History

Speculations of unequal aid dispersed by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) following the South Asian tsunami in 2004 sparked an initiative by university students to monitor and report international aid distribution. Leading hundreds of university students across Ontario and parts of the United States, we executed a real-time assessment of the humanitarian needs and exposed examples of political corruption that impeded aid distribution. This information was released to NGOs, politicians and the international community.

The report was to assess the effectiveness and fairness of the distribution of aid. However, it quickly became apparent that one report would not satisfy the passion of IICHR volunteers. The idea of an informative report evolved to a vision of a dynamic organization dedicated to monitoring and facilitating efforts to help fellow human beings.

During the Indonesian Earthquake, IICHR was quick to network with people in the affected areas of Indonesia. Again, within 48 hours, IICHR managed to pull real-time information on the humanitarian needs in many towns and villages and provided numerous contacts for each camp. This was then immediately sent out as a press release to newspapers around the globe.