Engineers have a critical role to play in disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction, providing shelter, water supplies and sanitation.
Arup encourages its employees to take humanitarian assignments and works with international organisations that specialise in providing engineers with the skills needed to respond to humanitarian crises.
On the ground training
Engineers Without Borders gives recent graduates the opportunity to work on poverty alleviation projects and experience working in the field as part of development agency teams on overseas assignments.
Experienced engineers can undertake training and selection to join the register of RedR (Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief), which provides personnel to humanitarian programmes worldwide.
RedR engineers have formed part of the operational response teams working in the aftermath of natural disaster and conflict in places like Darfur, Pakistan and Aceh. Members are working in Haiti in several capacities, including as water, sanitation and hygiene experts, emergency coordinators and doctors.
As a founding Patron of RedR, Arup has encouraged staff to train with the charity, provided financial support, and helped to shape its programmes, for over 25 years.
Arup and RedR
Martin McCann, CEO, RedR-UK, explains the significance of Arup’s involvement:
"For over a quarter of a century we have worked with Arup and its employees to deliver on RedR’s mission to ‘relieve suffering caused by disasters by selecting, training and providing competent and committed personnel to humanitarian programmes worldwide.’
"A significant number of Arup staff who are RedR Members have taken time out to work on assignments overseas; experts have given to the next generation of humanitarians through leading roles in RedR training; Arup has contributed technical expertise to RedR’s Technical Support Service; various Arup staff have served in RedR governance. Through these positions and as a trusted advisor Arup has given RedR important guidance and advice on how the organisation should move forward.
"Arup has been generous in its direct financial contribution. This coupled with the unfaltering commitment of Arup staff through fundraising events and campaigns has meant that more vital funds have been raised annually than by any other RedR Patron, allowing us to save and improve more lives of people affected by humanitarian crises.
RedR would not be here – or at least be much of less of an organisation - without its partnership with Arup."
Robert Care, Chair of Arup Australasia and Chair of RedR Australia:
"Arup was involved at the very start of RedR globally in 1980 and in the foundation of RedR Australia in 1992. We currently have eight employees on the deployment register and have undertaken several assignments and training for RedR over the past 18 months. Some of the Arup family are now employed full time by various agencies, to undertake humanitarian work."
Experiences from Arup people
Anthony Peter, a Civil Engineer with Arup, attended RedR’s 'Essentials of Humanitarian Practice' training course and also received training in water and sanitation. He put this into practice in Sri Lanka after the 2006 Tsunami:
"The training gave me a solid grounding in the issues, technical and non technical, which you might encounter. They really improved my confidence on my first assignment in Sri Lanka. The six months on assignment were tough, but really rewarding. I remember visiting a family at the end of my stay, who we had built one of the first shelters for. They invited us in for a cup of tea, and proudly showed me the modifications they had to made to the shelter. It showed the value of what we had built."
Jo da Silva, Arup’s Director of international development, has been a RedR Member since 1991, serving as Chair and co-founding RedR International. She has provided expertise to NGOs in post-disaster situations around the world and has recently authored the Disasters Emergency Committee report Lessons from Aceh: Key considerations in post-disaster reconstruction.
"Working in post-disaster situations is extremely challenging, but equally hugely rewarding. Over the years I’ve attended at least a dozen RedR training courses – covering topics as diverse as humanitarian policy, security and water supply. This investment has enabled me to be effective in the field and make a real difference to communities whose lives have been devastated by disaster."