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The Foreign Minister has allocated DKK eight million to cooperation between companies and relief organizations
Danish companies can develop solutions that will make life better in refugee camps around the world.
But it is expensive to develop new products, and therefore, people are happy in Danish Industry that Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen (V) has allocated DKK eight million kroner to cooperation between companies and relief organizations.
“Projects in early development are high cost, and when developing products for the relief market, it is uncertain whether a company can make money in the future,” says Marie Gad, Senior Consultant of Danish Industries.
“The new initiative could mean that there are companies who say: Let us take the chance. We will try to create a new solution, and we hope that we can make a business out of it in the long term,” she believes.
So far it has been long-term development cooperation, vocational programs that have been devised. But now companies could also receive grants to address specific problems of refugees.
Every year, UN organizations invest billions of dollars in refugee camps. “Despite Denmark’s small size, we are one of the ten largest suppliers to the UN system,” says Marie Gad.
“Danish companies are already really good to bid on the market. Companies can develop new technologies that can make a positive difference in the refugee camps. It is not something that relief agencies can do alone,” she says.
She highlights Grundfos, which has developed a new pump that is suitable for providing clean water, for example in refugee camps, and the company BLUETOWN, which has developed a solution that could give refugees access to the Internet in the camps.
The new support feature is part of the program Danida Business Explorer.
Here there has so far been the ability to apply for funding for projects in Africa and Asia and a number of developing countries. Now also projects in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan and the Central African Republic could be supported.
Source media: / Ritzau /