What is ICEAID?

Where are ICEAID currently working?

Who is on the Board of ICEAID?

WHAT

Co-founded in 2006 by Glúmur Balvinsson (MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, who has worked for the UN and non-governmental organisations in emergency response and development projects) and Pádraig David Grant (an Irish specialist in humanitarian affairs with over 16 years experience in the developing world both as a freelance photo-journalist and aid worker) ICEAID is an Icelandic based NGO.

This fledgling organization, , has established relationships with the University of Iceland and the Bifröst University to integrate development work more frequently into higher education.

By combining the energies of politicians, educational institutions, and Icelandic corporations such as Actavis, all of whom are represented on the group’s board of directors, ICEAID aims to tap into the benefits of bringing multiple players to the table to fund and manage projects in the most efficient way possible. A new project with Actavis in Tanzania planned for later this year shows the group’s potential to establish itself as a home-grown player in the global NGO community.

WHERE

ICEAID is working to rehabilitate orphanages in Liberia and all profits from "fowlisfair" will be used by ICEAID to fund the ongoing rehabilitation of The Alfred and Agnes Memorial Orphanage Monrovia (AAMOM).

This orphanage is home for 75 children orphaned by the country's two recent civil wars and its unusual moniker remembers the grandparents of the centre's director, Jerome Pedersen, a Liberian with boundless energy and optimism despite the country's recent tragic history.

The children ranging in ages from toddlers to late teens, were ‘living' in appalling, unsanitary conditions. The building they were sleeping in leaked badly, the walls crumbled and the kids slept on mats or a mattress if lucky. Running water, electricity and latrines were simply not available. Schooling and recreation were very abstract ideas indeed.

Using funds generously donated by Irish citizens the everyday lives and well-being of the children is improving through an ambitious programme of infra structural, educational and vocational projects. ICEAID has laid the foundations for a computer and vocational training centre and bought new beds for the girls dormitory.

The orphanage is located close to Camp Clara, where Irish and Swedish UN peacekeepers are billeted in Monrovia, Liberia's capital city. On UN Peacekeepers' Day, May 29th, these troops brought their heavy earthmoving equipment to the orphanage grounds, cleared a site for a new school and along with ICEAID labourers prepared the foundations of the computer training and vocational centre. Since then things have improved dramatically with the building of a new boys dormitory, latrines and the provision of new beds.

Children from the wider community around the home are able to attend the new facilities for a small voluntary fee, about US$5 (€3.70 or £2.50) for six months, and this helps sustain the school and pay for teachers. From very humble beginnings the AAMOM is now looking towards a bright future that can only get brighter with your support of the "fowlisfair" t-shirt campaign.

WHO

ICEAID's board of directors, consisting of members with proven track-record in their various fields of profession, set the policy of the Agency, make proposals on projects and ensure their progress.

The Board oversees that donor funds are spent in an efficient manner with a view that the goals of the projects are successfully achieved. It supervises the auditing by appropriate bodies of how funding is used thus guaranteeing transparency and financial responsibility.
 

Eoin Colfer - author
Dr. Gauti Eggertsson -  Economist at the US Central Bank
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir - former President of Iceland
Sigrún Guðjónsdóttir - CEO of INNN Software and Consultancy House
Dr. Jón Ormur Halldórsson - Docent (Professor) in International Business at the University of Reykjavik
Ambassador Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson - former Foreign Minister of Iceland
Hallgrímur Helgason - author
Egill Helgason - TV Host
Páll Hermannsson - Consultant for the UNDP and a specialist in logistics
Anna Papaconstantinou - Planning Specialist
Steinunn Þórðardóttir - CEO of Glitnir Bank London
Dr. Svafa Grönfeldt - Principal of Reykjavik University
Dr. Sigridur Thorgeirsdottir - Docent in Philosophy at the University of Iceland