WHY IEDA RELIEF

INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY AND DEVELOPMENT AID (IEDA) RELIEF

Since 2008, we have worked in 12 countries with a $170M investment in over 350 projects helping people as they transition to longer-term development. Our more than 902 staff focus on marginalized people, as well as internally displaced persons, host communities and refugees. We have facilitated and delivered the key components of support and coupled activities with community capacity building to develop a local voice, ownership, and technical capability for communities to support their transition to longer-term sustainability.

Why IEDA Relief | We know communities – we do not just say it, we practice it. We are working intimately with communities from Day One. For us, it does not make sense to work in communities without understanding them and learning from them – their people, their needs, what drives them, social structures, cultural practices, and interactions. When the situation calls, we work quickly so that we do not lose time further down the road when problems arise.

We build trust | Fundamental in any community anywhere in the world – we value humans and what each person brings to their community. Focusing on community, we naturally build strong local ties, especially with delivery of health activities and small-scale infrastructure. Communities value these fundamental lifelines and automatic trust is built.

We Have the Networks and Access | Our engagement process gives us an immediate footing to understand and listen to communities – what they need, what they do not want, and what impacts them. We have become known for this approach which helps to widen our network. Our office structure allows us to be in the middle of communities. When others do not have the ability to gain entrance into a community, we have access. While we do not work with individuals or entities that are listed, or are not supported by the communities, we understand their perspective to understand their impact.

We Incorporate Sustainability | This is fundamental to the way we do business. The way we engage, design, and implement an intervention is framed with sustainability in mind. We build meaningful community ownership to ensure our projects are responsive and generate a positive impact that lasts.

Our Model Works | Our direct implementation approach is management-intensive, but it works. We understand that it requires up-front costs that over a period, generate a return on the investment. With this, we ensure a low-cost, simple, achievable approach that makes sense. Our technical skill, thinking, and understanding of the local situation – are part of our risk management and project processes that support our management. We keep operations’ costs down because we have local resources – staff, materials, and supply chain – to the extent possible – we reduce the “middleman,” a heavy security apparatus, and rework. We can do things right the first time because we have the right people and the right resources working together to deliver, which ultimately creates cost savings.

OUR OPERATION FOOTPRINT

CURRENT: BURKINA FASO, CAMEROON, CAR, DRC, MALI, NIGER, BELGIUM, USA.

PREVIOUS: HAITI, IVORY COAST, LIBERIA, PHILIPPINES, SENEGAL, NIGERIA

PENDING REGISTRATION: BURUNDI, CHAD, MOZAMBIQUE

HORIZON: SOMALIA, SOUTH SUDAN, SUDAN