Supported projects
#LeaveNoOneBehind offers a platform for local and solidarity projects – fast support guaranteed. Thanks to your donations, we have been able to support over 100 partner organizations in their important work since 2020. The projects are often actively run by refugees themselves or the organizations actively support those seeking protection in solidarity.
On this page you can find all the initiatives and organizations that have been supported so far.
All projects
BASE UA
BASE UA was founded by activists and journalists in the wake of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and focuses primarily on evacuation from the most heavily embattled areas of the country. BASE UA is one of the last organizations to bring people threatened by the Russian invasion to safety from Bachmut, Lysychansk or Severodonetsk. But BASE's work does not stop at evacuation: People should receive sustainable support. Among other things, two camps were organized with children and young people who had to flee the war. There they received art and trauma work.
Aegean Boat Report
Illegal pushbacks are a daily occurrence at European borders. In order to take action against them, they need to be well documented and collated. The Aegean Boat Report reports 24/7 about incidents at the borders and thus enables quick help and monitoring of "border officials''. One practice the Aegean Boat Report has been able to highlight many times: Refugees who had already reached the bottom of Lesbos are picked up by masked men, often abused, kidnapped and abandoned in the open sea on maneuverless "life rafts." There they drift until the Turkish coast guard picks them up and brings them back to Turkey. Documenting them and gathering the information is critical. Because good information not only ensures that helpers can be on the scene faster in emergencies, good information is also the best weapon against cover-up attempts by governments and their coast guards. The Aegean Boat Report has thus become an essential building block in the work of NGOs in the Aegean. Through its work, emergencies are noticed more quickly and people are rescued.
Blindspots
Blindspots helps wherever people are forgotten by the media, politics and the public. They bring the "invisible spots" of Europe into the focus of social discourse and strengthen existing aid structures. On the Bosnian-Croatian border, in the Velika Kladuša region, refugees are stuck in patched-up improvised shelters, where they are exposed and unprotected from the wind and weather. This means life-threatening cold in winter, with temperatures as low as -20 degrees. In addition, they are often robbed, beaten up and illegally pushed back by border officials. Blindspots therefore organizes stoves and firewood for the people. They build doors, windows and solar panels on the provisional huts and provide access to drinking water and hygiene facilities. They also document the inhumane and illegal violence at the borders to raise public awareness. Their work is more important now than ever in winter and can save many people from dying of cold.
Wir Packen’s an
Wherever refugees suffer under the European border regime and have to sleep on park benches, under tarpaulins or in the woods, you can find the pink boxes full of relief supplies from "Wir Packen's an". Many people have almost forgotten the pictures from the Polish-Belarusian border last year. Refugees stuck in the forest between two border strips and in the face of thousands of officers of the Polish border police. At the time, “Wir Packen's an” was one of the few organizations that managed to deliver relief supplies to the people on the ground. People are still stuck at the border, and “Wir Packen's an” is still delivering relief goods: Hand warmers, sleeping bags, thermal pants and much more. Not only on the Belarusian border, but also, for example, on the Ukrainian border with Moldova. In a feat of strength, reception stations including six sanitary containers with showers and toilets were provided in this forgotten region within a very short time.
Liebe im Karton
"Liebe im Karton" e.V. or Lovebox is a volunteer Christmas package delivery campaign that has been distributing gifts to vulnerable children in Germany, Europe and the so-called Middle East since 2016. In addition, they organize year-round deliveries of relief supplies to crisis regions, including Ukraine, to support local people and rebuild destroyed structures. Together with their active network partner "Netzwerk Ziviler Krisenstab", they have been managing the coordination and logistics of more than 6,500 pallets of urgently needed relief supplies to Ukraine since February 2022.
Human Rights Legal Project
The Human Rights Legal Project (HRLP) is a legal aid organisation that combats human rights violations against refugees in Greece through legal representation, advocacy and public relations work and takes action against the criminalisation of refugees at the EU's external border.
Iran Journal
Reporting on the Iranian revolution and the regime's deadly violence has never been more difficult - or more important. Every day, it becomes more difficult to get reliable information. Iran Journal has been reporting on events in Iran since 2010, especially on human rights, gender issues, political and personal freedoms and plays an important role in the classification of events today. The aim is to give the readership and decision-makers in the German-speaking world a transparent view and insight into civil society developments in Iran, so that they can gain a holistic view for their opinion-forming process and integrate these impressions into their work. Iran Journal is thus the only independent medium in the German-speaking world with regular coverage of events in the Islamic Republic.
Boat Theater Group
People sometimes live for years in refugee camps without any perspective and under the most precarious circumstances. In order to confront the lack of hope and perspective, a group of refugees on Lesvos founded the "Boat Theater Group". 14 people come together regularly in this group to develop creatively and rehearse. In August 2021, the group performed their play for 10 days at the LeaveNoOneBehind Warehouse next to the camp, creating a place of encounter and art alongside the horror of the camp. In the meantime, the project has moved to Athens.
Viva Con Aqua
Viva con Agua supports clean drinking water worldwide! They support water, sanitation and hygiene projects with local and international partner organizations and a network of people. In cooperation with UNICEF, Viva con Agua provides clean drinking water and hygiene kits to families in Ukraine and in support centers near the border.
Support of smaller NGOs with consumables
We have set up a fund on Lesvos in cooperation with a Greek NGO (Lesvos Solidarity), where small NGOs can use the original receipts to claim money for consumables (for example food and hygiene products), so that they can focus on the work on the ground and expand their capacities there.
Alliance4Ukraine
Alliance4Ukraine is a coordinating alliance of civil society organizations, foundations, government institutions, and businesses. The goal of the alliance is to create an ecosystem of interlocking solutions to the needs of people on the move. The supporting organizations from the Alliance4Ukraine want to strengthen existing - primarily civil society - structures in Germany that can, in particular, enable or facilitate the reception of people on the move.
Visions for Children
The situation in Afghanistan has been disastrous since the Taliban seized power. One of the groups suffering the most are girls: about half of the Afghan schoolgirls have been denied school attendance for more than a year. Visions for Children has found a way to support Afghan schoolgirls despite this. A new school construction project will reach about 1,000 students in a region of the country where girls of all grades can still go to school. In order to provide them with high-quality education, the construction of new classrooms is urgently needed, as they are currently taught in the hallway or in tents.
Little Lotus
The Little Lotus Learning Center is an unusual educational institution. They work with refugee children in the town of Mytilene and follow the approach of learning through play, interaction and creativity. Daily activities are provided to give the children not only structure, but also something to look forward to each day. Little Lotus Learning Center is a safe place for children and a place of kindness, support, encouragement and joy. Since the opening of our Community Center, Little Lotus has been running the kindergarten in it.
Tolou
Tolou is a non-profit association with the goal of promoting access to education and housing, as well as personal development. In the new camp on Lesvos, they have built a team of eleven Afghan volunteer teachers who design and lead classes there depending on their own abilities. On Lesvos alone, more than 200 students benefit from this service every day. However, several hundred refugees also live in Mytilene, which is why Tolou is also opening a classroom in this town, where around 100 students have the opportunity to learn English, French, Greek and painting. In order to offer psychological stability to its participants, Tolou has also rented two apartments in Athens to accommodate people and offer them a safe space while they complete administrative procedures and have the opportunity to attend to professional or family matters.
Legal Centre Lesvos
In 2021, the practice of so-called "pushbacks", in which protection seekers are picked up either at sea or on land and forcibly repatriated, which is contrary to international law, reached a completely new quality. Refugees who had already reached the soil of Lesbos are picked up by masked men, often abused, kidnapped and abandoned on maneuverless "life rafts" on the open sea. Refugees, who are subjected to this violence rarely have access to lawyers or options to receive information about their rights. The Legal Center Lesvos fights against this and receives people directly after their arrival to provide them with legal support. This year alone, over 500 people were registered and brought into the regular asylum process. This protects refugees from further legal violations. In addition, the organization was one of the few to manage to bring two cases of human rights violations to the European Court of Justice.
LNOB Warehouse Lesbos
The #LeaveNoOneBehind Warehouse is located less than a five-minute walk from the Kara Tepe camp and serves as a logistics center for all sorts of donations in kind. Through campaigns such as "Tour d'Amour" and "#10.000Schuhe", donations in kind could be collected and sorted in cooperation with other NGOs in Germany in order to deliver them to the camp residents on site in Lesvos. At the same time, the donations in kind could also be redistributed to other regions such as Chios, Samos, Athens and Thessaloniki, or even as far as Bosnia and Calais in northern France. In addition, the building serves as an event center for various happenings such as the exhibition "#RememberMoria", "The Boat Theater Group" or for discussion rounds with political delegations.
Be an Angel
Children in the Russian-occupied regions are often at risk of forced adoption. The association Be an Angel focuses its work in Ukraine on evacuations of more than 16,000 threatened families from the Donbass region and especially on the problem of children at risk.
Makerspace Lesvos
Camps for refugees are one of some of the worst places in the world. Some people live there for years under precarious conditions without any prospects. The goal of Makerspace Lesvos is to make life a little easier for the people by providing simple support. The people behind this small organization, many of them themselves refugees living in the camp, help repair and exchange phones, bicycles and clothes. They also teach each other how to make repairs in workshops. This solves problems - and provides small joys. The space allows people to share their technical skills, continue to develop them, and learn new ones. Being a valuable part of a team often restores the refugees' confidence. They reclaim some of the respect and dignity that is often lost through the systematic disempowerment and repression of humanity in the camps.
Helpbus
In order to intervene in cases of short-term humanitarian disasters, such as the winter in Ukraine, the activists of the Helpbus provide fast and unbureaucratic care. The Helpbus provides support in crisis hotspots where mobile assistance is needed. The Helpbus is closely networked with local activists and can be on site within a few days. This means that donations in kind as well as medical care for about 150 people a day can be provided and evacuations can be carried out.
The Shower Box
We operate a Community Center on Lesvos, with 40 hot water showers, consisting of four containers with ten showers each. Also, there is a container with toilets. In addition to providing urgently needed shower and washing facilities in general, the project also serves to treat itch mites, which are currently spreading in the camp on Lesvos. It is also an important contribution to protecting the privacy of the people in the camp.
Food Packages – Siniparxi
The distribution of urgently needed food packages is handled by the Greek organization Siniparxi. The packages contain 12 to 14 different items that enable camp residents and people in need on Lesvos to cook their own meals. Each week, 600 to 800 people have access to the food packages and are offered an alternative to the inedible camp food.
Low-Tech with Refugees
Low-Tech with Refugees was created to help refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos to develop and build creative technical solutions that are useful in everyday life. At the heart of the work is the operation of the Low-Tech Makerspace on the premises of One Happy Family, which houses a bicycle, wood, metal, and electronics workshop. In addition to providing tools and materials, the focus is on sharing knowledge and building skills. Their headquarters are in Briançon, France and they operate other sites there as well as in Marseille to work with refugees.
Action for Women
The Pomegranate Project is a women-led initiative designed and implemented by, for and with women. They provide a holistic protection and empowerment model for women who have fled to Europe, prioritizing women at risk of and survivors of gender-based violence. Further they offer a women-only safe space, secure housing, mental health and psychosocial support, case management, and income-generating opportunities to develop and strengthen the skills, resources, and resilience of women who have fled to Europe. Their mostly Greek team helps build networks of support and solidarity between displaced women and the Greek community. This holistic model helps women regain their power - both individually and collectively.
Clowns without Borders
Clowns without Borders regularly visit Lesvos for a few days and try to improve the situation of the children on site. The volunteer Clowns without Borders take into account the special situation of the children with refugee experience and consider both the respective cultural backgrounds and the difficult living situation in the refugee camps on Lesvos.
Kitrinos Healthcare
Kitrinos Healthcare is a medical NGO that has provided care for people fleeing the burned-down Moria camp on Lesvos. Kitrinos has been working in Greece since 2015, and has had a clinic in Moria since 2018, where especially patients with chronic diseases are cared for. In addition, Kitrinos is responsible for providing medical care to a large group of mothers and children at UNICEF Tapuat School, which has been converted into an emergency shelter since the fire. The organization lost much of its equipment and supplies in the Moria fire, though the medical needs of many refugees have grown. Kintrinos also purchased the washers and dryers, which are now being operated at the LNOB Community Center and are part of the anti-itch mite program for the camp in Lesvos.
STELP
STELP e.V. is a non-profit organization from Stuttgart and supports in crisis areas with a network of volunteers, partners and sponsors through fast and direct access to food, sanitary products, clothing and clean water. With projects on three continents, STELP's long-term goal is to sustainably improve the lives of people in need by helping them to help themselves. For LeaveNoOneBehind, STELP e.V. provided rapid emergency aid in Camp Lipa after a fire broke out there. On site, they provided people with necessities including sleeping bags, blankets, cooking pots and food packages. At the same time, STELP has increased capacity for teaching on the ground in Lesvos in cooperation with the School of Peace and delivered more than 500 tons of relief supplies to Ukraine and the embattled areas. Donations and funding is used to finance further aid transports and to purchase urgently needed relief supplies. Besides, STELP is working specifically on the immediate evacuation of people from Ukraine, which is directly funded by the grant.
TMR
TMR Refugee Aid Ukraine Berlin e.V. was founded in the course of the war in Ukraine at the beginning of March to support people fleeing the war zone. TMR operates in the region around Odessa and evacuates in difficult missions mainly people behind the Russian frontline. The donations are used e.g. for the purchase of evacuation vehicles or the monthly fuel costs.
Foundation Saving an Angel
Since its establishment in 2001, the Saving an Angel Foundation has been distributing funds to help children in need. The donation supports the project UNHIDE - Emergency Aid, which organizes extensive deliveries of relief supplies from Germany to Ukraine on the one hand, and the care of Ukrainian children and young people in the UNHIDE HOME in Germany on the other. The children receive meals, creative workshops, lessons and care by trauma therapists.
FENIX Humanitarian Legal Aid
The violence against refugees at Europe's external borders escalates further and further. Human rights violations have become a daily occurrence, and refugees almost never have access to lawyers or information about their rights. Fenix challenges this through their work: Refugees receive free legal advice and representation as well as protection and support for mental health issues. Fenix works with a holistic approach: All those seeking advice receive holistic legal assistance, addressing their individual legal protection as well as mental health needs. Their special needs are taken into account and they are offered tools to cope with the very complicated procedures. The goal is to empower refugees and overcome barricades between them and their access to the legal system. In addition, Fenix brings cases to the Greek and European Courts to demand for compliance with human rights.
Salvamento Marítimo Humanitario
The Aita Mari is a rescue ship operated by the Basque NGO Salvamento Maritimo Humanitario (SMH). The Aita Mari has recently completed modifications to adapt to Italian requirements and is now operational again to rescue people fleeing war and violence in their countries of origin. The ship has space for 120 people on deck and is equipped with a small clinic, as well as a rescue and medical crew.
Northern Lights Aid
Northern Lights Aid (NLA) is a small NGO that supports the residents of the Perigiali refugee camp in Kavala, Greece. By distributing food, clothing, hygiene items, and other materials, NLA seeks to provide the basic necessities of life for the people affected. Located within walking distance of the camp, Northern Lights Aid provides a safe environment to learn, create and socialize through English classes, a skill-sharing workshop, a community garden and a free clothing store. NLA works closely with locals and camp residents to promote social inclusion and solidarity within the community. The recently expanded emergency assistance program supports particularly vulnerable families with food, medicine and transportation to ensure the asylum process runs smoothly.
We become active where states fail to act. But only with your support!
With our work we put pressure on German politics to take responsibility and finally change something! Your donations will be used for the #LeaveNoOneBehind campaign: For our own projects, as well as for funded projects and organizations that provide urgently needed support at the EU’s external borders and refugee routes.