Stories
July 13, 2018 • 2 min read
“Our response in north-west Syria continued for the fifth straight year and that we managed to provide water, bread and other emergency assistance to more than 750,000 people every month in one of the world’s most challenging environments is testament to the courage and tenacity of our staff there."
"Along with the continued strong support of key programmes by Irish Aid, the organisation has, since year end, signed new contracts with the UK and US Governments, along with the EU and the UN, while also developing its public fundraising capabilities with the recruitment of a Global Head of Fundraising and Marketing."
Financial statements released by GOAL today as part of their 2017 annual report reveal that the organisation delivered humanitarian relief to 5.3m million people across 15 countries during the year.
In what was largely a year of stabilisation, following a challenging 2016, the charity has outlined how it continued to respond to major crises across East Africa and The Middle East, reaching hundreds of thousands of people in the process with food, water, shelter and other critical supports.
“The organisation has come through a comprehensive and necessary process of change over the past two years,” said General Manager, Celine Fitzgerald. “While the 2017 annual report reflects a period of consolidation, the organisation can be justifiably proud that it managed to reach and support so many vulnerable people across the world.
“Our response in north-west Syria continued for the fifth straight year and that we managed to provide water, bread and other emergency assistance to more than 750,000 people every month in one of the world’s most challenging environments is testament to the courage and tenacity of our staff there. The brutality of that conflict and the unrelenting dangers to innocent civilians and members of the aid community was underlined by the death of our colleague, Mustafa Shoaib, who was fatally injured in an airstrike on his home at the end of September.
“We also began a new response to an ongoing drought in Ethiopia and between that intervention, and programmes for South Sudanese and Eritrean refugees, we managed to reach more than two million people in Ethiopia over the 12-month period.
“Overall, I am pleased that GOAL was in a far stronger position at the end of 2017 than it was at the start of the year. It was particularly encouraging that by year end we had commenced the process of establishing longer-term objectives for the organisation in the shape of GOAL’s strategic plan. This document, which is due to be rolled out in late 2018, will see GOAL plotting a new course for the organisation up to 2030.”
The year also saw GOAL further strengthen its ethical management systems as training on issues around compliance was rolled out across the organisation, culminating in 97 per cent of global staff being fully trained in this area by year end. The organisation has already stated openly that it wishes to become a ‘best in class’ in terms of ethics and compliance and is confident that this objective will be achieved in time.
Along with the continued strong support of key programmes by Irish Aid, the organisation has, since year end, signed new contracts with the UK and US Governments, along with the EU and the UN, while also developing its public fundraising capabilities with the recruitment of a Global Head of Fundraising and Marketing.
