A year in pictures and numbers: People in Need Annual Report 2022

The spring of 2022 marked that precisely 30 years had passed since the first activist, volunteer, and romantic steps of our efforts were taken to help people in need. It was the expression of an awakening civil society in a newly– free country. At the same time, it was an expression of the desire to provide direct assistance to people in a whole series of post-communist confl icts. We simultaneously learned valuable lessons and continued to feel that the world should work better. We did not understand that the egos and nationalist visions of insane politicians and the vested interests of various states and players could not be stopped, regardless of the hundreds of thousands of deaths they caused. Three decades later, the world as a whole is not much better off; indeed, in many ways, unfortunately, the opposite is the case.

In the meantime, People in Need has grown into a dynamic professional international organisation. It focuses on results, making an impact, and bringing about real change; it is willing to take risks and is built on the basis of values that have remained fundamentally unchanged from the beginning. We seek to be close to those with whom and for whom we work, to be useful, respectful, and at the same time confi dent in overcoming diffi culties and obstacles, perceiving things holistically, and thus approach solutions in this way. We wish to retain the energy and idealism of our spontaneous beginnings, the creativity, the common sense, and the truthfulness of our efforts while building highly professional capacities; we have relied heavily on people with profound levels of expertise and accumulated experience.

In a globalised world facing complex crises, just like here at home in the Czech Republic, our services are still needed, perhaps more than we could have imagined 30 years ago. I would like to thank everyone involved in our work, the thousands of co-workers, volunteers, partner organisations, our private donors—individuals and companies—and of course, the donor organisations from many countries. Thank you for your trust and support; we are delighted that we can continue our efforts thanks to you.

Šimon Pánek
CEO of People in Need