The Finnish Pentecostal movement has been doing relief work around the world for almost a hundred years. In 1974, relief work was given a more official status when it was granted state support. Fida’s development cooperation work around the world has now been going on for 50 years.
In the 1970s in Finland, discussions started on channelling state aid to development projects of missionary organisations. Former President of the Republic Martti Ahtisaari was working as Deputy Head of the State Department for Development Cooperation at the time. In 1973, Mr Ahtisaari proposed that Finnish missionary organisations should submit project proposals for state aid. As a result, Lähetyksen Kehitysapu (now Fida) received its first government grant.
The first government grant was 46 000 Finnish marks and was used to build schools and health centres in Ethiopia and Kenya. From the outset, other funding was required in addition to the government grant. Thus was born the hugely popular Africa Coffee Campaign, which raised as much as FM 1 million for relief work in the 1970s and 1980s.
Where the need is greatest
Fida’s humanitarian aid to crisis areas began in 1984 with the launch of a relief collection in famine-stricken Ethiopia. Creative ideas were already taking hold: a plane chartered from Finnair was filled with blankets and medicines, and a relief cargo was flown to Ethiopia on Finland’s Independence Day on 6 December 1984.
Today, humanitarian assistance quickly delivers vital assistance when a natural disaster or war strikes. It helps families in the midst of the greatest need by providing food, clean water and shelter.
Funding from many sources
The first LKA flea market was set up in 1979 to raise funds for relief work. At the time, shops selling second-hand clothes and goods were a true fundraising innovation. Today, Fida’s secondhand store chain is a major social circular economy player, with stores in 13 locations across Finland.
Impactful, significant and productive work
In five decades, Fida’s development work has spanned four continents and dozens of countries. The work has helped millions of people improve their lives, for example through better schooling opportunities or a stronger livelihood.
Over the years, the nature of the work has changed: no longer are Finnish ambassadors the protagonists of the story, but they support partner churches that have already become independent and are major players in their societies.
Today, Fida’s development work has a direct impact on the lives of half a million people. In 2023, Fida received more than €8.6 million in development and humanitarian aid from the government. Its work focuses on promoting schooling and vocational training for children and young people in fragile environments. More than 130,000 children’s right to education was strengthened in 2023 and almost 1,000 small businesses were created as a result of the work. We also planted more than 190 000 trees.
In the main photo, students under a large tree in front of a primary school in Mtama, Tanzania.
