Programs

“Development” and the desire to end poverty is becoming increasingly important, but World Neighbors is one organization whose work is radically different, proven and incredibly successful.  World Neighbors focuses on training and educating communities to find lasting solutions to the challenges they face – hunger, poverty and disease – rather than giving them food, money or constructing buildings. Communities tell World Neighbors what their needs are, and World Neighbors, in turn, works with them to acquire the knowledge, skills and organization to solve their problems.

World Neighbors model is successful and is often replicated by other development agencies - we take a big-picture, integrated approach to our work, focusing on the entire community rather than on one issue. We work with the local people to identify and address needs from within, resulting in greater community involvement and longer-term impact. We listen to the people without predetermined ideas of how they should change and we understand that issues are often interrelated. By removing one obstacle, we can open many avenues of opportunity.

We invest in people themselves through education and training, not by giving away material aid. We provide knowledge and strengthen local capacities for change than merely handing out technology or money. We invest in local leadership and organizations that continue and expand program activities after we end our support.  This makes our program very efficient and creates lasting change rather than a short-term fix. The work permanently improves the social, economic and physical resources available to and controlled by a community. 

How We Work

Our approach is simple. In cooperation with our global neighbors, we:

• Select the areas where we work on the basis of need and opportunity.
• Listen to what they have to say and what limits their success and establish a relationship of trust.
• Help strengthen their capacity to identify, analyze and solve their own problems using locally available resources and the simplest tools to do the job.
• Try new ideas on a small scale. Stay practical to generate early enthusiasm and success.
• Help document the results and apply lessons learned to improve programs.
• Reinforce their capacity to maintain and multiply results and ongoing problem-solving processes by forming new partnerships and by coordinating with additional villages and local organizations.
• Widen program impact by documenting and sharing the results and processes with larger-scale organizations, villages, networks, coalitions and governments to influence policies and actions.

Where We Work

Currently, over 500,000 people benefit from World Neighbors 70 programs in 14 countries. Over our more than 59 years of experience more than 25 million people in 45 countries have transformed their lives with the support of World Neighbors and our partners.

 World Neighbors currently works in the following countries:

• Mesoamerica/Caribbean – Guatemala, Honduras and Haiti
• Andean South America – Bolivia and Peru
• West Africa – Burkina Faso and Mali
• East Africa – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
• South Asia – India, Nepal
• Southeast Asia – Indonesia and Timor Leste