Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
Since 2003, the IRC has been using satellite images, digitized maps, aerial photographs and data collected in the field with GPS units to pinpoint areas that lack potable water and identify potential groundwater sources. Now we are using these tools to try to understand factors that contribute to school drop-out rates by mapping schools, the availability of nearby water sources and sanitation facilities, and the numbers of out-of-school children. This information will be used to select sites to build alternative basic education schools for children not currently attending traditional schools and develop strategies to reduce girls' domestic workloads so they can attend classes. We are sharing information with humanitarian aid agency partners, donors and the Ethiopian government and increasing GIS coverage of the entire country to better serve early warning systems and humanitarian needs assessments.
Education
The IRC is building new classrooms, training teachers, launching pre-schools and developing informal literacy and math education programs for adults and out-of-school youth. We’ve launched awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of sending girls to school and made it easier for girls to attend school by distributing feminine hygiene supplies. IRC-supported youth clubs participate in community service projects such as assisting the elderly and educating the community on environmental and animal-care issues. In the local community, the IRC's education program is working to reduce the number of children engaged in the worst forms of child labor through community capacity-building and awareness-raising, construction of Alternative Basic Education schools, teacher training and functional vocational literacy programs for youth.
Community Services
Through its community services programs in the camps, the IRC works to increase community representation of vulnerable groups such as women, the elderly and the disabled and assists in the removal of barriers to their access to camp services. Vulnerable groups receive vocational training in skills such as embroidery, tailoring, masonry, carpentry and soap making, and small grants are provided to assist them in setting up small businesses such as tea shops, bakeries, and laundries. Refugees take part in small business management training in order to learn how to run their operations. Tailoring graduates are engaged in the production of sanitary napkins and pants for women and girls age 13-49, which in turn helps encourage girls to stay in school.
HIV/AIDS Awareness and Prevention and Reproductive Health
The IRC organizes HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, shows educational videos, trains community health workers, distributes condoms to refugees, and increases access and awareness of family planning methods. In one camp, the IRC operates a Voluntary Counseling and Testing center. The IRC is also working with youth groups to create educational materials such as t-shirts, posters, murals and songs and poetry for awareness events such as World AIDS Day. Similar activities are being conducted to assist communities around the camps, with an emphasis on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, to tie in to livelihood recovery initiatives and the education program's efforts to reach children at risk of engaging in the worst forms of child labor.
Water and Sanitation
In refugee camps and local communities, the IRC is building new latrines and waste pits, drilling boreholes, training water system operation and maintenance teams, helping strengthen the capacity of local water bureaus, and educating refugees and local families on sanitation and hygiene. The IRC is also distributing mosquito nets to stem rampant malaria and building an emergency team ready to work with partners to respond to crises around the country.
