We were here - ZOA Germany

ZOA Germany was the Germany based sister organization of ZOA in the Netherlands. It was founded and registered as an NGO in 2017. After 7 years of helping those who have lost everything and are in danger of losing heart, it was decided that in future ZOA's work will once again be managed exclusively from the Netherlands.

Read ZOA's Letter of Assurance

2 December 2024

7 years ZOA Germany

Despite the closure: the valuable work will continue

It was a difficult but logical decision in order to maintain ZOA's promise of quality. After years of very challenging development work, ZOA had created all the conditions for further growth in 2024 in Germany. However, based on a prudent analysis of future subsidy requirements, it has been decided that a responsible continuation of the work of ZOA in Germany is not financially viable due to a lack of own funds.

Serious decision

After more than 6 years of hard work, ZOA in Germany has managed to establish itself as a fully-qualified, non-profit organisation in Germany, eligible for direct funding from German Foreign Office (AA/IFA), as well as The Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). During these 6 years, we were able to provide direct aid to people in need in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, South Sudan, Sudan, Ukraine and other crisis areas. In 2023, ZOA-Germany achieved its best annual results since its foundation, with a 30 per cent increase in total income. The trend continued with acquisition of new project funds of almost EUR 1.4 million for 2024. However, this did not change the inevitability of the serious decision to close ZOA in Germany.

Proud and grateful

In particular, the narrow focus on funding exclusively from German federal ministries would make it necessary for the International ZOA family to continue to subsidize our work in Germany and increase it in the long term, but this cannot be financed sustainably. Therefore, the ZOA team in Germany has transferred their projects to ZOA International so that the valuable work of ZOA in Germany continues. ZOA International will ensure their full implementation.

Furthermore, all contacts and work processes established by ZOA in Germany in recent years with the EU, GIZ and KfW will be continued by ZOA International. ZOA is proud of what we have achieved. In total, we acquired approx. EUR 4.7 million in aid funds, with overhead costs of approx. EUR 400,000, as per allocation standards of the German Donations Council (Deutscher Spendenrat - DSR). Thereby, we could support millions of people affected by violent conflicts and natural disasters, and significantly contribute to poverty reduction.