A Brief History of AFDEM
African professionals available for humanitarian and peace building related missions.
BACKGROUND
Civilian rosters for international humanitarian relief and peace support operations are well established in several developed countries and these have been used extensively by international agencies such as the United Nations bodies and international Non-Government Organizations requiring civilians for international missions. Traditionally Africans have been under-represented in international missions as it has been difficult for northern hemisphere based agencies to identify suitable candidates from Africa for such missions. NORDEM (established 1993) and CANADEM (1997) undertook to oversee the establishment of a roster of Southern African civilians who are qualified and available for international missions. Since then the roster has expanded to include all African nationals.
SAFDEM to AFDEM
At its inception in 2000 the institution's focus was exclusively on Southern Africans only. However in 2007 the organization formally broadened its horizons to embrace the rest of Africa. Hence the acronym and name change from SAFDEM to AFDEM (African Civilian Stand By Roster for Humanitarian and Peace Building Missions).
