Access to food, shelter, water and clothing are basic facilities that should be present in any community. Yet, there are still poorly-developed communities in countries with little or no access at all to these basic facilities. It is a reality caused by poor allocation of government resources, lack of education, marginalization, lack of legal, national concern and awareness. Given this reality, international non-profit organizations have been set in place in order to help provide these basic facilities in poor communities. Below are examples of these organizations.
Food, Water, Shelter Incorporated- Food, Water, Shelter Inc. is an Australian, non-denominational, non-governmental organization that builds and manages eco-friendly children’s villages with education, social and health facilities for vulnerable women and children in developing countries. The organization’s first children’s village is Kesho Leo, which is located in the village of Sinon in the Arusha region of Tanzania, East Africa.
UN-HABITAT- The United Nations Human Settlements Programme or UN-HABITAT is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. UN-HABITAT’s programmes are designed to help policy-makers and local communities get to grips with the human settlements and urban issues and find workable, lasting solutions. UN-HABITAT’s work is directly related to the United Nations Millennium Declaration, particularly the goals of member States to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020, Target 11, Millennium Development Goal No. 7, and Target 10 which calls for the reduction by half of the number without sustainable access to safe drinking water.
Awareness campaigns for these organizations are limited by the allocation of funds to their present causes. A simple and effective alternative medium for promotion used are printed materials such as flyers, booklets, newsletters, magazines and postcards. Print materials are convenient and easy to produce using local and online printers. Online printers like Uprinting in particular, offer printing services at reasonable and discounted prices by offering online coupons to customers.
Nikki Sabato is a writer with a background in landscape architecture and design. She currently works in the field of marketing and design communication.
