Welcome to GOAL
What is GOAL?
GOAL is an international
humanitarian agency dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the
poorest of the poor. We are a non-denominational, non-governmental
and non-political organisation.
Our History:
GOAL was founded in Dublin
in 1977 by former sports journalist and current Chief Executive,
John O’Shea.
Since its inception, GOAL
has spent in excess of €600 million on humanitarian programmes
in over 50 countries. Over 1,500 GOALies and many thousands of local
staff have worked in the developing world on GOAL’s behalf
and the organisation has responded to every major humanitarian disaster
since 1977.
Where are our operations?
GOAL currently has in
excess of 100 GOALies based in 11 countries: Ethiopia, Honduras,
India, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda,
Zimbabwe and Haiti.
Across GOAL’s fields
of operation, 2,500 locally-based staff are employed alongside the
GOALies, where together they deliver on a range of humanitarian
programmes. GOALies come from all walks of life: accountants, nurses,
doctors, nutritionists, logisticians, engineers, administrative
personnel, and so on.
What
exactly does GOAL do?
GOAL’s emergency
response:
In the event of a humanitarian crisis, the primary focus of our
emergency response teams is to get life-saving assistance as soon
as possible to those directly affected and most in need. We ensure
as far as possible that they are provided with the basic requirements
of life: water, food, shelter, medicine and necessary healthcare.
GOAL’s Rehabilitation
and Development programmes:
Once an emergency situation begins
to improve, GOAL will initiate whatever rehabilitation programmes
are needed. We work where possible with communities and local NGOs
on fixed water sites and sanitation projects, and on food distribution
and healthcare programmes. If required, we will start to (re-) build
roads, bridges, houses, schools, hospitals and healthcare clinics.
GOAL is involved across
many countries in longer-term development programmes relating to
health, nutrition, education and capacity-building within local
communities. Besides implementing its own programmes, GOAL often
works with partner organisations and missionary groups who have
similar objectives. GOAL aims to reduce a community’s level
of dependency by training local personnel so that programmes can
continue after GOAL leaves an area.
GOAL Street Children
programmes:
GOAL has a street children project
in Calcutta from 1977, where the organisation has been instrumental
in rescuing more than 70,000 Indian youngsters from lives of abject
misery and degradation. Currently GOAL along with locally-based
partners has Street Children projects in Sierra Leone, Kenya, Uganda,
Ethiopia and Honduras.
Key elements of GOAL’s
Street Children programmes are the provision of food, shelter and
healthcare, and the raising of awareness of children’s fundamental
rights. Street children also receive counselling, education and
training from GOAL.
Where possible, GOAL aims
for the re-integration of children back into their families, and
into mainstream education and wider society.
Click here
to read about GOAL’s Fight Against HIV and Aids.
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