Background & History of HAVOYOCO

Horn of Africa voluntary youth committee (HAVOYOCO) is a regional non-government organization and it is registered and operational in Somaliland,Somalia as well as in Ethiopia particularly Somali region. The organization was established in 1992 by a group of youth in Hargeisa to respond to the precarious situation in the aftermath of Somalia civil war and to help the vulnerable women, men, children, IDPs and disable people to meet their basic needs.

The headquarter office is in Hargeisa and it has  sub offices in Burao, Borama, Erigabo, Berbera,Muqdishu and Laascaanood of Somaliland. Similarly, HAVOYOCO has offices in Addis Ababa, Jigjiga and Diredawa of Ethiopia. The governance structure of the organization consist of general assembly ,board of directors(two female and three male),two country Directors in Somaliland/Somalia and Ethiopia and senior management .The organization has proven and well established policies and procedure which guides for its operation and program implementation. Functional policies of the organization include, financial, procurement and logistics, Human resource, Child protection, gender and risk management to mention some. According to Harmonized Approach to Cash Transfers (HACT) conducted by UNICEF  and UNDP  in which HAVOYOCO was categorized as low risk organization. Similarly, HAVOYOCO fared good to the Due diligence exercise of OXFAM GB

The vision of HAVOYOCO is a poverty free of horn of Africa, while it is mission is to empower vulnerable communities in the Horn of Africa through facilitation and capacity building so they can improve their standard of living. The organization is working hard to achieve its strategic of improving the rights and socio-economic wellbeing of the target communities in the Horn of Africa. HAVOYOCO is guided by its strategic plan (2016-2020) as well as well-established policies, systems and procedures. Over the five year period 2016-2020, HAVOYOCO will focus on five strategic objectives namely; (1) Creation of employment opportunities and provision of marketable skills for the youth (2) Support of pastoral and agro-pastoral community’s development and resilience (3) Community participation in decision making, democracy and economic development (4) Improvement of Mother and child basic health and nutrition and (5) Strengthening organizational capacity and sustainability of HAVOYOCO. HAVAYOCO had initiated and engaged in partnership based programs with different donors, and stakeholders. HAVOYOCO has developed a good partnership with UN agencies, UNISCO and UNDP such as UNICEF, with INGOS such OXFAM, CARE, Save the Children, Norwegian Development Fund and African development fund (USA).The organization has a good track record of project implementation and service delivery

Through the years, the organization has gained organizational experiences, notably, skills at different organizational levels (individual and organizational culture); knowledge based expertise in the national context, specifically in designing development programs and humanitarian work, providing marketable skills to the youth, expertise in disaster risk management, knowledge on agriculture and livestock development and vast experience in community mobilization, advocacy and building partnerships.

 For the last 25 years HAVOYOCO has implemented many resilience  interventions in all the regions of somaliland such as food security,Agriculture and livestock and WASH sector  for rehabilitation of water sources that include Shallow wells, Berkads and Dams, rehabilitation of rangelands, soil conservation structures, water diversions, gully control structures and construction of sand Dams. It has also implemented unconditional cash interventions and voucher system in distribution of water and food. Our interventions (cash based) has covered many districts that include Hargeysa, Gabiley, Borama, Berbera, Odweyne, Buroa, lasanod and Erigabo. Engagement and mobilization of all stakeholders including the beneficiaries were necessary in implementing projects for sustainability of such projects.

Moreover, HAVOYOCO in partnership with OXFAM have implemented a long-term cross border project 2008-2015 focusing on cross border livelihoods, market and community resilience capacity building , strategic water and grazing management ,animal health, trade and resilience’s in supporting men and women pastoralists to increasing their income from livestock products and building community resilience from shocks and climate change.

Throughout the years HAVOYOCO has developed a good relationship and rapport with many communities in different districts in Somaliland /Somalia  due to its satisfactory and transparent service delivery with real time feedback. Likewise, it has a good relation with almost relevant government institutions and other stakeholders. HAVOYOCO is an active member of Umbrellas in Somaliland such as NAGAAD, SAHAN (for HIV/AIDS), SONSAF and SOLPAF. Beneficially, HAVOYOCO has a PADOR registration as (SO-2013-FLF-2607327658).

Over the last 25  years, HAVOYOCO has been a key player in the development and Resilienece sector and has worked and implemented resilience projects with many partners include UNHCR,UNICEF,UNDP,WHO,Oxfam, EU,Care international, Save the children, USADF, ARC, NRC,DRC,DFID, DF Norway,FAO and others.

Vision

HAVOYOCO’S vision is poverty free in horn of Africa.

Mission

HAVOYOCO mission is to empower vulnerable communities in the Horn of Africa through facilitation and capacity building so they can improve their standard of living.

Core values

HAVOYOCO core values are:

• Commitment: demonstrate openness to learning, innovation, change and growth
• Honesty and integrity: adhering to organizational value, being a fair, objective and impartial in decision making
• Value and respecting people’s rights and equal opportunities for all in an enabling environment
• Delivering high quality services and results: use time and resources efficiently, delegation and use other’s skills
• Accountability: We are accountable to partners, donors, and, most of all, vulnerable communities.