Ideology

The following will give you an idea of our structure, ideology, methods and objectives.

The structure

projekt UDENFOR works on a national and cross-European basis. We work directly with homeless and marginalised people in the streets, primarily in the Copenhagen area, and at the same time we are continuously compiling experience and knowledge about this area, which we seek to use to improve conditions for homeless and marginalised people both practically and politically.

projekt UDENFOR is an NGO. Our scope does not include tasks which can be carried out by the general public social services. Our purpose is to offer help and carry out tasks which the public or other social organisations will not or cannot perform.

We are funded by public as well as private contributions, but never in a way that limits our freedom to carry out work in accordance with our own ideology, methods and objectives, as they have been described in our Articles, Section 2, and as they are described here.

Our ideology

projekt UDENFOR is a non-public, non-profit organisation. We consider it fundamental that there should be no restrictions on our freedom to act and work independently, subject, of course, to any given national legislative framework.

Our organisation was established within an altruistic European-humanistic tradition to help people who are, for some reason, not able to take care of themselves. We give assistance based on the individual need of the moment with no strings attached. This means that we do not demand any particular behaviour, nor do we expect any specific results from our users.  Furthermore, we are always critical of injustices done against individuals or particular groups of people, and we maintain that each individual’s basic human rights should be regarded as sacrosanct.

In this way, we consider it not only our duty to help, but also our responsibility to ensure each individual’s right to a dignified life, as described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We therefore maintain, on our own behalf as well as on the behalf of society, that every individual that we help has the right to a standard of living that ensures his or her good health and well-being, as well as access to food, safety, accommodation and other basic necessities.

The method

projekt UDENFOR carries out practical street-level work, and compiles, documents and disseminates knowledge and experience on factors of marginalisation and the living conditions of homeless and marginalised people.

Our target group consists of individuals who either cannot or do not wish to receive the help they so desperately need and should receive. The street work is always carried out by both professionals and volunteers, and efforts are motivated by an altruistic conviction. This means that we never have a hidden agenda, and that there are never formal or strategic demands involved, except in cases where it would go against common sense not to give assistance with a clear strategic objective. An example of this could be compulsory treatment.

We consider it an essential element of our work to unveil any infringement of legal rights of an individual, or a particular group of people to which we may become witnesses, and to argue their cause on their behalf.

For this purpose we have established outreach, training and research activities and we ensure that the necessary communication channels are open to us, both locally, nationally and internationally. In this way we are able to take part in socio-political debates.

The objectives

Our basic objective is to carry out tasks to the best of our abilities, to try to do the right thing and to never give up.

Our street work initiatives seek to alleviate conditions, and, where possible, to improve living conditions for those who are homeless and/or marginalised. However, we do not seek to treat nor normalise and re-socialize individuals at any cost.

By documenting marginalising factors in society, and communicating our findings, we seek to create the basis for debate on changes, thereby preventing further marginalisation.