Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB)

Global relief to people in need

ASB is one of the leading German aid and welfare organisations. Humanitarian and democratic principles form the basis of our activities.

With its first mission abroad in 1921, foreign aid became a major component of the organisation. Today the ASB provides foreign aid and humanitarian help in more than 30 countries. In cooperation with its partner organisations, the ASB is engaged on four continents to support people in need.

This aid ranges from emergency relief after natural disasters, epidemics or other humanitarian crises to reconstruction, disaster risk reduction, and facilitating self-help. The aim is always to address the root causes of poverty and to enhance self-reliance in order to ensure the survival and well-being of the affected people.

Foreign Aid

Global relief to people in need

The ASB is actively helping people in more than 30 countries. Click here to find out more.

FAST-Teams

First Assistance Samaritan Teams

In case of an emergency ASB helps as quickly as possible and as long as necessary. In order to further strengthen its response capacities, ASB is building up Emergency Response Teams.

ASB's aid is directed at all people, regardless of their political, ethnic, national or religious affiliation. This applies in Germany as well as to the humanitarian aid missions abroad.

The beginnings of ASB foreign aid can be found in the branches, as they solicited or provided donations to take action in the event of disasters abroad. From the first aid supplies and Samaritans with equipment, who traveled from Germany to the affected regions, the ASB country offices abroad and the cooperation with local partners were established over the years.

Today, ASB provides people in Haiti with clean drinking water, trains people in Indonesia in disaster preparedness or provides medical care in Mongolia.

Since its inception, ASB's foreign aid has focused on three main areas: the inclusion of vulnerable groups, i.e. those in particular need of assistance, helping people to help themselves, and the sustainable fight against poverty.

This focus runs through the history of ASB foreign aid - from the first humanitarian missions in Russia and the Balkans, to disaster preparedness after the tsunami in Southeast Asia, to today's climate impact adaptation measures in Central America. ASB thus pursues a sustainable approach that aims to improve the living situation in the affected regions in the long term and to prepare the inhabitants for future crises.