A Plan of Action of IRROB

Irob is one of the poorest, if not the poorest, administrative regions (Weredas) in Ethiopia. The geographical size of the region or wereda is 340.64 square kilometers. It borders with Eritrea from the northwest, north, and east. It is an entirely mountainous area with little or no flatland. The region has been greatly impoverished over the years as a result of a recurring drought and crop failure. Sadly, deforestation has caused the surrounding area to become vulnerable to erosion and thus to be turned into a semi desert.

The inhabitants of Irob Wereda are estimated from 20-30,000. They are descendants of one Chieftain, named Soumme, who was the son of Worede-Mehret. The descendants of Soumme are known as Seleste-Irob (Three-Irob), which are: Adgadi-Are, Bocnaiti-Are, and Hassaballa. They are, almost over 99%, Christians who adhere to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo and Catholic faiths. They primarily speak Saho and secondarily Tigrigna. The area in which the inhabitants reside is commonly referred to as Irobland.

Traditionally, the inhabitants of the Irobland by profession are farmers and livestock herders. Their main source of income is livestock, agriculture, honey-farming, as well as some commerce. They mainly trade domestic animals, hides, milk products, and honey. For the past two decades, the people of Irob have been dependent on humanitarian aid for their very survival due to irregularities in the rainy seasons and the ensuing harvest failure.

In terms of food aid need, Irob Wereda has been assessed to be the neediest of the needy weredas in the entire country in the pre-war period 1994-1998. According to reliable and internationally confirmed data from the Early Warning System of the Ethiopian Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC), Irob Wereda had, by far, the highest percentage of highly-affected population in need of food aid from more than 400 weredas in all of Ethiopia: some 88.4% the wereda population had been assessed to be highly affected prior to the war, and during the war, with the displaced population, this may have increased to over 90% of the population.

In terms of pure physical survival and death, two major surveys in the year 2000 have shown the ultimate tragedy of severe poverty and food insecurity in this Northeast corner of Ethiopia (where Irob is located). Both the USAID/UNFPA-supported Demographic and Health Survey and the USAID-supported DPPC/SERA project have confirmed that Tigray Region in general, and the Northeast weredas in particular suffer very high child malnutrition and mortality. Over half of young children are moderately-severely malnourished, and nearly one in five children die before the age of five.

The people of Irob have also been subjected to another hardship: War. Their socio-economic hardship was compounded by the invasion and occupation by Eritrea from 1998 to 2000. During the Eritrean occupation, in addition to being victims of heinous human rights violations, their socio-economic fabric was completely disrupted. Disappearances and abductions, widespread rapes, displacement, refuge, starvation, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder are only a few effects of this socio-economic disruption.

The people of Irob are today in need of immediate massive relief, rehabilitation, and developmental assistance to rebuild their socio-economic fabric and to be able to ultimately achieve self-reliance.

Mission of IRROB:

IRROB is organized and exists for the purposes of:

Having enough food and nutrition security for the people of Irob whenever exposed to drought and famine;
Rehabilitating the people of Irob who have been adversely affected by the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea (1998-2000); and
Assisting the people of Irob to achieve socio-economic self-reliance. To this effect, IRROB is convinced that post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the war and its detrimental consequences as now experienced by the Irob people in Ethiopia can only be reversed with extensive social, economic, developmental, educational, and rehabilitative programs as well as other humanitarian relief efforts.

IRROB is dedicated to organizing, developing and supporting sustainable programs in partnership with local governmental, religious, and private agencies on site. In order to achieve the goals and objectives of its mission and philosophy, IRROB will seek internal and external as well as national and international resources.

Vision of IRROB:

Our vision is that all people in the Irobland

Have enough food whenever exposed to drought and famine
Attain a permanent solution to their recurrent drought and lack of water problems through dam-building and irrigation projects
Get access to clean water for drinking through well-digging and water purification projects
Get appropriate care they need for the HIV, tuberculosis, and other endemic diseases through therapeutic and preventive measures and
Empower the people with developmental and educational programs in order to achieve socio-economic self-reliance.

Goals of IRROB:

To help the Irob minority in northeastern Ethiopia achieve socio-economic self-reliance through sustained poverty-reduction, as well as relief, rehabilitation, developmental, and educational programs.

Objectives of IRROB:

To achieve its goals and fulfill its mission, IRROB will carry out the following objectives:

Coordinate and mobilize all Irob descendants—in Ethiopia and in the diaspora—to commit themselves to support the people of Irob in need of humanitarian, developmental and educational assistance;
Coordinate activities with national and international groups to enable and strengthen humanitarian, rehabilitative, educational and developmental outreach endeavors by educating the public through the Internet and other communication media as well as by seeking and raising necessary resources.
Seek national and international partnership with various sectors of American society interested in enabling IRROB to achieve and implement its goals of helping the Irob minority of Ethiopia.
Develop strategic plans of five to ten years for the IRROB to make its outreach programs effective and operational.
Produce and circulate a periodic newsletter to serve as a vehicle of communication between Irobs in the United States and to keep Irobs in the homeland aware of the work of IRROB on their behalf.
Provide information, including photographs and videos as well as oral briefings, to media organizations and charitable groups about conditions in Irobland, the needs of its people and the activities of IRROB and other official and non-governmental organizations aimed at helping the Irob people.

What Will IRROB DO?

Programs/Projects To Support:

IRROB will support and assist in funding the following projects in Irobland in collaboration with existing agencies and institutions in that particular geographical area:

Relief/Emergency Projects
Water Projects
Strengthen famine early warning
Household food security and nutrition projects
Health Projects
Housing and Family Rehab Projects
School Building Rehabilitation Projects
Education Projects
Agricultural Projects
Animal Husbandry Projects
Industrial Projects
Scholarship Projects
Historical Sites Preservation Projects

How Will IRROB Execute Its Mission?

In Irobland (Ethiopia):

IRROB will fulfill its mission of relief and rehabilitation as well as educational and developmental operations for the Irob people by:

Empowering the People of Irob

IRROB is committed to empowering the Irob people toward economic, educational and developmental self-reliance by materially and morally supporting them and helping them getting organized locally, nationally and internationally as well as by the employment of intellectual and skilled-professional resources available within the educated class of the urban Irob community to invest in the larger rural needy Irob communities.

Subsidizing and Supporting Grass-root Organizations of Irob

IRROB strongly believes in the importance of establishing and supporting grass-root organizations of Irobs for the Irob people and therefore is strongly committed to help develop and assist such organizations, which will be instrumental in implementing IRROB’s programs locally in the Irobland as well as nationally for the needy Irob communities at large.

Collaborating with Other Existing Governmental, Church, Private, and International Agencies Interested or Involved in the Irobland

IRROB is particularly interested in, and committed to, long-term and permanent solutions for the Irob people’s recurrent problems. They include drought, famine, poverty, as well as endemic diseases. The latter will be addressed through education and supply of medicine. Poverty is to be reduced through development of sustaining projects that focus on economic-self-reliance. IRROB is particularly committed to collaborate with the Adigrat Eparchy’s (Diocese) Social Action, the newly formed Irob Nationality Rehabilitation & Development Association (INRDA), and the Daughters of Charity’s humanitarian and social works among others in order to strengthen those existing relief, medical, rehabilitative, educational, and development programs in the Irobland by funding their programs.

Sponsoring Training Programs

Supporting Improvements of Education Systems for the Irob People by:

(a) Supplying text books and educational materials

(b) Introducing computer and electronic technologies

(d) Improving and expanding existing school facilities

(e) Hire qualified teachers with competitive salaries required by the governmental education system for remote rural areas

(f) Sponsoring and assisting 25-50 underprivileged students in elementary and secondary educations at a cost of 1,000 Birr (local currency) per student per year

(g) Sponsoring 10-20 high achiever students to continue higher education in colleges and universities in Ethiopia at a cost of 2,000 Birr per student per year

(h) Assisting to obtain scholarship opportunities for outstandingly students to pursue graduate and postgraduate studies abroad

(i) Providing moral and material support to professionals and intellectuals for the enhance the living conditions of Irobs at large.

Sponsoring Health Care Professionals traveling from Home and Abroad
Collecting and Supplying Medicine from abroad
Raising Necessary Funds in the United States and abroad
Monitoring Regularly the Implementation of the Funded Programs
Assessing and Evaluating the Successes and Weaknesses of the Programs/Projects
Reporting Annually on the Progress

Governance and Management of IRROB:

A. Corporate Members

B. Board of Directors

· Chief Executive Officer

· Committees

Management/Operations Goals and Objectives of IRROB:

· Staffing and Benefits: To attract and retain qualified paid and volunteer staff for all operations, services, and activities of the organization.

· Resource Development: To acquire stable, broad-based, financial and non-financial resources to support the programs and growth envisioned by the organization.

· Board of Directors: To develop and maintain an effective, and informed Board of Directors whose managerial governance and support roles help the achievement of IRROB’s mission.

· Planning and Evaluation: To guarantee that we meet the needs of our constituencies and that all programs provide the highest level of service to the Irob minority groups.

· Public Relations/Marketing: To increase the visibility and community awareness of IRROB and to make sure that IRROB is properly recognized for its achievements and closely identified as a premier nonprofit organization providing help to the Irob people.

· Infrastructure: To increase the operational and management efficiency and effectiveness of IRROB.

· Networking and Collaboration: To maximize closer communication with other agencies in order to maximize national and international communities involvement and ensure increased coordination and collaboration among humanitarian, developmental, and educational service providers and organizations doing related projects.

How Will IRROB Secure Funds for its Operations?

Fund-Raising Methods:

As a public charity organization, IRROB is interested in and committed to exploring various methods and techniques of fundraising to implement and sustain its charitable, educational and developmental programs as defined in its mission statement. Some of the methods are the following:

Pledges from Irob natives in the United States and Canada
Contributions from other supporting members
Community fundraising activities
Letter and Internet solicitations and appeals to the general public
Grant seeking through proposals from foundations, corporations, church-related charities, and different private contributors
Governmental grants: IRROB will seek substantial funding from such as the USAID for programs in the Irobland in Ethiopia and from other governmental agencies for domestic programs in the United States.
IRROB will have two type of fundraising committees: one committee of volunteers to coordinate fundraiser-activities of Irob and supporters (such as dinners, cultural nights, picnics, etc.) in various States and another committee of volunteers to raise funds through proposals writings to potential funding agencies and direct letter appeals to the general public.