Making aid donations to 555
If you would like to contribute to the Dutch fundraising actions via "giro 555" from outside the Netherlands, this is how you do it.
Your donation should be transferred to the following bank account:
Bank: ING bank NV, Financial Plaza, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Swift code of the bank: INGBNL2A
If you're paying from inside one of the (European) EEPA countries, you use the IBAN number. NL08INGB0000000555 (yes, that's seven zeros).
From outside the EEPA zone, the account number is simply 555.
Clearly state the beneficiary:
SHO,
Mauritskade 9,
2514 HD The Hague,
The Netherlands.
You can also donate using your credit card. Go to the fill-in form on the SHO website (for the time being it's only available in Dutch):
https://www.e-cumlaude.com/secure/d/fondsenorg2/donate.php?charity=Samen...
As unusually heavy summer rains are lashing the Netherlands, the thoughts of the Dutch are with the people of Pakistan who have been hit by the worst flooding disaster in their country's history.
Gone are the hesitations about giving aid to a relatively unknown country in far-away Asia, gone is the scepticism over local corruption preventing aid reaching the Pakistani people, gone is the "disaster fatigue" after the widespread forest fires in Russia and the floods in China.
It took a couple of weeks to sink in, as the Dutch and many other Westerners returned from their summer holidays, but there is no escaping it now: Pakistan has been hit by a humanitarian disaster of epic proportions, and there is more to come as people lack food, drinking water, and homes. Time for the world's aid organisations to gear up for action.
Dutch fundraising day
The umbrella organisation of the Netherlands' humanitarian aid groups, SHO, has co-ordinated today's nationwide action day. Around the clock, all Dutch media outlets are asking the public for donations to help the people of Pakistan. Similar media events for the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia and the Haiti earthquake yielded millions of euros.
Zeeland floods
Given its own history of destructive floods, the Netherlands cannot but have a natural affinity with the people of Pakistan who are suffering a similar fate. (The title of this article is a reference to the slogan of a 1953 fundraiser for the indundated Dutch province of Zeeland.) Yet voices were heard earlier this month which questioned the wisdom of sending money to a regime which is allegedly aiding and abetting the Taliban. But such voices have gone silent. Giving humanitarian help to an Islamic country with militant tendencies is no longer an issue, if it ever was one. Even the most adamant anti-Islamic campaigner in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders MP, is for once wise enough to steer clear of the question.
Ironically, the Dutch preparedness to give aid may have been awoken by TV footage of militant Islamic groups such as Jamaad-Ud-Dawa doling out aid to flood victims in Pakistan, saying that the Islamabad government is doing nothing for its people. "Then we should step in, rather than those radicals," many a Dutch person must have thought. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari accused groups like Jamaad-ud-Dawa of exploiting the emergency situation for their own ulterior motives. Some Islamic charities in the stricken area "dispense ideology with their aid", political analyst Talat Masood told the UK Daily Telegraph.
Give a little bit
A public outcry in the Netherlands over Pakistan's plight prompted SHO to take action and open the national bank account no. 555, a sure sign that there are people hit by a disaster somewhere in the world who need our help. And even though the Dutch aid will be but a drop in the ocean, we know that every little bit helps.
Email this Article
Printer-friendly version
The UN says it is reviewing security measures for its aid workers in Pakistan, after a warning of new threats from the Pakistani Taliban.
A US official said the militant group was planning to attack foreigners delivering aid to millions of people affected by the floods.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11095267)
Rather than financing terrorism maybe Iran and Saudi Arabia should given more money to other Muslims in need and not rely on the dumb infidels to empty their wallets for terrorist supporting governments.
The wealthy Muslims across the world who have made their hundreds of billions in oil money, world wide real estate holding and whatever should give more than what the Koran dictates.
Any infidel that contributes money to an Islamic cause is just dumb especially when you don't see countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran or any Muslim country sending money, personnel and equipment to America to aid in fighting disasters like Katrina and the Gulf oil spill.
I think it is very offensive and insulting to refer to people who wish to support a humanitarian cause as 'dumb infidels'. This is not about religion - it's about the biggest humanitarian disaster (in terms of numbers affected) ever to hit our planet. Should doctors refuse to treat someone because he or she happens to support a cause they don't agree with? Of course not. In any case, 99.99% of the victims of these floods have nothing to do with terrorism. The money donated to Giro 555 goes to long-established Dutch NGOs, or Dutch branches of international NGOs, who will make sure that the money is used for humanitarian purposes.
My best wishes to the people affected by the floods. May God give wisdom and empathy to the affected authorities so that the aid reaches the really affected people.God bless all.
Post new comment
Please be reminded all comments must be in English, short and to the point - guideline 250 words. Abusive and inappropriate comments will be removed.