We all have the tendency to focus on the bigger picture: brought to us by the courtesy of modern-day CNN Effect, while the small things we often ignore, make things happen around us. Such are the results of the works of the unsung heroes whose work serve not the privileged but the needy and the forgotten. Irrespective of race, gender, ethnic origin, etc, etc, a department created some ten years ago is upholding the Austrian Red Cross banner that say „aus Liebe Zum Menschen“ Out of Love For Mankind. This is why they deserve my last article on AFRIKANET before my Sudan Blog.

The Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD), is one of such unsung heroes whose work is to support fair asylum procedures by collecting, selecting and validating information on the countries of origin in a neutral and transparent way. In conjunction with this year’s human rights day and ACCORD’s ten year anniversary, they have deserved heroic status. As the Director General of the Austrian Red Cross Wolfgang Kopetzky said in his speech at the annual pre Christmas dinner held on the 9th of December 2008, these are heroes we should not forget because they make it happen behind the scene.

ACCORD is a department of the Austrian Red Cross and is co-financed and supported by among others the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the Austrian Ministry of Interior and the European Refugee Fund (ERF).

Their job is to do independent research upon individual requests and queries from various stakeholders involved in asylum procedures in Austria. They run an online-portal, www.ecoi.net, where more than 100 sources (reports and documents from governmental, non-governmental and academic sources, as well as media reports) are uploaded and carefully monitored on a regular basis. Relevant information for processing asylum claims or other forms of international protection is transferred into the portal which is freely accessible to any person interested. The rich information that ACCORD’s online database ECOI.NET contain, has become a catalyst in delivery of accurate information on such troubled countries as Afghanistan, Iraq, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Haiti, and so on.

In addition to their daily work, they train decision makers and legal representatives of asylum seekers and researchers from all over the world in best practices of conducting research on countries of origin and seek to spread high quality standards to make sure that this work is really able to contribute to fair procedures.

Guided generally by the fundamental ideas of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement and in particular by three out of it seven principles: “impartiality, neutrality and independence” they are strongly dedicated to their goals and tirelessly working to achieve them.

Prior to the establishment of ACCORD, decision makers of asylum proceedings have sometimes had to depend on their guts rather than on professionally researched Country of Origin Information (COI) to make asylum decisions. With ACCORD in the picture, all parties involved in asylum procedures receive objectively collected information about their stories. This may prevent people from being deported into life-threatening situations. However, their job is to stay neutral and not take sides with any of the parties involved. The side they take is supporting protection via fair procedures.

Among other things, the departments human resource policy is not the classical approach of working for immigrants. Rather, it employs people of diverse backgrounds in Austria, stretching from Cameroun to Iran, to Ghana, to Japan etc.

With budgets far below that of an average centre of its kind, ACCORD is constantly providing one of the needed services to humanity-those who are forced to flee their countries and those who receive them. It therefore deserves to be celebrated as one of our unsung heroes on the day of celebrating Human Rights.

Link: ACCORD

 

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