Child development – Catch-up programme

In the year 2023, we continued to place great emphasis on the development of children in need and helping them catch up: more than 3,000 children regularly participated in our development sessions under our Catch-up programme. 413 of them were able to restart their lives with their parents in our organisation’s temporary homes for families, crisis centres and halfway houses.

We strive to help not only the children living in our institutions, but also the families living in the areas around these institutions. In our ’Sure start’ children’s homes, we help the youngest children to develop healthily from birth and prevent the development of conditions leading to disadvantages. In our after-school education centres (called ’Tanoda’) and in our Presence Points, children are helped to overcome their disadvantages by teachers and development specialists, and learning becomes play in these sessions using digital and modern tools. In our residential and day camps, our professionals focus on catching up and playful child development, as well as on experiences. Staff members of our temporary homes do their utmost to ensure that children experience the security of home and have a chance to move on with their families. Here, we have children of all ages from new-borns to high school students. Our National Help Centre supports tens of thousands of deprived families and children every year with food, clothing and school supplies all year round.

Helping families in crisis

In 2023, HIA’s institution, the National Help Centre continued to handle individual requests for assistance. This year the NHC was able to help in 47 259 cases, mostly through in-kind support, but our staff also informed tens of thousands of other applicants about the forms of assistance they could claim under the public social care system.

The economic difficulties of recent years, with rising and persistently high prices, have put more people in a difficult situation and increased family expenditure. Thanks to our private donors and corporate partners, we have been able to help families in need with targeted support. A well-trained team of professionals processes the requests and determines how to help.

Assistance for the homeless

In 2023, our organisation ran homeless shelters in 3 cities, Budapest, Debrecen and Gyula. In addition to providing warming and bathing facilities and meals, our institutions offered more: personalised help and advice in case management, job search; a chance to integrate into society. Our street and community outreach services have regularly helped people seeking shelter not only on the streets, but also in remote farms and even in tent-like shelters on the outskirts of the city.

In 2023 1,000 homeless people received a regular form of support. We provided a total of 135,324 meals or food donations in 2023.

In addition to the food distributed during our daily food distributions, we also provided more than 5,000 hot meals to people in need at our special Advent food distribution.

The way out of poverty

We run temporary homes for families who have lost their homes in 5 cities (Budapest, Kastélyosdombó, Miskolc, Orosháza, Szolnok). These institutions help families stay together and move on in their lives.

In 2023, our reintegration model programme continued in Kastélyosdombó. Those who move into the special temporary home for families learn farming and animal husbandry skills, and then, after breaking free from dependence on the state social care system, can start a new life on their own in the life-changing houses provided by HIA. The social farm, in addition to backyard crop and livestock farming, has herb purchasing and drying centre and a special agricultural project offers income-generating opportunities for needy families in addition to cheese-making in the Somogy County municipality and the sub-region. This is the hop plantation, established in 2018, which has restarted the production of the most important flavouring for beer in Hungary. This joint initiative with Heineken is a commercially sustainable long-term programme that will also contribute to the livelihoods of the disadvantaged families involved in the production. The model programme is also being disseminated in several temporary homes for families in the country (Miskolc, Szolnok, Mosonmagyaróvár). The parents involved have received labour market development, while the children have been involved in individual and group development sessions. The programme continues in the villages of Vizsoly and Boldogkőújfalu, where the activities based on this methodology have also been introduced.

Catching-up Settlements programme

The Catching-up Settlements programme was launched in 4 settlements in 2019, and in 2022 a total of 11 settlements have joined the programme (Kastélyosdombó, Lakócsa, Boldogkőújfalu, Vizsoly, Pusztakovácsi-Kürtöspuszta, Felsődobsza, Novajidrány, Zádor, Somogyfajsz, Drávagárdony and Pere). Rinyaszentkirály, Nagykinizs, 2 new settlements joined the Catching-up Settlements programme in 2023. The services provided by the “Presence Points” were used by nearly 2550 people. The design and implementation of the services provided by the project is going on based on the previously prepared diagnoses and action plans. The field presence has been further strengthened and we have become an important player in the local care systems. Child development sessions are being held with the involvement of a development teacher, a special education teacher and a speech therapist, for whom there is an increasing demand. Strengthening employment and improving housing conditions, mobilising families being in contact with HIA, helping them enter the labour market and extending services and programme elements to district level remain important and a priority.

Help for addicts

Providing support, empowerment and counselling services to our fellow human beings struggling with addictions is a key mission of our organisation. Our social workers work in 5 different locations across the country to help people and their families who are experiencing difficulties with alcohol, drugs and gambling addiction. In addition to corrective services, we put more and more emphasis on the delivery of preventive programmes. Our addictology centre in Szolnok has organised lectures on addiction for secondary school students, and in the frame of our successful ‘Playing with boundaries’ programme, which has been running for years, prevention programmes and club meetings were organized in several parts of the country with the aim of preventing gambling addiction. Now in its 11th year, the ‘Playing with boundaries’ is a stopgap, complex program for the treatment and prevention of gambling addiction. It includes prevention programmes in schools and after-school education centres, and also self-help groups and individual case management for addicts and their families in 7 locations. The Information Points network is part of the programme. It aims to emphasise the key message: there is help, there is a place where this disease can be dealt with.

Help for psychiatric patients

It is an important task to support our fellow human beings with psychiatric illness, to provide empowering and counselling services for them. Our professionals help patients and their families in the Day Care Shelter for Psychiatric Patients in 2 cities, Eger and Szolnok.

The primary goal of our centres is to create an empowering, supportive environment to help people with psychiatric problems overcome the feeling of isolation, to reduce the effects of hospitalisation and to reduce the frequency and duration of hospital relapses. Our long-term goal is to help patients reintegrate into society.

Volunteering

For us, volunteering is a core value. In our day-to-day activities, the dedicated work of our volunteers continued to be an indispensable support in 2023: in crisis relief, fundraising and awareness-raising, various events and also in support of our social work. Regardless of age and interest – from students to active retirees – we were able to offer a range of volunteering opportunities in 2023.

The number of companies volunteering in the corporate sector has continued to grow. We have offered our partners many opportunities to demonstrate their willingness to help by creating real value in the form of a one-day or multi-day programme through our wide range of activities and our network of social institutions across the country. Each programme is carefully planned and prepared so that at the end of the day, everyone can experience the joy of a job well done. Staff members were able to get to know each other in new roles, making these activities popular as team-building training.

Countering gender-based violence

In 2023, we continued to focus on preventing and addressing gender-based violence. Our institutions specifically dealing with victims of gender-based violence are evolving year by year and their range of services is expanding. Our victim support services include 3 crisis centres, 2 halfway houses, 3 secret shelters, 1 online counselling service and 4 crisis outpatient clinics for victims of relationship violence.

During past year 782 people visited the organisation’s crisis clinics for counselling, and the crisis clinic professionals provided a total of 3,695 counselling sessions for victims. A total of 302 people were given accommodation and protection in our shelters for women and children fleeing violence. Anonymous counselling and lots of useful information for victims and the helping professionals are available on our website (www.aszeretetnemart.hu). 466 individuals received counselling service in 2023. From October this year, a financial expert has been helping those living in abusive relationships on our Online Anonymous Counselling platform. For victims of gender-based violence, leaving is often made difficult or even impossible by shared finances, co-borrowing and financial difficulties. A similar purpose is served by the Financial Guide, which is distributed to all our institutions, so that people can get detailed information on the financial issues involved in divorce.

In 2023, we continued to communicate weekly on our Love Doesn’t Hurt Facebook and Instagram pages to provide encouraging, motivating and thought-provoking messages to help people in abusive relationships and those around them.

Iraq

Hungarian Interchurch Aid launched its first aid programme in Iraq in 2003, and from 2014 onwards, after the rise of the Islamic State, it has supported internally displaced people and Syrian refugees. Christian and Yazidi communities, that were forced to leave their former homes in a matter of days, were given special attention among beneficiary groups.

In June 2016, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the organisation opened its headquarters in Erbil to support refugees by implementing humanitarian and development programmes.

The Representation has renewed its registration in 2023 for both the Iraqi federal territory and the Kurdistan Region, and has the necessary permits and visas to work throughout the country.

In 2023 the €9.9 million Qudra 2 project concluded with the main objective of supporting the livelihoods of refugees, IDPs, returnees and local communities. The project focused on livelihood creation and support on one hand, with activities mainly in the areas of agriculture and micro-enterprise development. HIA has rehabilitated two health centres in the settlements of Dugure (Hateen) and Sulagh  in the Nineveh Governorate. The rehabilitation of the two health centres provides the population returning to the Sinjar region with access to basic health care, which will increase the willingness of the Yazidi community to return, and will also contribute to improving the quality of life of the inhabitants of the settlements, thus helping them stay in the area. The health centres were inaugurated in August 2023.

Ethiopia

To attract international funding, HIA joined the UN Cluster system and the ACT Alliance Ethiopia Forum, and maintains a permanent relationship with the international donor community.

HIA’s activities are structured around the following three main strategic objectives in Ethiopia:

• Urgent and immediate assistance to ensure the survival of populations most endangered by civil war conflicts and drought.
• To support the lives of millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance by ensuring safe, dignified, accountable and equitable access to livelihoods, protection and other essential services.
• Strengthening local structures, ensuring a permanent presence and improving the quality and accountability of development activities to better serve the specific needs of stakeholders.

Türkiye

The earthquake of 6 February 2023 in Türkiye and Syria caused enormous destruction in terms of lives and property. In Türkiye alone, 50 thousand people died under the over 230,000 collapsed buildings, 3 million were made homeless and the livelihoods of some 9 million people were severely affected.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, HIA immediately began a needs assessment and field coordination with the Turkish partner organisations to assess the affected areas and the most appropriate means of further assistance

Hungarian Interchurch Aid also launched a fundraising campaign in Hungary by opening its donation line, and sought to find as many supporters as possible by organising charity concerts, among other activities.

The outstanding social solidarity shown by HIA’s donors and corporate partners made it possible for the organisation’s staff to carry out a large-scale aid programme, helping more than 16,000 people in one year.

Afghanistan

Hungarian Interchurch Aid has been present in Afghanistan for 23 years. HIA’s office in the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif has been carrying out intensive coordination and professional work throughout the year and has been preparing the opening of an office in Kabul.

During 2023, HIA responded to both the flood situation in the north-east of the country as well as the earthquake that shook the country. It has also signed an agreement with the UN World Food Programme (WFP) office in Kabul to implement 2 projects, and a programme-level framework agreement was concluded with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). More than 15,000 tons of food were distributed by local staff and various local rural development, disaster prevention and training programmes were realized during the programmes in 2023.

The number of direct beneficiaries was 252,726. Total value of the programmes, including the value of food and ‘cash-for-work’ programmes, exceeded HUF 6 billion. During 2023, the organisation strengthened its field office and ensured that the required level of coordination with the government was achieved properly.

Croatia and Slovenia

Together with the Hungary Helps Agency, HIA supported the reconstruction of the Petrinja Primary School No.I damaged by the earthquake in Croatia. The primary school in Petrinja, with a total capacity of 20 classes, can admit 339 children and the secondary school in Glina – where HIA equipped the classrooms – has 149 students, so in total, the humanitarian aid projects will directly benefit 580 beneficiaries including teachers and other staffs.

A storm that reached Slovenia on 4 August caused shockingly heavy damage, after a month’s worth of rainfell in the north-east and central parts of the country in twenty-four hours. The extreme weather caused flash floods and landslides in many areas, thousands of people had to be evacuated and authorities reported several deaths. Hungarian Interchurch Aid has provided immediate emergency aid to communities affected by the severe weather. In the second phase, after assessing the damage, families were provided with small cleaning and construction equipment, kitchen appliances (fridge, freezer, gas cooker, washing machine, etc.) and the necessary works to renovate heating systems were carried out as winter approached.