The Crown Princess is the patron of the Danish Refugee Council, which is in charge of distributing basic relief aid in refugee camps, both in neighbouring countries but also in Syria. The Danish Refugee Council and the Danish Red Cross are among the few relief organizations that have the Syrian regime’s permission to operate in the country and therefore play a central role in the international community’s humanitarian efforts. 

More than six million people have fled because of the Syrian civil war, two million of them to neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Lebanon and to northern Africa. Four million refugees are inside Syria. The situation is particularly chaotic in the western part of the country in and around the cities of Aleppo and Homs. There, the population is penned up between the fighting forces, and it is very difficult for the international relief organizations to get the aid through.  

As a part of The Crown Princess’s and the development minister’s programme in Jordan, visits to projects that do not have a direct relation to the war will also be included. These involve Danish-supported initiatives under the Danish Arab Partnership Programme, which focuses on women’s rights – among them, prevention of violence against women.

 

Equality and women’s rights are also priorities for Danish development assistance. The Crown Princess and the development minister have, in the past, visited Mozambique to focus on these areas.