Since our establishment in 2006, AIRD has been committed to serving displaced persons in all our areas of operation. Opening our first doors in Kampala, Uganda, it was not easy to envision where we would be today, but it was clear that there was serious need to contribute support to disadvantaged communities in Africa. 15 years on, and having opened in 10 African countries, the expertise of our founders has driven the direction we have travelled and ultimately find ourselves in today. We are strongly focused on construction, logistics and infrastructure with increasing expertise in the areas of fuel management, fleet management, warehouse management, workshop management, WASH and livelihoods.
As we reviewed where we have come from and the vision and mission statements that have guided us over the past 15 years, it was evident that as we have grown and built our capacity, we must go forward in a bolder direction and aim to do even more for the growing number of displaced people in more geographic regions. One thing that was clear as we looked at our vision and mission was that we needed to properly focus our target and state with clarity who it was we were going to serve. We understand that no one organisation can be everything to everyone so who we are must be defined. And who we are as an organisation at present is one that is here to meet the needs of displaced people and host communities that provide them refuge. We will focus all our efforts on providing the best services we can by continuing to excel at what we are known for, even as we expand to provide more in other areas.
We know that the future cannot be predicted. There are many things we cannot begin to prepare for; the beginning or end of conflicts, technological disruptions, the true impact of climate change etc. What we can do though is plan accordingly with the information available to us today, while ensuring we are ready to pivot whenever necessary. Our 2021-2024 strategy is the guide that will ground us and remind us of our ‘why’. Ultimately, we exist to empower the communities within which we serve, and we will continue to keep this at the forefront of our all our efforts.
What informed our new strategy?
Looking at the current state of affairs affecting the humanitarian space and through keeping a constant watch over what future trends may look like, it is evident that the conflicts that have resulted in the tens of millions of displaced people globally are highly unlikely to suddenly end in the next five years. We remain hopeful for the resolution of many of these conflicts, but also appreciate that even if they were to end, displaced people would still require much assistance to get their lives back to a semblance of normalcy. Understanding this, we designed a strategy that will see us continue to offer our logistics, construction and infrastructure services. We will further work to continuously improve how these are implemented. Clear also is the need to ramp up our offerings in WASH, environment and livelihoods. These are key for sustainability and move us into the development space, even as we continue with our emergency assistance.
As a result, we saw the need to change our vision and mission statements to reflect our new strategy. Our values remain the same however.
Vision
Building resilient communities of displaced and host communities through sustainable development
Mission
To enable the compassionate movement of those displaced by natural or man-made disasters to safety, and providing them and their host communities with opportunities to build their lives and thrive for the long term.
Our Values
AIRD remains committed to: good internal governance, transparency, accountability, professionalism, sustainability, partnership and innovation.
How will we achieve our goals?
What will be the enabling factors?
- Diversification of donors and activities
- Shared corporate view of the strategy, including awareness of investments in staff and systems, training for personnel, and ensuring that there is good monitoring of progress
- Clear budget outlines for Country Teams to be able to carry out the extra responsibilities that will be required to deliver country-specific strategies.
- Training and capacity building at all levels of the organisation.
- The necessary upgrades for Information Technology and Enterprise Resource Planning systems development.
- Investing in People Management to see the right staff recruited, retained and developed during their time with AIRD.
- Continued Monitoring and Evaluation for ongoing, real time evaluation of AIRD’s delivery against specified objectives.
- Having clearly outlined areas of intervention that we aspire to deliver success in.
- Continued membership in NGO networks and forums, where support and guidance is on hand for issues relating to Forced Migration and other such pertinent areas.
- Ethics and compliance monitoring