Concern Worldwide (UK)

About the charity

Who we are 

Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to tackling poverty and suffering in the world’s poorest countries. 

Our vision is for a world where no-one lives in poverty, fear or oppression; where all have access to a decent standard of living and the opportunities and choices essential to a long, healthy and creative life; a world where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Our mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives which last and spread without ongoing support from Concern Worldwide.

What we do

We work in partnership with the very poorest people in 28 of the world’s poorest countries, directly enabling them to improve their lives, as well as using our experience to influence decisions made at local, national and international levels that can make a major impact on poverty reduction.

Our work focuses on five core programmes areas:

Emergencies:  Last year, we responded to 45 emergencies in 18 countries, reaching over 4 million people. In all emergency responses, we aim to address the immediate needs of the people affected by supplying food and other essentials.  We then support them to return to their homes and rebuild their lives.

Health:  We focus on primary health care projects that will have the greatest public health impact.  Within this, we target the most vulnerable groups - children under 5 years old and pregnant mothers. Our programmes include nutrition, water and sanitation and mother and child health.   Last year, our health work reached 1.8 million people in 22 countries.

Education:  The aim of our education work is to ensure that the poorest children have access to at least a basic education.  We work with communities to build their capacity to provide education as well as building schools and providing equipment.  In 2009, 500,000 people in 14 countries benefitted from our education programmes.

Food, Income and Markets (FIM):  We helped 4.2 million people overcome extreme poverty through our FIM programme  last year.  Our approach to livelihood security work varies according to the circumstances but includes teaching people improved farming techniques and granting small loans to start businesses.

HIV and AIDS:  Our HIV and AIDS work aims to reduce the prevalence of HIV and the impact of AIDS.  Our programmes include treatment, care and support, prevention, awareness and information as well as voluntary counselling and testing training.   We helped 400,000 people in 9 countries to manage the causes and effects of the pandemic last year.  

Underpinning all our work is a passionate belief in the potential of people. We know that extreme poverty takes away people’s choices, but it can’t take away their intrinsic ability or potential.  We support that potential so that, even in the worst of circumstances, the people we work with can use the skills and knowledge they already have to improve their lives and those of their societies.