NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL

Mandate

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organization that works to promote the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), regardless of their race, religion, nationality or political affiliation. In accordance with its mandate NRC acts as an independent and courageous advocate for refugee rights nationally and internationally, by providing humanitarian assistance in emergency situations, and by strengthening the capacity of UN organizations to offer and coordinate international aid and protection. NRC in all ways seeks to provide viable, durable solutions with regard to both its advocacy activities and its emergency relief efforts.

Credibility

NRC, founded in 1946, has extensive experience from working in different phases and circumstances of international refugee protection and assistance. NRC has a solid financial base and well-developed transparent systems of project management, reporting and accounting. NRC frequently enters into partnership with agencies in the field, including UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, OCHA and ECHO. NRC works closely with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NMFA) and the Norwegian International Development Agency (NORAD).

Core activities

Worldwide, NRC concentrates its activities in four core areas:

• Education (basic education for children and young people)
• Shelter (temporary shelter, building and rehabilitation of houses and schools)
• Distribution (assistance of food, non-food items and return kits)
• Return facilitation (information, counseling and legal assistance)

Information, Counseling and Legal Assistance

Within the return facilitation, one of its core activities, NRC started a Civil Rights Project (CRP) in the former Yugoslavia (in Eastern Slavonia, Croatia) in 1996 in the context of the Erdut Agreement, formally ending hostilities in Croatia. The Project was intended to ensure protection of the rights of the population through legal aid. Through the work of the Eastern Slavonian CRP offices, similar needs became apparent among refugees and IDPs elsewhere in the region. A Serbia office was opened in Novi Sad in 1997. By the end of 2003, the CRP had a total of 13 offices located in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro, including the United Nations administered province of Kosovo.

The chief objective of the CRP has been to enhance the protection of the civil rights of refugees and IDPs, both in their places of origin and of temporary residence/exile. It has entailed strengthening judicial systems and ensuring equal treatment of all ethnic groups. A further objective concerns rendering assistance for voluntary repatriation and reintegration in persons’ places of origin or for integration in the place of temporary residence.

CRP has received more than half of its funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It has also been funded by other international donors, including ECHO, UNHCR, USAID and OSCE.

Upon the request of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the evaluation of the NRC’s Civil Rights Project in the former Yugoslavia was carried out between August and November 2002 by the Danish Center for Human Rights and the T&B Consult. The Evaluation Team analyzed CRP’s performance since its inception in 1996, CRP’s relevance, efficiency, quality, cost effectiveness, administration and management, and human resource enhancement.

The Evaluation Team’s findings were very positive regarding the assistance which the CRP has given to tens of thousands of persons displaced or threatened by conflict, to obtain vital documents essential to the protection of their civil rights, and the legal information, advice, assistance and representation to enable the protection of those rights.

Civil Rights Project in Serbia

The implementation of the Civil Rights Project in Serbia started in 1997 when the office in Novi Sad was opened for the purpose of assisting refugees from Croatia and Bosnia. In the subsequent years the offices in Subotica, Kraljevo, Belgrade, and Nis were opened.

By the end of 2003 CRP offices employed 35 national staff members who received about 34,000 clients (refugees from Croatia and BH and IDPs from Kosovo).

Major Activities

CRP offices have given legal aid on the issues of access to the place of origin, on property and tenancy claims as well as other legal matters hampering the reestablishment of life in the place of return.

• Provision of vital documents to displaced persons and members of minorities by means of cross- border action, through the CRP network of offices and through the cooperation with other NGOs;
• Legal assistance, counseling and representation (including in-court representation) with a number of conflict-related legal issues, including repossession of private real property, pension rights, tenancy rights, citizenship and residence rights, labour and employment rights, refugee and IDP status;
• Counseling, information and legal assistance related to the right of return to the place/country of origin;
• Dissemination of relevant legal and return related information to refugees and IDPs, NGOs and international community, through everyday office work, mobile team activities, presence in media (funding a refugee magazine “Pravi odgovor” and writing relevant articles), leaflets, posters, documentaries, TV and radio spots;
• Advocating for the rights of its target groups using all available legal avenues and basing the advocacy efforts on the information gained through individual case handling experience; acting towards the authorities to find solutions and towards the international community to apply pressure on national authorities to make changes.

You can download the 2003 report Evaluation of the Civil Rights Project (CRP) of the Norwegian Refugee Council in former Yugoslavia HERE. 

PRAXIS

The new outlook – the old zeal

In June 2003 NRC Oslo adopted the Exit Strategy related to the scaling down and withdrawing from the former Yugoslavia. Accordingly, as of January 2004 NRC closed down one CRP office in Serbia (Subotica office) and reduced the number of staff to 20.

With the guiding determination to duly carry on with the NRC Civil Rights Project, Praxis was registered as an association of citizens in June 2004 and in September 2004 it started working as a national non-governmental organization. As an NRC/CRP spin-off, Praxis has continued implementing the CRP activities with the support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Apart from the funds from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Praxis activities are funded by various donors.

Having in mind that refugees from Croatia and IDPs from Kosovo still have pronounced need for legal assistance in exercising their civil and human rights and taken into consideration that CRP assistance to these groups has been highly relevant, Praxis has continued the CRP work on protection, improvement and promotion of human rights for refugees and internally displaced persons. Praxis work is based on the solution-finding approach to the common problems faced by the target groups, mainly in the domain of property and documentation.