Community engagement | RA International Services

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Sustainability in action
Community engagement

"What we can. Where we are."

In addition to the contribution we make to the SDGs through our core business activities, we also contribute to specific community engagement projects. We call it ‘what we can, where we are’.

Over the years, we have been involved in more than 30 community engagement projects

Past initiatives

Construction of a community well in Bentui, South Sudan

Provision of manpower to assist with a cholera survey in South Sudan led by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Contribution of manpower to assist with the cholera prevention program led by MSF in Juba, South Sudan

Provision of food supplies to the leprosy community in Juba, South Sudan

Provision of construction materials to the local community in Nimule, South Sudan, to reinforce their houses during the wet season

Support to charity Confident Children out of Conflict, through monthly food donations

Financial contribution to the International Child Day in Sudan

Contribution of food and beverages to support UNAMID in the feeding of children in Darfur, Sudan

Provision of resources to a prison support program in Sudan led by the UN

Assisted with hospital sterilization and disinfection program in Kunduz led by the Norwegian Government

Donation of food and toilets to the central orphanage in Kabul

Upgraded waste and sanitation at Kabul international Airport in support of Haj travellers

Rehabilitation of female Hammam’s (public baths)

Support to widows through direct employment & training in laundry facilities

Support to widows through direct employment & training at the first commercial bakery in Afghanistan

Opening of a recycling yard in Kabul with all the profits going to the community of Bagram

Financial contributions to the Women of Hope support program in Afghanistan

Provision of waste services to the schools in Jalalabad road through NATO

Food support and distribution with various charities in Afghanistan.

Hospital cleaning and disinfecting in Abeche to reduce patient infections

Town cleaning in Abeche – Cholera prevention awareness program

Hazmat recycling in N’djamena

Donation of hospital supplies to the female Clinic in Mogadishu

Support to the Mogadishu Times newspaper (financial and materials)

Donation of footballs to refugee camps in Somalia

Reparations of the Mogadishu Airport Runway in January 2014

Donation to support the victims of the terror attack in Mogadishu in October 2017

Provided emergency food aid as part of AMISOM relief effort in Somalia 2017

Official partner to Free As A Human initiative by Kenyan fashion designer and activist Anyango Mpinga since 2018

Supported WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) initiative in Somalia, 2018

Here are a few stories that show how we do “What we can. Where we are.”

Emergency food aid

RA has a strong presence across Somalia, where the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) is an important partner. When AMISOM put out a call for emergency relief in March 2018, we were among the first to respond.

Emergency food aid

We reviewed the stock in our warehouse and donated spare milk powder, beans, cereals, rice, cooking oil and sugar to feed people who were dying of hunger in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia. In this case, our local presence and well-managed supply chain allowed us to support a humanitarian effort with fast and efficient practical support.

Helping the children

Our staff in Bangui, CAR, could not help noticing the run-down building full of children, which lay just a ten-minute drive from our office. They asked around and learnt that it was an orphanage run by Nuns and home to forty-five orphaned children.

Helping the children

The orphanage was clearly in need of help, so, after asking the sisters what they needed, our team arranged to pay the outstanding rent and utility bills and set up a twice-monthly delivery of food. They also bought new beds for the kids and sent RA staff to help renovate the building.

While this is clearly just a drop in the ocean, we believe that RA’s partnership with the orphanage will give the children who live there today, and those that inevitably follow them, a better chance in life for years to come.

WASH initiatives in Somalia

When our team in Somalia understood the severity of the humanitarian crisis caused by the persisting drought in Baidoa in Southern Somalia in May 2017, they wasted no time in offering support.

WASH initiatives in Somalia

When our team in Somalia understood the severity of the humanitarian crisis caused by the persisting drought in Baidoa in Southern Somalia in May 2017, they wasted no time in offering support.

They contacted UNICEF, coordinator of the local WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) cluster, to find out how they could help. Sanitation proved the most pressing problem since the number of fatalities had increased due to diarrhea and cholera. Despite the risks involved, our Somalian team set off for Baidoa. They built latrines, put up water tanks and hand washing facilities, and distributed soaps and jerrycans in five IDP camps. They also arranged for the tanks to be filled. Says Muhamed, RA’s Somalia Country Manager: “In situations like these, there’s no time to lose. Decisive action from an experienced team can have immediate impact and saves lives.”