Following the launch as for-impact, social enterprise in early 2021, Freedom in Disasters (FiD) sought to be officially recognised as charitable organisation. Headquartered in Vienna, FiD approached the Austrian Ministry of Finance to confirm that the organisational purpose is aligned to those of charitable organisations under §41 of the federal tax code.
On May 25th, FiD was officially recognised as a charitable, non-profit organisation by the Austrian federal government.
This is a major step towards realising our vision of a world where disasters are not used by organised crime syndicates to exploit vulnerable women, children and men. We have worked tirelessly to formally establish FiD as a global provider of anti-human trafficking services in disasters, and it is with great pleasure to see the foundation for this being laid. To our knowledge, we are the only global organisation which is soley dedicated to address the illicit trade in disasters and we owe a big thanks to everyone who made this possible (Matt Dorfstaetter, Chairmen and Co-founder FID).
Recognition by the federal government is essential to continue our work, particularly in terms of providing a platform to enable international collaboration for counter-human trafficking in disasters. We look forward to empowering disaster relief, humanitarian, and law enforcement organisations, to take affirmative action towards combating slavery in disasters.