Annual Consultations with Non-Governmental Organizations 25– 26 June 2008 International Conference Center Geneva, Switzerland 27 June 2008 Palais des Nations – Geneva, Switzerland PARTNER PROFILE In Brief Annual Consultations with Non-Governmental Organizations 25 – 26 June 2008 International Conference Center Geneva 27 June 2008 Palais des Nations – Geneva, Switzerland PARTNER PROFILE In Brief The purpose of this booklet is to facilitate networking and to help you identify organizations with similar or complementary areas of interest. This initiative stemmed from comments from Partners attending previous Annual Consultations about facilitating newtworking and knowing “who’s who”. The registration form for the 2008 Annual Consultations with NGOs contains two parts. Part I of the form asked for information regarding the participant, such as name, functional title, etc and Part II asked for background information pertinent to the organization. This booklet is a consolidation of the Partners that completed Part II of the form giving details on the history and purpose of the organization, its structure and activities. The information has been extracted from the form as provided. Some formatting was necessary in view of space constraints; however, no details were edited. The Inter-Agency Unit would be happy to hear from you regarding the usefulness of the booklet, its format, the content and any other points you think important. Please send your comments to [email protected]. Academy for Educational Development 1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +1 202 884 8881 www.aed.org +1 202 884 8979 Washington, D.C. 20009-5721 Web: Fax: United States of America HISTORY; PURPOSE: Founded in 1961, the Academy for Educational Development (AED) works globally to improve health, civil society, economic development and education--the foundation of thriving societies. AED’s aim is to make a positive difference in people's lives by working in partnership to create and implement innovative solutions to critical social and economic problems. AED envisions a world in which all individuals have the opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute to the well-being of their family, community, country, and world. AED works with local and national partners to create and implement innovative solutions to critical social and economic problems. We are committed to building the capacity of individuals and institutions to become more self-sufficient. STRUCTURE: AED is an international not-for-profit organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., with 115 offices and 1,950 staff in 57 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Latin American and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North Africa. The highest governing body at AED is its Board of Directors, which ensures the financial integrity of AED’s program operations, sets policies and an agenda to ensure AED fulfills its mission, and supervises the president and chief executive officer and other key management personnel. The Board of Directors appoints a president and vice-presidents of the corporation in order to carry out the duties of managing the organization. The president and chief executive officer are responsible for the day-to-day management and supervision of all activities of the organization in line with its mission. AED is comprised of 26 centers of excellence, organized into the following five program groups, each headed by a senior vice president: •Global Health, Population, and Nutrition •Global Learning •Leadership and Institutional Development •Social Change •U.S. Education and Workforce Development We are funded by private foundations, corporations, and associations; U.S. federal, state, and local government; universities and private institutions; multilateral agencies and national governments. AED also develops and manages public-private partnerships primarily in the health, education and workforce development arena. ACTIVITIES: For over two decades the Academy for Educational Development (AED) has been active in supporting education during acute and chronic crises, and in early recovery and post conflict situations. AED recognizes that education is a right, and that it has key roles to play in terms of identity, in return to normalcy after upheaval, in reconstructing societies, and in relation to building a better future for individuals, communities, and nations. As a not-for-profit NGO, AED has worked with governments and other partners in the last twenty-plus years to further and improve education. It has been a long-standing member of the Inter-Agency Group on Education in Emergencies (INEE) and as a member of INEE’s working group and chair of the Application and Analysis subgroup, helps monitor and evaluate INEE’s Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction’s. With regard to multilateral organizations, AED also collaborates with UNICEF and UNESCO in emergency education situations. Focusing on educational quality and building and reforming inclusive education systems, AED has striven to ensure that rebuilt systems target the under- served and serve to strengthen confidence in national governments. While AED works in all “categories” of emergencies, it has particular roles to play in quality from the beginning of any intervention, and in rebuilding just and sustainable systems that are appropriate for the modern world. AED has proven experience in projects that facilitate peace building, integrate internally displaced persons (IDP) and enable social inclusion in complex environments globally. In addition, it has honed approaches and innovations that can be applied to education in emergencies. Action by Church Together International 150, route de Ferney E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +41 22 791 6033 P O Box 2100 www.act-intl.org +41 22 791 6506 1211 Geneva 2 Web: Fax: Switzerland HISTORY; PURPOSE: ACT members’ strong local roots enable the alliance to provide locally based knowledge, analysis and understanding of emergencies and disasters. ACT recognises that, as important as identifying vulnerabilities and providing for people’s immediate needs are when crises occur, a vital component of its response is recognising the valuable gifts communities in crisis contribute: coping mechanisms and strategies for survival, skills and strengths, wisdom and knowledge, and resilience and courage. Strengthening local capacity lies at the heart of our responses to emergencies. The ACT alliance coordinates its global responses to humanitarian crises through the ACT Coordinating Office (CO), which is based in the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, Switzerland, where it is registered as a legal entity STRUCTURE: ACT offers assistance to people caught in natural and environmental disasters, as well as in emergencies caused by war and civil conflict. Striving to reach communities in crises across frontlines, national borders, and other ethnic, political or religious divides, ACT through its members provides Page 1 of 89 assistance irrespective of race, gender, belief, nationality, ethnic origin or political persuasion. ACT and its members are signatories to the Code of Conduct in Disaster Relief and aim to uphold the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, known as the Sphere Standards. ACT’s founders, the WCC and LWF, are members of the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response, with the ACT director representing the WCC at the principals’ level. The emergency and development network of the Catholic Church, Caritas Internationalis, is an observer to the ACT Emergency Committee-the highest governing body of the ACT alliance. The Emergency Committee (or General Assembly) comprises 30 elected members from around the world who meet annually to shape ACT policies. An Executive Committee comprising six of the elected members, and one person each representing the WCC and LWF, meets several times a year to oversee the implementation of policies and mandates of the ACT CO. In a number of emergencies ACT members work in partnership with United Nations agencies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Program, and UNICEF. The funding of ACT appeals, or a Rapid Response Funding (RRF) mechanism, is based on actions by and information from the members of the alliance. In 2006, ACT’s emergency funding totalled US$79.7 million. Africa received US$29.4 million, Asia and the Pacific US$41.5 million, Europe US$6 million, Latin America and the Caribbean US$1.2 million, and the Middle East US$5.9 million. US$833,822 was spent on emergency management training/capacity building and on funding actions through the Rapid Response Fund. The ACT CO, which facilitates the alliance’s response to emergencies, cost US$1.92 million to run in 2006. The operational budget for the office was entirely funded through member contributions. ACTIVITES: A number of our members are engaging in refugee work in the area of camp management and service deleivery. Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance 1 Latin America St Garden City E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +20 2 795 3202 3rd Floor Apt 15 www.amera-uk.org +20 2 792 6424 Cairo Web: Fax: Egypt HISTORY; PURPOSE: In 2000, the Refugee Legal Aid Project, now AMERA, began at the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Programme (FMRS) of the American University in Cairo under the direction of Dr Barbara Harrell-Bond. In August 2001, legal aid for refugees received funding from the Danish Embassy and the Amberstone Trust in the UK. It then moved under the umbrella of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, where it stayed for more than two years. In 2000, there were no lawyers in Egypt trained in providing legal aid for refugees. This led Legal Aid to rely on volunteer foreign lawyers and paralegals. However, in 2002, Legal Aid began employing Egyptian lawyers, the very first of whom were Ashraf Milad, Sanaa El Hakim and Tarek Mahrous. AMERA continues to receive volunteer foreign and Egyptian paralegals and lawyers but each team is now headed by an Egyptian staff member. In 2004, AMERA moved to its new location in Garden City, Cairo and is now an independent NGO working under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.