HomeCommunity leaders
To the presidents, the secretaries and the treasurers.
Your association joins Together and Stronger Africa at no cost, keeps everything that makes it yours, and never stands alone again.
The institutions that carried us.
Long before any membership organisation, African communities abroad were held together by associations like yours, led by professionals, business owners and presidents who give their time. This house is built on them. It does not replace them.
Professional associations
Physicians, engineers, lawyers, accountants, nurses, teachers: colleagues who open doors for one another.
Business and trade associations
Entrepreneurs’ clubs, chambers and investors’ networks that connect companies across borders.
Alumni associations
Graduates of one school or one university, loyal across oceans and decades.
City and regional associations
The nationals of one city, one district or one region, wherever they have settled.
Student unions
African student associations on campuses in Africa and abroad.
Savings and investment clubs
Members who save and invest together under clear rules.
Cultural and national associations
The community of one country or one culture in a city abroad.
Faith communities and benevolent societies
Congregations and societies that look after their members when a family is struck.
If your group is not named here, it is welcome all the same. WhatsApp is where our communities organise; bring your group as it is.
What your association receives.
Membership of the network, free
Your association joins Together and Stronger Africa at no cost and remains at no cost.
The benefits, for every member
Each of your members holds a free card of their own and everything the whole membership negotiates.
Recognition
Your association’s name stands on the cards of the members who belong to it, and in the regional network.
A voice
Associations tell us what their members need most. That is what we negotiate.
The Mutual Aid Compact
When a member dies far from home, or a family is struck by an emergency, your association does not stand alone.
Guidance for your officers
Plain-language orientation for the president, the secretary and the treasurer, for ordinary days and for the hardest one.
What it keeps.
Its name
Your association is called what it has always been called.
Its money
Dues, funds and collections stay in your association’s hands. We never hold them and never ask for them.
Its leadership
Your officers, your elections, your rules. Nothing in them changes.
Its independence
Your meetings, your causes and your decisions remain your own. And you are free to leave whenever you choose.
The Mutual Aid Compact.
A small community in a distant city should never have to carry the cost alone.
What it is
A commitment between the associations that belong to Together and Stronger Africa. When a member of one association dies far from home, or a family is struck by an emergency, the associations of the compact stand with that family and with the association that carries the burden.
How associations stand together
The association that takes the call is joined by the others: in giving, in guidance from officers who have done this before, and in presence at the farewell. Each association decides its own contribution, by its own rules.
Home, or here
The compact serves the family’s choice, whether that is the journey home or a dignified burial in the country where their relative lived.
We have always stood by one another. Now we do it organised.
The Mutual Aid Compact is solidarity between associations. It is not insurance, it is not a fund held by Together and Stronger, and it creates no right to payment for any person or family. Insurance and repatriation programmes are offered only through licensed providers, under their own terms. Membership is not insurance.
When a member dies far from home.
A calm order of steps for the officer who takes the call. Keep this page; one day someone in your community will ask you what to do.
General information, not legal advice. Requirements differ from one country to another: the consulate and a licensed funeral director confirm what applies.
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Share the weight at once.
Speak to the family first, then to two officers you trust. Agree who speaks for the family, and who keeps the record of everything that is given.
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Have the death certified and registered.
A doctor or the hospital certifies the death. It is then registered with the local civil authority, which issues the death certificate. Ask for several certified copies: almost every later step requires one.
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Inform the consulate.
Tell the embassy or consulate of the country of the person who has died. It explains the documents it requires for repatriation or for a burial abroad, and can issue the consular papers for the journey. Consulates do not normally pay the costs.
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Ask whether cover exists.
Look for an insurance policy, an employer’s scheme, a bank account that carries funeral cover, or a benevolent society. A licensed funeral director makes these enquiries with the family.
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Decide with the family: home, or here.
Repatriation and a local burial are both honourable. The choice belongs to the family: its wishes, its faith and its means.
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Appoint a funeral director experienced in repatriation.
They prepare what the airline and the receiving country require, and work with a funeral director at the destination. Ask for a written estimate before anything is agreed.
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Organise the community’s part.
The gathering, the collection, the delegation that travels. Keep the accounts openly: what came in, what was paid, what was handed to the family.
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Stay with the family afterwards.
Papers remain: the tenancy, the bank, the employer, the children’s school. And grief remains long after the gathering has ended.
Join in three steps.
- Register your association.
The form below takes two minutes. Any officer may complete it.
- We confirm by e-mail.
We write to you, welcome your officers and answer your questions.
- Your members join, free.
Each adult receives a card of their own, linked to your association.
Register your association.
At no cost, with nothing to change in the way you are organised.
- Your association keeps its name, its funds and its independence.
- Your members each hold a free card of their own.
- Your association stands in the Mutual Aid Compact.
We never ask about immigration or residence status.
Does it cost our association anything?
No. Associations join at no cost and remain at no cost. Membership is also free for each of your members.
Must we change our name, our statutes or our bank account?
No. Your association keeps its name, its officers, its rules and its funds. We never hold or manage an association’s money.
We are a WhatsApp group with no formal registration. Can we join?
Yes. Bring your members as you are organised today. A group, a register of members and the trust of your community are enough.
Is the Mutual Aid Compact insurance?
No. The compact is solidarity between associations. It is not insurance, it is not a fund held by Together and Stronger, and it creates no right to payment. Insurance and repatriation programmes are offered only through licensed providers.
Do our members join one by one?
Each adult holds a free membership and a card of their own, and chooses to join. Your association is linked to the card of every member who names it.
What do you ask of our members?
A name, an e-mail address and a country of residence. We never ask about immigration or residence status, and we never sell personal data. See the privacy notice.
Wherever we go, we go together.
Membership is free. One membership per adult; children under 18 are included on a parent’s membership.