Engineers Without Borders
Encyclopedia
Engineers Without Borders – International (EWB-I) is an international association of some national EWB/ISF groups, whose mission is to facilitate collaboration, exchange of information, and assistance among its member groups that have applied to become part of the association. EWB-I helps the member groups develop their capacity to assist poor communities in their respective countries and around the world.

Organizational structure

The main office of EWB-I resides in the USA with regional offices in Mexico, India, Belgium, and Egypt. The regional offices serve as the first point of entry for those national EWB/ISF groups that wish to apply for membership of EWB-I and represent the EWB/ISF groups that are part of the association. EWB-I is run by an international board composed of representatives of many EWB/ISF groups.

The member groups of EWB-I share a similar mission, which is to partner with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life through education and implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while promoting new dimensions of experience for engineers, engineering students, and similarly motivated non-engineers. EWB-I creates links between like-minded organizations and cuts across national borders. EWB-I works in collaboration with various partner organizations affiliated with its member organizations.

Projects

Projects conducted by individual EWB/ISF member groups are grassroots and small and are not usually addressed by in-country consulting firms. It is a matter of policy that prior to taking on projects, EWB-I member groups make sure that they are not competing with private engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

 firms.

EWB-I member groups and partner organizations contribute to meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...

 (MDGs) through capacity building in their projects. EWB-I also endorses the Earth Charter
Earth Charter
The Earth Charter is an international declaration of fundamental values and principles considered useful by its supporters for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century...

 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...

.

EWB-I provides a platform for its member groups, affiliates, and outside organizations to:
  • Contribute to meeting the MDGs through capacity building in local projects
  • Collaborate on projects and studies worldwide
  • Share ideas, experiences, technical knowledge, and documentation
  • Develop partnerships on community projects
  • Address more global issues and projects
  • Coordinate student exchanges, internships, and professional volunteers
  • Advertise meetings and events
  • Train and connect engineering professionals and students around the world
  • Create synergy between their members

International co-ordination

While each national group is fully independent and autonomous. The function of EWB-International is to facilitate multinational collaborative projects and enhance the effectiveness of individual EWB’s/ISF’s, especially start-up groups in the developing world.

Engineers Without Borders – International consists of member groups, provisional member groups, and start-up groups . All groups function autonomously. Membership requires that all members adhere to high professional and ethical standards as stated in the EWB-I By-Laws. EWB-I also accepts requests from existing organizations interested in joining as partner organizations.

Selected EWB-I member organizations

  • Ingénieurs Sans Frontières (Belgium)
    Engineers Without Borders (Belgium)
    Ingénieurs sans Frontières - Ingénieurs Assistance Internationale is a Belgian NGO assisting developing areas of the world with their engineering needs and whose fundamental purpose is to adapt technological development to the needs of those living in underprivileged areas.- Overview :It should...

  • Ingenieurs zonder Grenzen
    Ingenieurs zonder Grenzen
    Ingenieurs zonder Grenzen, is a name used by two Belgian organisations, both of which are provisional members of the Engineers Without Borders International network.- External links :...

     (Belgium
    Belgium
    Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

    )
  • Engineers Without Borders (India)
    Engineers Without Borders (India)
    Engineers Without Borders is a non-governmental organization involved in development work. It is a member of the "Engineers Without Borders - International" network.-External links:*...

  • Engineers Without Borders (USA)
    Engineers Without Borders (USA)
    Engineers Without Borders – USA is a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life...

  • Engineers Without Borders (Palestine)
    Engineers Without Borders (Palestine)
    Engineers Without Borders Palestine is a Palestine-based registered charity and NGO. Its mission is to "partner with Palestinian disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of life through the implementation of environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects, while...

  • Engineers Without Borders (Portugal) (EpDAH and TESE)
  • Engineers Without Borders - Lebanon

See also

  • Engineers Without Borders
    Engineers Without Borders
    Engineers Without Borders – International is an international association of some national EWB/ISF groups, whose mission is to facilitate collaboration, exchange of information, and assistance among its member groups that have applied to become part of the association...

    - includes information about similarly named organizations not affiliated with EWB-I

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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