Fatima shall be arriving

This is what it's all about.

SAO Association has been supporting displaced women in Greece since 2016. We were awarded the Red Cross Prize in 2023 for our work.

We are an organisation run by women for women and operate two Day Centres on Lesvos and in Athens. Our clients are survivors of war, torture, human trafficking, persecution, mutilation and individual and systematic sexual violence.

My project is special because ...

Our centres specialise in professional psychosocial support for particularly vulnerable women on the run.

We also support the women in their integration process into Greek society (e.g. with Greek, computer and other skill-building courses).

This is what I need backing for.

In Greece, there are no specific social benefits for persons with international protection status, i.e. recognised refugees and persons with subsidiary protection. Financial support for asylum seekers ends automatically the moment they are granted status. This means that those who still need to get a job have limited access to basic medical care and has been cut off from food and hygiene provisions.

In order for us to be able to support our clients in dealing with their traumas and integrating into Greek society, their basic needs must first be met. We provide our clients with supermarket coupons to cover the basic needs of them and their children (food, hygiene products, nappies, milk powder, etc.).

This represents a financial outlay of CHF 50,000 per year for us. Since 2018, we have been supported by the Swiss government (SDC and SEM) - unfortunately, this support is now being withdrawn because Switzerland is making the funds available directly to the Greek government as part of the bilateral agreements (Swiss contribution). This is tearing a big hole in our coffers.

Help us to continue to provide this urgently needed support.