Diakonia has about 400 partner organisations in 30 countries. Here you can read about the general direction of our work in different countries and regions. You will also find lists of our partners.

Diakonia does not implement projects on its own, but instead co-operates with and supports local organisations. We often give institutional support, instead of support directed to isolated projects. Our programmes for different countries depend on their present situation. Our work is a long-term commitment and our goal is a lasting change for the most oppressed, vulnerable or exposed people.

Main themes for our development work

In the work that Diakonia carries out together with local partners we have five common themes: 

• Human Rights
• Democratisation
• Social and Economic Justice
• Gender Equality
• Peace and reconciliation

Also, we work with mainstreaming the problems caused by the HIV/Aids pandemic. Environmental and climate issues are also integratied into all relevant parts of our work.

What does Diakonia do when a disaster strikes?

When disasters take place Diakonia carries out emergency relief work/humanitarian assistance in regions where we have well-established partners. Our partners, with their essential local knowledge, know what is most needed and who is in most need of help. Our partners are also already well-known by the people affected by the disaster, which makes the relief work easier.

Regional and local offices

Diakonia has a number of regional offices. They are responsible for the overall work and decisions about the activities in the regions. In the regional office there is a manager, executive officers and staff responsible for defined programmes. Their task is to closely follow and support our programmes and partners and also to work with monitoring, evaluations and reports of results. This work is carried out in close cooperation with the staff at our local offices and our partner organisations.