EsteamWork Red Cross Factfinding Ethiopia

A few years ago, the Ethiopian government donated a plot of prime land to the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS). At the ERCS, relatively little knowledge was available to decide upon how to optimize revenue from this plot, as its expertise primarily lies in providing humanitarian aid. It was clear however that the ERCS was looking for opportunities to put this plot to use in order to become financially less reliant on others.

Compared to Western Red Cross societies, African Red Cross societies depend on fewer donors and receive more requests for humanitarian aid. In 2006, the Ethiopian Red Cross Society asked the Netherlands Red Cross Society for assistance on the question of how to make optimal use of this piece of land. The Netherlands Red Cross Society was more than willing to respond, but as they lack the specific expertise on this matter as well, The Netherlands Red Cross Society and EsteamWork bonded to bring together a group of real estate experts.

Late October 2006, these professionals traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on a fact-finding mission. Afterwards, the expert team presented an advice on the possibilities for further development of the plot. In order to be able to cover core costs, it is expected that more African Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are willing to incorporate financial sustainability this way in the future.

The cooperation between the experts and the Netherlands Red Cross Society was organized by EsteamWork, a Dutch organization that connects different worlds and inspires (future) leaders through unique learning journeys based on real business cases.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• adventure
• nonprofit
• business
• humanities
• economics