Profile

Rolling up our sleeves, past and present
If you take a close look at ZOA’s history, you may come to a remarkable discovery.

1973. Three young people decide to start up an initiative to provide assistance to refugees in Southeast Asia. It all begins in their small student apartment. The three founders of the ‘Southeast Asia foundation’ start to raise money and call attention to Vietnamese boat refugees. It does not take long before the fledgling organization began sending field workers to this region.

No longer just watching, not just giving money; the people who founded ZOA longed to  roll up their sleeves. This mentality still is part of the standard equipment of the ZOA employee.

Three continents
ZOA’s work is no longer limited to Southeast Asia. By 2011 ZOA operates in fourteen countries on three continents. The abbreviation ‘ZOA’ has thus lost some of the original meaning (ZOA standing for Southeast Asia – Zuidoost-Azië in Dutch). The name still stands for the help we provide to victims of natural disasters and armed conflicts, until they are able to stand on their own feet again.

Income
ZOA's work is made possible by the support of over fifty thousand private donors. ZOA also receives funds from governments, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and the United Nations. In the Netherlands ZOA organizes annual house-to-house collections during the last week of March.

Employees and volunteers
Today ZOA has approximately 700 employees. Most of them are locally recruited people. At the head office in Apeldoorn ZOA employs approximately sixty people, plus nine volunteers who facilitate ZOA’s employees.
In addition, 17.000 enthusiastic volunteers support ZOA’s work as collectors.
A few dozen expatriate staff work in the so called ‘programme countries’.
ZOA also offers young people the opportunity to gain work experience as trainees in our programs.