help to rebuild their lives Lebanon’s multiple simultaneous crises are fuelling domestic abuse, child exploitation, child marriages and child labour, writes Emma Pajunen, FCA’s humanitarian assistance coordinator living in Beirut. FCA has begun work in schools affected by the Beirut port explosion. I recently visited a Beirut school, where we are […]
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Education brings safety and hope for children in emergencies
Education brings safety and hope for children in emergencies Education is a powerful mean to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty and instability, writes FCA’s regional direction Ashraf Yacoub. A decade into the conflict, millions of Syrians inside the country find themselves displaced and unable to access food, shelter, work or essential health […]
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Crises may pave the way to a brighter future
Crises may pave the way to a brighter future As I am writing this, the Covid-19 pandemic is dominating the news and daily politics for the second year running. In fact, this topic has overshadowed other news to such an extent that it is hard to remember what went on in the world before Covid-19 […]
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Emerging stronger after Covid-19
Emerging stronger after Covid-19 Distance learning, quarantines and travel bans. Lockdowns, cancelled events, and hundreds of online meetings. Remembered as the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 was an exceptional year for everyone, including Finn Church Aid, writes executive director Jouni Hemberg. Conditions have been dire in our programme countries before; however, this was the […]
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Women are at the front line of peace work – but why are all peace negotiators men?
You cannot build lasting peace without women. Many have probably heard this claim before, but why does gender matter? Conflicts and crises affect entire societies, and we also know that women and men are affected differently. Even so, we rarely see women at the tables where decisions regarding our shared future are made. The Syrian […]
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Ten years of war have passed, and Syria’s humanitarian disaster deepens
War-torn Syria has descended into a financial crisis that worsens the country’s humanitarian situation. Children living through the war need moments in which they can just be children. “How can I ever repay my country? I have been told that it is too tough for someone my age to ask, but I am growing up […]
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Refugees at the core of Finn Church Aid’s work in 2019
2019 was a very positive year for the progress and operations of Finn Church Aid.
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Could “the new normal” after Covid-19 become more normal than the previous world?
Everyone agrees that the post-covid world will not be the same as the world before. We speak of it as a central, neutral-sounding concept that we call “the new normal”.
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Why the coronavirus pandemic should not put all other crises on hold
The coronavirus pandemic does not mean that other crises are less urgent but it has rapidly restricted work with development cooperation, humanitarian aid, peacebuilding and climate change. We now have to fight many battles at the same time.
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Shrinking space for civil society
Imagine yourself in a big room. Slowly you realise that the walls and ceiling seem to be moving closer. As you dash to the back wall to stop its movement, the front wall creeps forward, too. The government gives you a set of new rules that should keep the walls where they are. You implement […]