Organisation
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a private humanitarian organisation, founded in 1956.

Danish Refugee Council is an umbrella organisation, including member organisations and volunteer groups. National or humanitarian organisations are eligible for the Danish Refugee Council. However, all member organisations must be non-political.

The Council
The Council is the Danish Refugee Council’s highest authority. The Council includes the following:
Up to three representatives from each member organisation
Six representatives from volunteer groups and councelling entities cooperating with the Danish Refugee Council
The Danish Refugee Council’s Council

The Executive Committee
The Executive Committee has the overall responsibility for the overall management of the Danish Refugee Council. The Chair of the Executive Commitee is appointed by the Council.

Vision, mission and values
As a private humanitarian organisation, DRC’s work covers all aspects of refugee issues based on humanitarian principles and human rights. Our overarching mission is to assist and protect refugees and to empower them towards a better future.
We strive to provide sustainable solutions for refugees, displaced people and host communities coupled with the objective of enabling those we assist to live dignified lives.

Our Mission
We assist refugees and the displaced, protect their rights and empower them towards a better future.

Our Vision
A dignified life for all displaced.

Our Values
Humanitarian approach
The right to a dignified life takes precedence over politics and principles. DRC insists on the right of the individual to receive humanitarian aid and on our right and duty to provide such aid, whenever possible, regardless of political circumstance. This means that our advocacy will sometimes be subordinate to our duty to help save lives, and that we will always provide assistance, regardless of whether such an effort could be interpreted politically. Moreover, in all of our interactions we insist on the dignity and autonomous right of the individual to use their abilities in shaping their lives as they see fit.

Respect
Our belief in the equal rights of all human beings. DRC takes a rights-based approach to its work. We work to ensure that all displaced persons can enjoy the rights, protections, and opportunities guaranteed to them in applicable conventions and laws, and seek to combat discrimination in all forms. In Denmark and elsewhere, we work to ensure that authorities and the international community fully adhere to their responsibilities towards people in distress, and we assist until these authorities are able to manage their responsibilities independently.

Independence and neutrality
DRC works exclusively on the basis of its mandate towards the displaced. DRC focuses on issues concerning refugees and displaced persons, remaining strictly neutral when it comes to party politics. This also means that in conflict settings our humanitarian work is predicated on the principle of independence and neutrality in regard to the conflicting parties.

Inclusion
DRC wishes to carry out its initiatives in a climate of respect and collaboration with the people we are trying to help, thereby ensuring that they are empowered by the interaction. This means that we ask beneficiaries for their consensual participation in the planning and implementation of interventions, as well as their perspectives in assessing the outcomes. Our collaborations with people in distress ultimately seek to utilize and strengthen their ability to cope without assistance in the future.

Honesty and transparency
DRC is accountable to the people we help, those that support us and those with whom we collaborate.This means that we are honest and open about what we do and about the choices we make, and if a situation may exceed our ability to provide help. We strive for successful and responsible joint efforts with all beneficiaries, donors, partners and others.