Work and goals

What we do to achieve our goals

Goal 1: End female genital mutilation

The facts are inhumane and unimaginable: every day, over 8,000 girls and women are robbed of their genitals and dignity. One victim every 11 seconds (!). Over 200 million women are affected worldwide, most of them Muslims. Our strategy is unprecedented and unique because it is: "Using the ethics and power of Islam to end female genital mutilation." TARGET sought dialog with Islamic authorities in order to win them as allies in the fight against the bloody practice. A success story began.

Since female genital mutilation (FGM) is incorrectly justified with holy scriptures and religious duty and most victims are Muslim, we see the power of Islam as the greatest opportunity to end the cruel tradition. Our aim is to have the practice declared incompatible with the Quran and the ethics of Islam, discriminatory against Islam, a presumption of God and a sin in all countries concerned. High-ranking Islamic authorities have joined this alliance.

In 2006, under the patronage of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, TARGET was able to convene the International Scholars Conference for an End to FGM in the venerable Al-Azhar in Cairo, resulting in the landmark Azhar Fatwa (Islamic Rel. Legal Opinion), which prohibits the practice. In 2009, the scholar Sheikh Prof. Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi, known as the "mouthpiece of Africa", presented TARGET with the requested fatwa, in which he describes FGM as the work of the devil (Video message from Sheikh al-Qaradawi). These are compiled in the so-called Golden Book published by us. The exquisitely designed book is distributed by our teams in various countries to imams as a preaching basis in awareness campaigns.

The imams are the mouthpiece for the "Golden Book", allowing the message to reach the remotest corners of the country from the mosque. In this way, girls and women are actively and sustainably protected!
The core area of our FGM work is currently the African continent.

In addition, we have brought active medical aid to the Danakil Desert in Ethiopia for the girls and women of the Afar who are severely affected by FGM. In the middle of a stony desert, far away from civilization, this place of hope was created after the most difficult construction period: TARGET's gynaecology and obstetrics clinic. Education and prevention are an integral part of the clinic's work.

Goal 2: Protect indigenous peoples and the rainforest

Health and protection for the Waiãpi

TARGET e. V. Rüdiger Nehberg is committed to indigenous peoples and the preservation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. The aim is to actively support the indigenous people in their quest for a traditional life in the forest. They should be able to stay in their homeland, continue to live their culture and protect the rainforest at the same time. This requires above all health, education and border protection. Since 2002, TARGET has been supporting the Waiãpi people with targeted aid in these areas.

Health: Three health posts built by TARGET guarantee medical care on site, as the protected area is 400 kilometers away from the nearest town: health posts in the villages of CTA (since 2002) and Ytuwasu (since 2019) as well as a small primeval forest clinic in Aramirã (since 2012). The Brazilian Ministry of Health provides medicines, equipment and medical staff. TARGET is responsible for maintaining the buildings.

Education: TARGET finances internet at the school in the protected area and at the health stations (since 2019). The free access to information and internet-based educational opportunities is heavily used. Communication with each other and with other indigenous peoples to stand up for their common rights is also flourishing. The younger generation in particular uses the internet with great enthusiasm, also to give their culture visibility and (inter)national recognition beyond the borders of the protected area.

Border protection: TARGET supports the Waiãpi in protecting their territorial borders from intruders (since 2019). This includes regular clearing of overgrown border markers, control missions deep in the forest, entry barriers and technology-based solutions, e.g. radio technology.

More information, photos and videos about our projects:

➔ Female genital mutilation

➔ Indigenous peoples

➔ Annual letters

"No one is too small to change the world,"

Rüdiger Nehberg.

Mission

The TARGET logo shows the eye that watches over human rights. The eye that sees, perceives, acts. The eye that looks and does not look away. With this vision, Rüdiger and Annette Nehberg founded the human rights organization TARGET e. V. Rüdiger Nehberg in 2000. The non-profit organization works on site. It is financed by donations and foundation grants.

Foundation

The association was founded on August 5, 2000 and registered at the Ahrensburg District Court AZ 90 VR 2406 on September 11, 2000.

Management Board

Since its foundation by Annette and Rüdiger Nehberg, daughter Sophie and son Roman were elected to the Board of Directors in 2020. This guarantees that the association will continue to be run as a family and with the energy typical of Nehberg even after Rüdiger Nehberg's death (2020) - out of conviction and in accordance with his wishes.

TARGET is supported by a large, highly qualified advisory board for its special tasks. Due to its association structure, the organization acts quickly, unconventionally and flexibly.

TARGET's controllers: the tax office, the general meeting, a law firm and a sworn tax consultant.

TARGET's charitable status is checked regularly. We are obliged to submit our financial statements to the tax office every year. The tax office checks whether the criteria for non-profit status are met. If this is the case, there is an official "certificate of non-objection", which TARGET has always received without any problems. This entitles the association to issue donation receipts.

We rely on the power of the collective and each individual to make a contribution to changing this world - in our projects and in our funding structure.

Our projects are financed exclusively through donations and grants.

This is why we do not have a DZI seal

TARGET is a registered association and recognized as a charitable organization. TARGET has dispensed with the DZI seal for cost reasons. The preparation of the extensive registration documents would involve expenses of around 15,000 euros per year. We prefer to use this money for our projects

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