
Rotary International partnership
Working in partnership to make a difference worldwide.
Working in partnerships is in our DNA. We have always focused on building lasting relationships and powerful partnerships so we can support the people after disaster in a way that is right for them.
Read more about how we make those operational partnerships work, so we can provide families with the essential shelter they need to start recovering from a disaster.
We partner with all kinds of humanitarian and international development organizations, as well as local governments in the places where we’re working. We always make sure that we work with organizations who share our goal to support people who have lost their homes to disaster.
Working in partnership is a key part of our five-year strategy. We believe that humanitarian assistance should be as local as possible and as international as necessary. This means recognizing and supporting communities, local and national organizations to lead shelter projects. These groups are the first to respond to a crisis and the last to leave. They are better placed than any international organization to respond to the needs of their own communities. However, these organizations sometimes lack the resources or infrastructure to deliver projects. We are committed to providing funding and training to support partners in their work. This means they are better prepared and able to deliver more effective work as a result of partnering with us.
By working in partnership, we can increase our reach and provide support to communities in some of the most remote and dangerous conflict zones around the world.
Our partnerships ensure we can pool resources and support people around the world in the most efficient way
ShelterBox began in 2000 as a Rotary Club’s millennium project in Cornwall, UK.
With the support of Rotary members and clubs around the world, ShelterBox has grown to become an internationally recognized, independent disaster relief organization. Since 2012, ShelterBox and Rotary International have been official Project Partners in disaster relief.
Whenever disaster strikes, Rotary is beside us – from the earliest planning stages to final evaluations. Our partners help us make contacts on the ground, organize logistics, and reach people who might otherwise go without.
Each year, Rotary members help us to go further, support more people and access areas that would otherwise be impossible to reach.
ShelterBox is one of the few organizations to have a global cooperation agreement with The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). This unique partnership lets us work closely with them to support humanitarian coordination, shelter innovation and emergency shelter to vulnerable people after disaster.
After many years of successful collaboration, ShelterBox also has a formalized relationship with Habitat for Humanity International.
The agreement guides joint working during disaster responses. ShelterBox focuses on the initial emergency need for shelter after disaster, and Habitat for Humanity looks to the longer term for families and communities.
Our response to the severe monsoon flooding in Pakistan has been in partnership with Islamic Relief Pakistan. Our more recent work together has been focused on creating more durable shelters.
In Gaza, we are working with our partners Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), the Egyptian Red Crescent, and PARC to import vital aid for displaced families.
In Burkina Faso our implementing partner is HELP (Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe), a German NGO. They are supporting thousands of people who have been displaced due to conflict with shelter and household items like pans, water filters and solar lights. Our partner in Cameroon is Public Concern, a national NGO. They are working in the far north of the country where thousands of families have fled from Nigeria after escaping Boko Haram. The project is supporting these families with both emergency shelter and more durable shelters for families who have been living in the refugee camp for an extended period.
INTERSOS are our partner for one of our projects in Chad. They are international organisation with projects across Africa, Asia and South America. The second project is managed by Association Help Tchad pour la Développement (AHTD). This is an organisation local to Chad, experienced in a range of areas of humanitarian work.
To support people displaced by conflict and drought in Ethiopia we are working with IOM – the UN migration agency. They are the leading shelter actor in the country, with nationwide presence and access to vulnerable communities.
In neighbouring Somalia our partner is Juba Foundation, a Somali NGO experienced with supplying shelter in areas impacted by severe drought and flash flooding.
Our latest project in Mozambique is integrated with an ECHO funded project “Prepare, Respond, and Protect. Addressing the needs and protection concerns of crisis-affected girls, boys, women, and men in northern Mozambique”. The ECHO consortium is being led by CARE Austria. Save the Children, Norwegian People’s Aid, CARE Mozambique and ShelterBox work together to deliver the project on the ground. We are working closely with CARE Mozambique to supply emergency shelter and non-food aid.