RedR

RedR (pronounced 'Red R') is an international humanitarian capacity-strengthening NGO founded in the United Kingdom in 1980¹. Originally established as the Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief, it now provides learning and development, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing services for humanitarian, development and disaster-response professionals. Its work focuses on humanitarian services, engineering in emergencies, and climate-related disaster risk, with an emphasis on strengthening the capacity of local and national responders. In 2023, the Financial Times recognised RedR as one of 20 organisations helping to rebuild broken worlds.

RedR (pronounced 'Red R') is an international humanitarian capacity-strengthening NGO founded in the United Kingdom in 1980. Originally established as the Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief, it now provides learning and development, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing services for humanitarian, development and disaster-response professionals. Its work focuses on humanitarian services, engineering in emergencies, and climate-related disaster risk, with an emphasis on strengthening the capacity of local and national responders. In 2023, the Financial Times recognised RedR as one of 20 organisations helping to rebuild broken worlds.

History

1980s

RedR was founded in London in 1980 by engineer Peter Guthrie following time spent delivering aid during the crisis of the Vietnamese boat people. Mr. Guthrie said: “When I returned [from the refugee crisis in Malaysia] I saw the pressing need for engineers to help in this sort of work and compiled a register of engineers who could be called upon at short notice to work with frontline relief agencies.” On the advice of Oxfam’s chief engineer Jim Howard, Oxfam provided seed funding and RedR was formally registered as a charity. In 1985, RedR faced its first major challenge with the onset of the Ethiopian Famine. A significant number of RedR Members were required to work on relief programmes in Ethiopia and neighbouring Sudan. In 1988, The Princess Royal became President of RedR, a position she still holds today.

1990s

In 1991, RedR UK’s training programme began. In 1992, RedR Australia was founded. It commenced with a register of engineers and soon after began delivering training for humanitarian workers. In 1994, the Rwanda crisis erupted and over 100 RedR Members were deployed to the Great Lakes region, while RedR New Zealand was established. A year later, the first ever edition of ‘Engineering in Emergencies: A Practical Guide for Relief Workers’ by RedR Members Jan Davis and Robert Lambert was published. In 1998, RedR launched its Technical Support Service for relief workers in the field and the following year their first regional training – Security Management - in Tirana, Albania.

2000s

In 2003, RedR UK merged with International Health Exchange (IHE), an organisation that improved the preparation and recruitment of health professionals for overseas emergency situations. RedR set up a programme office for the first time in East Africa. In 2005, in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, RedR launched a ‘Learning Support and Capacity Building Programme’ in Sri Lanka and commenced a similar programme in Pakistan following the 2005 earthquake. In the same year, RedR established a programme in Darfur, Sudan, in response to the country's civil war and trained 4,000 national and international aid workers over the next five years. RedR UK and RedR Australia became involved in the UN Cluster approach in 2006. RedR leads the training of aid workers within a number of cluster groups, including WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), Emergency Shelter, Health and Nutrition. In 2009, RedR UK linked with Oxford Brookes University to offer credit-rated courses in six of its training courses. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, RedR established a programme and trained 1,000 relief workers to support the response. 91% of trainees were Haitian nationals. RedR Lanka was also established in its own right to help assist in long term capacity building in Sri Lanka. In 2011, RedR UK set up a country programme in South Sudan to assist with ongoing insecurity in the region. Starting late 2014, RedR UK provided training for UK NHS staff being deployed to Sierra Leone to respond to the Ebola Crisis in that country.

Current Work

Vision, Mission and Values

RedR states its vision is a ‘world in which sufficient competent and committed personnel are available and responding to humanitarian needs.’ RedR believes in the provision of humanitarian assistance to people wherever it is needed to relieve suffering and sickness. A key idea they integrate when responding to disasters is that people and communities affected by disasters themselves should be empowered to develop skills for immediate and future disaster response.

RedR Federation Members

RedR UK (1980) RedR Australia (1992) RedR India (2003) RedR Malaysia (2005) RedR Indonesia (2007)

References

External links

RedR UK Homepage RedR Australia Homepage People in Aid website Ingenia article on the work of RedR - June 2008

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378878473 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.