Cologne/Geneva. From 19 to 23 May, representatives from governments and international organizations from around the world will meet at the United Nations in Geneva for the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, where they will discuss how to better protect communities against disasters. One of the participants will be the 11-year-old Tran Cong Danh, who will travel from Vietnam this week to share his experiences as a child with disability at the event. 

Danh, who is mobility impaired, lives with his family in a Vietnamese village that is flooded several times a year. Malteser International is helping prepare residents in his and 46 other villages in the region for floods and natural disasters. Danh will bring up an urgent topic to the conference participants: people with disabilities are not able to flee quickly from approaching storms without assistance.

According to the Global Platform website, persons with disabilities are disproportionally affected by large disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake and Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami – at the latter, the mortality rate for persons with disabilities was more than double the rate for the rest of the population. Danh would like to help change that. “I was so scared when the water started to rise in our home, I clung very tightly onto my parents’ arms”, Danh says. “Persons with disabilities need to evacuate earlier than other villagers, so they can be safe.” Together with other children at the conference, Danh will learn more about Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and prepare recommendations on how to incorporate the children’s voices and needs into the process. 

Malteser International, the Order of Malta’s humanitarian relief agency, has helped 47 Vietnamese villages keep their communities safe with emergency plans, early warning systems and trained rescue teams. “All of the villagers are involved in disaster preparedness,” says Sae Kani, inclusive DRR advisor at Malteser International. “Persons with disabilities are also playing an important role, for instance in early warning. The communities are now stronger and more united.”

Malteser International is a member of the Disability-inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction Network.

Attention editors: Danh (11) and his mother, as well as Sae Kani, inclusive DRR advisor for Malteser International, are available for interviews in Geneva from 18 May. Contact through Malteser International’s headquarters at +49 221-9822-169 or +49 151-146-29623.

Danh will participate in the session “The Resilient Future We Want: Children in Disaster Risk Reduction”, 22 May 2013, 15:00 - 16:30,
Room 4

Photos are available for download in our media gallery

Cologne. On Thursday, 16 May, Malteser International’s website will go dark in solidarity with the Syrian people. 28 German-based international organizations have united to call attention to the plight of Syrian refugees and the large-scale humanitarian tragedy taking place in the region. 

One-third of the Syrian population is currently in need of aid. Since the beginning of 2013, the number of Syrian refugees rose from 475,000 to nearly 1.2 million. The campaign’s message, “Stop. Look at us!” aims to raise the public’s awareness of the suffering caused by the Syrian crisis, and to motivate a stronger commitment from political actors and civil society in calling for an end to the violence. During the day of action, visitors to the organization’s websites will see a black screen and a video portraying the dramatic situation in Syria. The online campaign will also take place in social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter, where friends and supporters can participate and show their support.

Malteser International, the Order of Malta’s humanitarian relief agency, has been active in Syria, Turkey and Lebanon since August 2012, providing emergency aid for more than 30,000 people. Until the end of June, the organization’s local partners will continue to distribute food packages and baby food inside Syria and in the border regions. In addition, a project in the medical sector is currently in the pipeline: a temporary field hospital will be set up in Kilis, on the Turkish-Syrian border, in order to alleviate the burden on the Turkish health care system. The hospital will be operated by Syrian and Turkish medical personnel, who will in turn be guided and trained by Malteser International staff. In the long term, the medical unit will be brought over the border and operate directly in Syria. The project also aims to build the capacity of Syrian civil society groups in Turkey.  

Attention editors: Thomas Molitor, emergency relief coordinator, is available for interviews. Contact through Malteser International’s headquarters at +49 221-9822-169.

Support Malteser International’s relief efforts in Syria, Lebanon  and Turkey with a donation!

Last year, a child died every minute from malaria. Many of these deaths could be avoided with a simple, yet efficient weapon against the disease: education.  To empower the parents and children of two refugee camps in Thailand against malaria, Malteser International commemorated World Malaria Day on 25 April with a campaign combining awareness and fun.

In the two camps at the Thai-Myanmar border where Malteser International works to improve the health and hygiene situation of Karen and Burmese refugees, 250 residents participated actively in the day’s festivities. Our teams marched through the camps with megaphones, calling the residents’ attention and inviting them to learn more about the disease. In keeping with this year’s slogan, “Invest in the Future: Defeat Malaria”, they prepared several activities to get children involved early in malaria prevention. In one of the games, the children were sent out in groups to find mosquito larvae. All groups discovered them in stagnant water, which is the mosquitoes’ breeding place, and proceeded to clear all drains and puddles in their homes’ surroundings. The children also played games with mosquito nets, one of the most efficient tools to prevent malaria, and participated in a drawing competition and a quiz, where they could show their knowledge of how malaria is transmitted, what symptoms it causes or in which months it is most prevalent.

“At the end of the day we should go home and tell our family and friends about the knowledge we gained today,” Naw Gree Ler, Health Coordinator in the Mae La Oon Camp Committee, told the participants. Through campaigns such as the World Malaria Day, as well as within its main program focus on health and hygiene , Malteser International has significantly helped to reduce the number of Malaria cases over the years in the refugee camps. “Those who were present today will certainly contribute towards further reduction and eventually the eradication of malaria, which puts 1.3 billion people in Southeast Asia at risk,” she added. 

World Malaria Day has been celebrated around the world for the sixth time this year and calls attention to the need for investment in combating the disease, which is responsible for 660,000 deaths annually. 

A home visits program is reaching out to 400 Syrian refugee families living in precarious improvised shelters in northern Lebanon. With Malteser International’s support, the Lebanese Association of the Order of Malta’s socio-medical centre in Khaldieh is sending out health professionals to visit refugees in Zgharta and Kfarzayna villages in order to conduct health awareness sessions, educating the refugees on various issues such as personal hygiene, maternal care and the importance of vaccination.

“When I do home visits, I see a lot of misery,” says Rouba Azize, social worker at the Khaldieh clinic and one of the coordinators of the emergency relief efforts for the refugees. “People are living in basements, sleeping on cardboard on the floor. The hygienic conditions are horrendous and a threat to public health.”

One of those visits takes Azize to a 200-square-meter basement in the Zgharta region, near the Khaldieh clinic. There, around 100 people live in small divisions in a dark, damp room. “Many of the children here have skin infections; rubella is also going around,” says Azize. The Syrian refugees visited benefit from a monthly emergency food package, a hygienic kit, blankets and mattresses.

“The need is enormous. There are many diseases and there’s a high risk of epidemics breaking out among the refugees,” says Miladia Hamati Aoun, a nurse at the Khaldieh clinic who cares for the Syrian patients. 

In late March, the clinic conducted a three-day vaccination campaign for dozens of refugee children and teenagers, helping to protect them and their families from diseases such as polio and rubella. The children also received vitamin A supplements as a prevention measure. 

“The refugees that I help are very grateful for the help,” Aoun says. “They often tell me, ‘May God protect you, your family and your home’ – this blessing has a very special meaning, when you know the horrible things they’ve seen and experienced. They’ve lost their homes and family members.”

Since Malteser International started supporting the Kahldieh center in August of 2012, more than 1,300 Syrians have received free medical treatment.


Support Malteser International’s relief efforts in Syria, Lebanon  and Turkey with a donation!

Reference: “Syria emergency relief”

“Call for a world free of TB” – in keeping with this year’s theme for World TB Day on March 24, Malteser International joined other organizations, local government and citizen groups and took to the streets in Kenya to increase awareness of tuberculosis.

The awareness day provided Malteser International with the opportunity to lay the foundation for the newly initiated Community TB project in Kajiado County, located south of Nairobi towards the Tanzanian border. This very vast and remote area is populated mainly by the Maasai, a community which still adheres to its semi-nomadic traditions. The goal of the project is to increase TB detection in the region as well as the local population’s knowledge about the disease.

Dozens of people participated in the World TB Day events in Kajiado and Loitokitok, which included educational games, a 100-meter dash and an awareness walk. Malteser International also sponsored a 30-minute talk show on a local Masaai vernacular radio station.

Malteser International’s activities as part of the project include strengthening two local community based organizations, providing support group meetings for patients, raising awareness in the community through school health education, and training community health workers.

Tuberculosis (TB) still kills 1.4 million people every year, making it the deadliest infectious disease after AIDS. In Kenya, TB continues to pose a major challenge to public health. World TB Day commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacillus which caused tuberculosis.

Malteser International started its TB control program in Kenya in 2002, initially supporting 8 health facilities in the slums of Nairobi.

It is with great sorrow that we have learned about the sudden death of our staff member Martin Lucas Idele, who worked as an accountant at Malteser International’s office in Nairobi, Kenya. Martin was 29 years old and died on 20 March after complications following a traffic accident. He is survived by his wife, Stella Shyamala.

Idele joined the accounts team in the Africa Support Unit in Nairobi in 2010, first in temporary assignments and, since January 2013, as a permanent staff member. He also worked for six months as an administrator for Malteser International in Rumbek, South Sudan. He was highly esteemed by his peers and known as an open, helpful, warm and joyful colleague.

In a tribute to Idele, many staff members wrote of how they will remember him: “You fitted in immediately probably due to your open, gentle and loving nature,” one note read. “You were a joy to work with, very patient and willing, not to mention keeping us entertained in the office with background music.” Another added, “I admired the fact that I never saw him angry, not even slightly, and then there was his huge smile and wave every morning. It’s hard to look at his desk right now without wishing I had told him I thought he was a true gentleman.”

We at Malteser International are very grateful for Martin’s contributions to our work in Africa. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time.

The school children in the village of Hpar Lin Kyaut Tan, in Kayin (Karen) State, Myanmar, got to celebrate World Water Week this year in their brand new school. The school was recently built by Malteser International as part of a wider program in the region to improve health, education, access to water and sanitation and disaster preparedness. 

The day was celebrated with educational sessions on the connection between water and health and hygiene. Malteser International staff explained to the children the importance of this year’s World Water Day theme, “Water Cooperation”.  Photos displayed examples of water use from various countries, and the students participated in an art competition by drawing about the role of water in daily life.

“World Water Day is a great occasion to teach our children about the importance of water and hygienic water use to our health,” says Bijay Shresta, Malteser International’s programme coordinator in Kayin. “It is even more exciting to be able to do it in a brand new school, in an environment which is conducive to learning.”

The school was built with financial support from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Malteser International is committed to improving access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene in many countries around the world. According to the United Nations, almost 800 million people continue to lack access to clean drinking water, and 3.5 million people die each year as a result of poor water conditions. More than a billion people have no access to sanitary facilities.

Cologne. On the second anniversary of the Syrian conflict that has so far caused more than 70,000 deaths and led more than one million to flee the country, Malteser International is calling attention to the daily struggle for survival of displaced Syrian mothers with small children.

“Their needs, especially the children’s needs, increase every single day”, says Thomas Molitor, emergency coordinator at Malteser International. “An adult can sometimes make do with less food. But infants need baby food in order to develop – and they need it every day”.

Recently, Malteser International scaled up its aid in the region to cover an additional 13,000 people, including new cross-border relief operations in Turkey and northern Syria. Distribution teams are bringing emergency food packages and baby food from Turkey into the Syrian districts of A’Zaz, Afrin and Al Bab, a rural, opposition-controlled region to the north of Aleppo. The food aid will benefit 750 families and 500 infants for a total of 5 months.

In Turkey, Malteser International is also supporting a school in the border district of Kilis, where 1,350 Syrian children currently attend classes. Malteser International is paying an allowance to teachers, subsidizing running costs, and supplying school materials, so the school can meet the high demand until at least next June.  In addition, the children receive a healthy snack three times a week. “Children learn better when their stomachs aren’t empty”, Molitor says. 

Malteser International has been helping the displaced population within Syria and in Turkey and Lebanon since July 2012. The organization distributed emergency kits, heating ovens, blankets and winter clothing to more than 20,000 people in the region. It has also supported a health clinic of the Order of Malta in Lebanon, which offers free health care to Syrian refugees, with medication and medical equipment.


Attention editors: Thomas Molitor, emergency relief coordinator, is available for interviews. Contact through Malteser International’s headquarters at +49 221-9822-169 or +49 151-146-29623. 


Malteser International is the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitarian aid. The organisation provides aid in about 100 projects in more than 20 countries without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Christian values and the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence are the foundation of its work. For further information: www.malteser-international.org and www.orderofmalta.int


Support Malteser International’s relief efforts in Syria, Lebanon  and Turkey with a donation!

Reference: “Syria emergency relief”

Cologne. Malteser International, the Order of Malta’s humanitarian relief agency, congratulates Pope Francis on his election as head of the Catholic Church. The organization welcomes the Argentinian pope’s personal commitment to the vulnerable and marginalized around the world.

“We are overjoyed about the election of our Holy Father, who has chosen the name of Francis, in reference to St. Francis of Assisi, herald of peace, servant of the poor and a man of dialogue between religions,” says Thierry de Beaumont-Beynac, President of Malteser International. “The election of a Latin American pope is an important step as we work towards solving global challenges such as poverty, hunger and injustice, which is the traditional mission of the Order of Malta.” 

Malteser International is active in more than 20 countries worldwide and has programs in four Latin-American countries. A current goal of the organization is to increase its commitment and expand its programs in the Americas – later this year, Malteser International will open its American headquarters in Miami, Florida in the United States.  



Malteser International is the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitarian aid. The organisation provides aid in about 100 projects in more than 20 countries without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Christian values and the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence are the foundation of its work. For further information: www.malteser-international.org and www.orderofmalta.int.

Download high resolution photos of the reconstruction project.

Cologne.  Two years after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that changed Japan’s history, efforts to rebuild the regions affected by the disaster continue at a very slow pace.  Fortunately, the construction work on the new children’s home Fujinosono is progressing steadily and nearing completion. On 29 June, the home will be inaugurated. The project, led by Malteser International, the Order of Malta’s humanitarian relief agency, aims to become a model for the reconstruction efforts in northern Japan. 

The building, located in the town of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture, will provide a safe home for 45 children and also serve as a barrier-free evacuation center in case of disaster. The new home not only meets the latest standards in terms of child-friendly spaces, but also incorporates a cutting-edge renewable energy system with solar panels and a biomass heating system, making it energy independent and allowing it to run reliably during an emergency. 

Ever since their home was heavily damaged by the earthquake on 11 March 2011 and thus made uninhabitable, the children and staff of Fujinosono have been anxiously waiting for a new home. Since December 2011, they have lived in a temporary container shelter on the home’s grounds. 

“The children have been following the construction efforts with excitement”, says Sister Caelina Mauer, Fujinosono’s director and a Franciscan nun. “Every day, they see a little bit of progress, and so the construction site is a huge symbol of hope for them”. 

The children and youth living at Fujinosono stem, for the most part, from underprivileged families that are not able to care for them; they were often abused or neglected, and many suffer from trauma or other mental disorders, while some are orphans. In the new home, the large dormitories will be replaced by smaller living units, where children and youth of different age groups will live together like in a family; teenagers will have more privacy and a quiet working place. “This should help the children to better cope with their traumas and increase their self-esteem”, Caelina says. 

In addition to Malteser International’s own funds and countless private donations, the home counted on the financial support of the international Caritas network as well as several corporate and public donors.
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Attention editors: Sae Kani, Malteser International’s project coordinator in Japan, is available for interviews. Contact through Malteser International’s headquarters at +49 221-9822-169 or +49 151-146-29623.

Malteser International is the worldwide relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta for humanitarian aid. The organisation provides aid in about 100 projects in more than 20 countries without distinction of religion, race or political persuasion. Christian values and the humanitarian principles of impartiality and independence are the foundation of its work. For further information: www.malteser-international.org and www.orderofmalta.int