What We Do
Emergency Response, Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation
GOAL responds to emergencies as they arise, and seeks to meet the needs of victims insofar as our capacities will allow. An initial GOAL emergency response will normally include water, food and sanitation distributions, as well as the provision of emergency healthcare, emergency and transitional shelters and cash-for-work or emergency cash transfer programmes. We also train communities on disaster-preparedness and risk reduction in many disaster-prone regions of the developing world.
For more information, read about some of GOAL's Emergency Relief activities in the wake of the recent flooding in Pakistan.
Crisis RecoveryAs the title suggests, crisis recovery is a GOAL intervention to help populations recover from an extreme emergency situation. The initial crisis may have been natural, such as the earthquake in Haiti, famine in Niger, or the south-east Asian tsunami, or a manmade disaster, as in the post-election violence in Nigeria or the civil conflict in Northern Uganda. Crisis recovery is by definition a process, and is intended to aid recovery and a (usually gradual) return to normality by the communities most affected. Each GOAL crisis recovery intervention must be specifically designed to cater to the particular, often multifarious, immediate, medium and long term needs of the victims.
Read about our Transitional Shelter Programme in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti to learn more about some of the aid we deliver in this area
Healthcare
GOAL health programmes can include direct healthcare provision, and the building and equipping of health centres and the training of local staff in their management.
We also operate emergency feeding, specialised feeding for the vulnerable, and extensive inoculation programmes, and train local communities in health awareness and hygiene promotion.
Community Development
GOAL seeks to empower individuals and groups of people in many parts of the developing world by providing them with some of the skills they need to affect positive change in their communities. Within most communities there is enormous potential which, if assisted, encouraged and properly harnessed, can create significant long-term sustainable benefit for the entire locale.
GOAL helps identify common concerns, and can provide training and opportunities for the community to learn new skills with a view to addressing such concerns. Where appropriate, we will assist the community to build relationships with political representatives and other key people and organisations.
By enabling people to act together to common advantage, our community development programmes foster social inclusion, create equal opportunities, and enhance the lives of beneficiaries.
Education
GOAL is a firm advocate of education as one of the few possible escape routes out of poverty in the developing world. Consequently, where it is feasible we implement extensive formal and non-formal education programmes.
The former can include the (re-) building and furnishing of schools, pre-school preparatory work with street and slum-dwelling children, and support for pupils through the provision of stationery, uniforms and school fees.
Non-formal education programmes include basic numeric skills training for children and adults, the promotion of health awareness, coaching in livelihood enhancement, and management and healthcare training for health clinic staff.
Livelihoods DevelopmentA person’s livelihood is the means by which he or she can earn and sustain a proper standard of living. In the developing world, many people have neither the means, nor the skills, or the opportunities to provide for themselves and their families.
Where circumstances will allow, GOAL intervenes with training and support for individuals and communities to enhance their livelihood prospects.
GOAL has numerous livelihood programmes in operation in the developing world, each tailored to the particular needs, circumstances and potential of local communities.
It is estimated that, worldwide, 9,000 people die every day from an Aids-related illness; by far the majority of these deaths are in the developing world. GOAL implements a range of programmes for HIV and Aids sufferers, their carers, and the people indirectly affected by HIV or Aids.
This can include attending to the health, education and social needs of orphans and street-dwelling children, through GOAL’s comprehensive Street Children programmes.
GOAL also hosts extensive education projects for wider at-risk communities, and assists Aids and HIV affected households with the basic provision of services. Where possible, GOAL will provide home-based care, palliative care and treatment for secondary illnesses.
Read about our Housing Support Programme in Uganda to find out more about our work to support people affected by HIV and Aids
Integrated Development and Slum Development Programmes
GOAL implements integrated development programmes in both urban and rural settings, most notably in India. The needs of a locality will dictate the shape and focus of each individual programme, but to varying degrees they all encompass aspects of health, water and sanitation, food, nutrition, education, livelihoods, and slum development. The latter, slum development, itself further includes housing, children-at-risk and local community development. See our Brick Kilns Programme in India as an example of our work in this area.
Food Distribution
In instances of extreme poverty, populations will always struggle to acquire enough food to sustain life. When drought, famine or another natural disaster (such as earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes etc) strikes, an already bad situation is rendered infinitely worse.
The same is true of manmade catastrophes such as war and civil unrest, when food opportunities become severely restricted.
Food distribution forms an integral part of the GOAL response to an emergency, and is also central to many of its medium to long-term development programmes.
WASH/WatSanWASH is the acronym for water, sanitation and hygiene, and signifies the crucial interrelationship of all three as absolute fundamentals to people’s health and well-being. WatSan is an abbreviated term for Water and Sanitation. In virtually every country where GOAL has a presence, WASH or WatSan are involved in the provision of clean water and sanitation facilities and in training local communities in best hygiene practices.
Proper hygiene practices are essential in the curtailment of disease and infection, and particularly so in relation to new mothers and babies.
In developing countries around the world, there is an ever-present risk to the well-being of significant numbers of children and young people. GOAL has designed and implements programmes to address the specific needs of at-risk children and youngsters.
Each country has its own particular problems that directly or indirectly negatively impact on children:
A conflict situation: As well as the manifest threat to their lives that war brings, children risk being orphaned or separated from their parents, and left to fend for themselves. Or they may be abducted and forcibly recruited into one of the warring factions as child soldiers, or displaced to a refugee camp where food, water and medical care is scarce and the risk of infection high.
Where there is a high prevalence of HIV and Aids: Invariably, in a country where there is a high prevalence of HIV and Aids there will also be high numbers of orphans. Without economic support these children are often forced to leave their homes, they usually gravitate towards large towns and cities to live as “street children”, making them particularly vulnerable to adult exploitation.
In areas of extreme poverty: In extreme poverty situations, where a high risk to health through lack of food, water, sanitation and adequate healthcare is already existent, children can be in further danger from parents who may be tempted to sell them in order to temporarily ease economic pressures.
Natural disasters: The risk to children from drought, famine, earthquakes, flooding and all manner of other natural disasters is obvious.
Learn more about these activities by reading about our Disadvantaged Children and Youth Programme in Sierra Leone.
NutritionIn respect of its feeding programmes, GOAL is most concerned to ensure that the food it distributes is as nutritious as possible. This is particularly true for babies, young children, nursing mothers and pregnant women, in respect of whom a supplementary feeding programme will usually be initiated.
As part of its efforts to raise the nutritional value of the food being consumed in developing countries, GOAL has designed and implements many agricultural and home-garden initiatives (both practical and educational), each one particular to the prevailing conditions of the region.
Click here to see where GOAL is working in the developing world and learn what we are doing in each country to alleviate the suffering of those most in need.