Protect life now.
Rapid assessment and coordinated action bring essential support to people facing danger, displacement and loss.
ERAWS · AMURT Relief
Relief that restores the power to rebuild.
AMURT responds when disaster, poverty or conflict places life and dignity at risk—meeting urgent needs while helping communities recover their strength, voice and direction.
Disaster responsePresent when it matters.
AMURT
founded1965
founded1965
Respond ✦ Stabilise ✦ Recover ✦ Rebuild ✦ Strengthen
01
The meaning of relief
The first duty is to protect life. The deeper duty is to restore human agency.
Ánanda Márga relief begins with sevá: service offered because every human being belongs to one human family. Aid is not conditioned by nationality, ethnicity, gender, social status or belief.
The aim is not to impose a ready-made solution. AMURT listens to local knowledge, respects language and culture, and works with people so emergency assistance becomes a path toward confidence, self-direction and lasting resilience.
1965
AMURT formed in India
A grassroots response to disasters affecting the Indian subcontinent grew into a worldwide network of independent chapters.
02
The relief continuum
Respond. Recover.
Rebuild.
Restore safety and rhythm.
Cleanup, health services, child-friendly spaces and psychosocial care help individuals and families regain stability.
Strengthen the future.
Livelihoods, education, local organisation and practical skills help communities shape recovery on their own terms.
Essentials prepared with careMeet the real need
03
Needs-led relief
Meet the real need, not the assumed need.
Listen and assess locally
Field teams and community members identify who is most vulnerable, what is missing and what can already be mobilised.
Secure the essentials
Food, safe water, shelter, clothing, hygiene supplies and medical care are prioritised according to the actual emergency.
Protect children and caregivers
Safe spaces, infant supplies and psychosocial support help restore routine, protection and trust.
Remove barriers to recovery
Cleanup, water purification, lighting, tools and practical support help households and neighbourhoods function again.
AMURT JamaicaOrganised compassion
04
Organised compassion
Compassion becomes powerful when it becomes reliable.
AMURT combines the immediacy of volunteers with the discipline of organisation. Local field directors, community relationships and partnerships make rapid action possible while keeping the response accountable to the people being served.
Prepared teams
Clear roles, practical training and trusted local coordination help resources move where they are most useful.
Accountable service
Assessment, safeguarding and transparent partnerships protect both dignity and effectiveness.
Continuity after attention moves on
Local relationships allow support to continue beyond the first news cycle and into recovery.
Local livelihoodsDignity through self-direction
05
Local solutions
Recovery grows
from within.
Poverty and disaster never have identical causes in every place. Effective recovery begins within a community’s own social and cultural framework, combining local wisdom with useful resources, training and wider partnerships.
Livelihoods and cooperatives
Skills, small enterprises, self-help groups and access to resources can restore income and choice.
Health and education
Clinics, maternal care, feeding programmes and schools strengthen the foundations of community wellbeing.
Preparedness and local leadership
Training and organisation help people meet future challenges with greater confidence and coordination.
06
AMURTEL
Women leading recovery with women and children.
Women-managed response
Founded in 1975, AMURTEL builds women-led teams and partnerships that understand the distinct needs and strengths of women and children.
Care after crisis
Child-friendly spaces, psychosocial support, nurturing homes, health services and education help recovery continue.
Strength and self-direction
Vocational training, self-help groups and community partnerships expand economic independence and participation.
07
Principles in action
Five commitments behind every response.
Relief is effective when its methods protect the same dignity it seeks to defend.
Basic necessities are human rights
Food, shelter, clothing, medical care and education are foundations of dignity, not privileges.
Serve beyond difference
Every person is approached as an equal member of the human family.
Begin with local reality
Culture, language, resources and community knowledge shape the response—not an imported formula.
Women must shape recovery
Harmonious development requires women’s full participation, leadership and economic strength.
Relief should increase independence
The strongest programme leaves people with greater capacity to build their own future.
08
A growing service network
Rooted in service.
Organised worldwide.
AMURT founded
Formed in India to serve populations affected by recurring disasters on the subcontinent.
AMURTEL founded
A women-managed relief and development network focused particularly on women and children.
Independent chapters
Local organisations and field teams cooperate across countries while remaining responsive to local reality.
From compassion to capacity
Stand with communities
in crisis and recovery.
Connect with ERAWS, learn more about AMURT’s current work or support a relief response rooted in dignity and local strength.
Contact ERAWS