the danish veterans' policy

The voluntary and occupationalorganizationsThe Government recognizes the huge and importanteffort, which is made by volunteers, among others.As an example, in the setting of the many voluntary associationsand the occupational organizations, veteransare able to share their experiences with other veterans,who know the context and understand the specialproblems that may arise after a deployment. In additionto this, it is a great sign of recognition of the veteransthat so many people offer their help unselfishly.Some tasks are best dealt with in another context, forinstance in cases where a former employer or publicauthorities are altogether opted out. In these cases,the volunteers and the organizations have an importantfunction in relation to making contact to those veterans,who withdraw from the established offers. This contactgives an opportunity to help the injured veteran moveon to professional treatment.Among other things, the Government’s coming strategyfor civilian society will focus on strengthening the frameworkfor cooperation between the voluntary socialorganizations, the public sector and the private sector.The Government is aware of the potential of includingcivilian society in the solution of social problems inrelation to target groups, such as the psychically injuredveterans.Support and coordination of the effort ofvoluntary and occupational organizationsThe effort of voluntary and occupational organizations issupported and coordinated for the benefit of the veteransand their relatives. Therefore, the following initiatives aretaken:The voluntary organizations are given better possibilitiesto coordinate their efforts. A veterans’ secretariat isestablished, in order to optimize the possibility ofsolving major tasks across the various associations,among other things. The veterans’ secretariat will beable to coordinate tasks, such as the collection anddistribution of sponsorships.Homepages in the Defence and in voluntary organizationsare coordinated to give a better overview. At thesame time, the coordinated information will be putto use as an information database for other publicauthorities.EvaluationThe veterans’ area is complex, especially concerningthe conditions for the psychically injured veterans.New knowledge in this field is constantly optimizingthe combined effort. The effort in the veterans’ areawill be continuously developed, and the veterans’ policywill be evaluated after two years. In connection withthe evaluation, a conference will be held with theparticipation of representatives for the occupationalorganizations and the voluntary actors, among others.This is what we do today:Veterans’ homesWith support from the Defence and funds,among others, three veterans’ homes havebeen established. Here, the veterans and theirrelatives can meet. Volunteers with connectionsto army or naval associations, and with aninterest in the matter, manage the day-to-dayrunning of the homes (since 2010).The veterans’ policy of the Danish government 23