Database of Health Workforce Innovations

A group of spontaneous volunteer Sudanese youth, dissatisfied with the inadequate government response, formed a community-relief initiative called "Nafeer," which translates to "a call for collective action" in Arabic. Nafeer's activities included: food provision; delivery of basic health care; environmental sanitation campaigns; efforts to raise awareness of the services Nafeer offered and the evolving status of the disaster; and construction and strengthening of flood barricades. Nafeer recruited volunteers and then organized training sessions and provided psychological support for them.

Structurally, Nafeer's flat-management approach initially succeeded in creating an environment that enabled a diverse group of members to work together and offered them the autonomy needed to make decisions quickly. Its use of electronic platforms and social media to collect data and coordinate the organization's response proved highly effective.