Humanity First
 | |
| Founded | 1994 |
|---|---|
| Type | International organization |
| Focus | Disaster relief, Long-term projects |
| Location | |
Area served | Worldwide |
Revenue | Fundraising |
| Mission | To serve disaster struck and socially disadvantaged individuals and families in the poorer communities of the world. |
| Website | http://humanityfirst.org/ |
Humanity First is an international charitable trust established to promote and safeguard the preservation of human life and dignity. The organisation works with vulnerable communities in over 40 countries spanning 6 continents, and is now registered in 33 countries. The organisation is run by volunteers around the world, and even in operations, expert medical, engineering, educational and technical staff often pay their own way to support international projects. The organisation cites efficiencies through the extensive use of volunteers, partnerships and global sourcing resulting in over 93% of funds going straight to projects, and the actual aid value (including free man-hours of doctors, engineers etc.) delivered is significantly (often 50 times) greater than the value of donations received.
Objectives
- Relieve suffering caused by natural disasters or man-made conflicts
- Promote peace and understanding based upon mutual tolerance and respect
- Strengthen people's capacity to help themselves
Origins
The concept of Humanity First originates from a desire to provide aid on the basis of need alone, irrespective of race, religion, colour or political allegiance. The organisation was established in the UK and formally registered in 1994 by then leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Tahir Ahmad.
In two decades, Humanity First has grown into a multi-national aid agency and non-profit charitable organisation, regularly working alongside many other agencies such as the Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children and others. The organisation has access to thousands of volunteers across the globe. Humanity First also now has Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
The organization splits its work into two areas; disaster relief and long-term sustainable projects.
https://twitter.com/humanityfirst
http://www.humanityfirstmedical.org/
Human development
Restoring Communities, Building a Future are the guiding principles for Humanity First USA. Humanity First works to assist people afflicted by natural disasters, war, and poverty by first providing the needed disaster relief services and then by building capacity of these communities. Our aim is to restore dignity by providing the resources to help people get back on their feet quickly.
Approach: Humanity First approaches its human development projects with sustainability as the overarching goal. The projects are rooted in a community deeply affected by a natural disaster, war, or poverty. After the relief phase of the project has subsided, Humanity First works with the community to identify viable opportunities for growth and recovery.
Programs: Human development programs can be categorized under the categories of: 1) Health & Medical Programs, or 2) Educational & Vocational Programs Health & Medical: Designed to provide much needed health and medical services and supplies to some of the world's most vulnerable populations.
Educational & Vocational Programs: Designed to help create capacity and self-sufficiency through providing support for primary education for children and vocational training for adults in various under-privileged communities in the US and around the world
Disaster relief
Disaster relief covers the provision of humanitarian aid, medical relief, shelter, food and safe water in response to both man-made and natural disasters. Examples in the last 10 years include responses to the following: Kobe earthquake in Japan, Kosovo War, 1999 İzmit earthquake in Turkey, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia[1][2] and Sri Lanka, Hurricane Katrina,[3] and the 2005 Kashmir earthquake[4][5] in Pakistan. More recently, they have responded to catastrophic flooding in Suriname, Guyana[6] and Kenya, as well as the 2010 Haiti earthquake and also the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami.[7]
The table below illustrates disasters that HF have been involved in and level of assistance they have provided to local victims:
| Disaster | Year | Countries Affected | Scale of Disaster | People Assisted | Nature of Help |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kosovo | 1997 | Kosovo, Albania, Serbia | 10k killed, 850k displaced | > 10,000 | Medical, Food, Clothing |
| Izmit Earthquake | 1999 | Turkey | 17k killed, 60k homeless | 15,000 | Medical, Shelter, Food, Clothing |
| Gujarat Earthquake | 2001 | India | 20k killed, 166k injured, 600k homeless | 5,500 | Medical, Shelter, Food, Clothing |
| Asian Tsunami | 2004 | Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia | 220k killed, 1.6 Million homeless | 30,000 | Medical, Shelter, Food, Clothing |
| Hurricane Katrina | 2005 | USA | 1.8k killed, Millions homeless | 1,050 | Medical, Shelter/ Re-Furb, Food, Clothing, IT |
| Kashmir Earthquake | 2005 | Pakistan | 80k killed, 3.3M homeless | 60,000 | Medical, Shelter, Food, Clothing, Counseling |
| Latin American Flooding | 2005-06 | Suriname, Guyana | 30k displaced and homeless | 10,000 | Food, Clothing, IT |
| Peru Earthquake | 2007 | Peru | 250k homeless | 2,000 | Food, Clothing, Shelter |
| Cyclone Sidr | 2007 | Bangladesh | 5k killed, 34k injured, 500k affected | 7,000 | Medical, Water, Food, Clothing, Shelter |
| Kenya Post-Election Violence | 2008 | Kenya | 1.5k killed, 600k displaced | 2,500 | Medical, Food, Clothing |
| Cyclone Nargis | 2008 | Burma | 146k killed, 1M displaced | 2,000 | Clothing, Water |
| Gaza Violence | 2009 | Gaza, Israel | 7k killed or injured, 100k homeless | 7,000 | Food, Education |
| Sumatra Earthquake | 2009 | Indonesia | 4k killed or injured, 1.2M displaced | 1,000 | Medical, Food, Shelter |
| Cyclone Aila | 2009 | Bangladesh | 8.5k killed or injured, 1M homeless | 1,600 | Food, Water, Clothing, Shelter |
| Haiti Earthquake | 2010 | Haiti | 230k killed, 300k injured, 1M affected | 55,000[8] | Medical, Water, Orphan Care, Shelter |
Long-term projects
Humanity First runs a number of long-term projects largely in Africa and Asia:
- Feed a Family - provision of basic necessities to deserving and vulnerable families, normally for a fixed period of 6 months. Over 700 Tonnes of food and aid has been shipped to Africa for poor families. HF is now establishing a Feed a Village program; it has also established a Feed the Homeless program in the heart of Montreal.
- Water for Life - set up or repair of water pumps to provide clean and safe drinking water to remote villages in the 3rd world. Humanity First are working on these projects with Water Aid and IAAAE and have built or refurbished over 420 pumps and filter units in West Africa, Latin America and Asia.
- Learn a Skill - The purpose of Learn a Skill programme is to strengthen people’s capacity to help themselves.So far the programme has been providing assistance on the ground through the following projects: IT Centres, Sewing / Tailoring Centres, Construction Trades and Management skills. As of 2013, Humanity First was running over 30 training centres in 16 countries with 39,347 student recipients.
Humanity First Ahmadiyya Vocational College (HFAVC) is established in 2010 in Monrovia Liberia by Humanity First USA. Currently it offers 10 vocational trades with dedicated workshops to train hands on. It is first of its kind institution in Liberia which offers scholarships and other facilities to students. Masroor Agriculture and Technical Institute (MATI) is a new vocational college in Liberia established in 2013 and will start working early 2014. Humanity First Liberia website and its projects are funded by Humanity First USA.
- Orphan Care - running and support of orphanages covering the needs of orphans including accommodation, education, food, clothing and health. Orphan programmes are currently running in the Gambia, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Burkina Faso and Benin.
- Gift of Sight - work with a network of hospitals to provide sight treatment ranging from glasses, treatment of infections and in extreme cases, operations to rectify cataracts. Humanity First USA sent a team of eye doctors and volunteers to San Juan Sacatapequez, Guatemala in 2010 to conduct a successful cataract surgery camp. The 2nd mission took place in October 2011 in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. Over 30 cataract surgeries were performed and 125 patients were examined and given donated spectacles. The Gift of Sight program plans annual trips to underserved nations worldwide to provide free eye care and train local doctors for sustained care. HF has prepared a blog of the Gift of Sight efforts: www.hfgiftofsight.tumblr.com.
References
- ↑ Tsunami Relief Database - Humanity First International
- ↑ Independent Sector | Charitable Organizations Respond to Tsunami Crisis
- ↑ International Herald Tribune news report on Katrina
- ↑ Journalism jobs and news from Holdthefrontpage.co.uk
- ↑ SHAPE Media Library: Sweets and X-rays - 23 January 2006
- ↑ Gina | Government Information Agency | Guyana
- ↑ Humanity First - Japan Tsunami
- ↑ "Morden charity marks year making a difference in Haiti". Wimbledon Guardian. 2011-01-25. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
New IT Centre in Guyana US Affiliation & Registration UK School Donor to HF Sierra Leone youth affiliation US Charity Directory listing German Wikipedia entry Haiti team from HF UK Haiti team from HF Canada