Emergency - ONG ONLUS

Milano, Lombardia, 20122 Italy

Mission Statement

EMERGENCY is an independent Italian organization. EMERGENCY provides free, high quality medical and surgical treatment to the victims of war, landmines and poverty. EMERGENCY promotes a culture of peace, solidarity and respect for human rights. Emergency's work around the world is made possible thanks to the help of thousands of volunteers and supporters. EMERGENCY is a recognised non-profit organisation. EMERGENCY is also present in UK, USA, Japan, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria. Since 1994 over 11 million people in 19 countries have received free, high quality health care by EMERGENCY.

About This Cause

EMERGENCY is an Italian NGO founded in 1994 in order to provide assistance to the civilian victims of war. EMERGENCY provides free, high-quality healthcare to victims of war, poverty and landmines, alongside building hospitals and training local staff. EMERGENCY pursues a human-rights based medicine. The right to be treated is a fundamental and inalienable right belonging to each member of the human family and is based on equality, quality, and social responsibility. Since then EMERGENCY has worked in 19 countries, building hospitals, surgical centres, rehabilitation centres, paediatric centres, health centres, outpatient and mobile clinics, a maternity centre and a cardiac surgery centre. At the request of local authorities and other organisations, EMERGENCY has also contributed to the restructuring and strengthening of existing health facilities Every day EMERGENCY deals with the wreckage caused by war and for this very reason EMERGENCY has always been committed to promoting a culture of peace. In 1994 EMERGENCY entered the campaign against antipersonnel landmines which brought Italy to ban them. In 2001, shortly before the war against Afghanistan, EMERGENCY appealed to the Italian people asking them to demonstrate against the impending war with "a white rag for peace" ("uno straccio di pace"). In September 2002, together with other organizations, EMERGENCY launched a huge campaign to prevent Italy from taking part in the war against Iraq. At the same time, EMERGENCY promoted a nationwide petition campaign called "Stop the war, sign for peace" to ask for the enforcement of Article 11 of the Italian Constitution, which repudiates any act of war. The petition was submitted to Parliament in June 2003. In 2008, with some African countries, EMERGENCY has elaborated the Manifesto for a Human Rights Based Medicine asking for a medicine based on Equality, Quality and Social responsibility. It was on the basis of these principles that the ANME (African Network of Medical Excellence) was founded in 2010, a project uniting 11 countries in the construction of Centres of Medical Excellence, with a view to strengthening health systems on the continent. In 2015, Gino Strada, war surgeon and EMERGENCY founder, was presented with the “Right Livelihood Award“, also known as the ‘alternative Nobel Prize’, created to “honour and support those who offer practical and exemplary responses to the major challenges of our time.” A few months later, EMERGENCY received another important acknowledgment: the ‘Sunhak Peace Prize’, awarded every year to individuals and organisations who have distinguished themselves for their important contribution to peace and human development. Meanwhile, EMERGENCY began internationalising its structure, leading to the creation of local organisations and volunteer groups in different countries. In order to support EMERGENCY's goals on a broader international scale, in 2008 the volunteers of the numerous chapters operating throughout the US since 2005 founded EMERGENCY USA. For the same purposes, EMERGENCY UK was founded in November 2007 (visit EMERGENCY UK website). EMERGENCY Japan started its activities in early 2011 (visit EMERGENCY Japan website), as well as EMERGENCY Switzerland, which later became EMERGENCY Switzerland Foundation. EMERGENCY Belgium started activities in 2013. An EMERGENCY volunteer groups is also present in Austria. EMERGENCY was recognized as an NGO in 1999 and as an official partner of the UN Department of Public Information in 2006. Since 2015, EMERGENCY has been part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as an Associate with Special Consultative Status. Since January 2018, EMERGENCY has been official partner of EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid (ECHO). In November 2020, the EU Humanitarian Partnership Certificate was awarded to EMERGENCY as a result of the positive assessment of the partnership application to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (ECHO). With this certificate, EMERGENCY is considered suitable to apply for EU funding for the implementation of humanitarian aid actions. EMERGENCY strongly believe that healthcare should be a basic human right. Therefore EMERGENCY: - guarantees treatment to anyone in need of assistance, without any discrimination as to race, colour, sex, religion, social origin or political opinion; - provides high quality assistance and employs standardized therapeutic and work protocols already tested in emergency situations; - trains national staff thoroughly, with the intent of handing over all the health facilities to the local health authorities as soon as self-sustainability can be achieved. EMERGENCY builds: - hospitals specifically dedicated to war victims and surgical emergencies; - physical and social rehabilitation centres; - first aid posts for emergency treatment and referral of patients to our surgical centres; - healthcare centres for primary medical assistance; paediatric clinics; maternity centres; outpatient clinics and mobile clinics for migrants and people in need; centres of medical excellence. All EMERGENCY facilities are designed, built and run by specialized international personnel, who provide training for local staff.

Emergency - ONG ONLUS
Via Santa Croce 19
Milano, Lombardia 20122
Italy
Phone 0039 02 863161
Unique Identifier 97147110155