Cordaid
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The Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development Aid (Cordaid) is a Dutch development agency operating worldwide. We fight poverty and exclusion in fragile states and areas of conflict and extreme inequality. In order to stand up for the world's poorest and most marginalized communities, we raise funds in the Netherlands as well as internationally.
We are based in The Hague, where we employ about 280 staff. Some four hundred local Cordaid staff and 35 expats are involved in the implementation of development projects in the global South.
Together with 890 professional partner organizations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America we work to bring over a thousand development projects to a success. This work makes a vital difference every day, for girls in the Congo and Afghanistan, mineworkers in Guatemala, farmers in Malawi, human rights defenders in Sri Lanka and many more vulnerable communities in 23 other countries. Making positive social change happen takes expertise and perseverance, cooperation and passion, pride as well as modesty. Cordaid combines these qualities.
Hand in hand we fight poverty and exclusion in fragile states and conflict areas. Our goal is to achieve sustainable improvement in the living conditions of the world’s poorest and most marginalised communities - the “bottom billion.” We do this not only in areas affected by natural disasters, but also in societies torn apart by armed conflict and chronic underdevelopment.
We strive for a globalisation with equal opportunities; an inclusive and flourishing world community with equal access to basic services such as healthcare, to food and natural resources; a world of solidarity in which the outcast and oppressed can claim equal social, economic and political rights and freedoms.
Cordaid’s main expertise lies in:
- conflict transformation: reinforcing social processes of civil participation, dialogue, reconciliation and peace building in armed conflicts and latent conflicts. We do this particularly in resource-based conflicts and conflicts in the realm of security, terrorism and counter-terrorism;
- affordable and quality healthcare and welfare facilities for the poorest and most vulnerable communities in disadvantaged and remote areas;
- increasing the economic independence of local producers and small-scale farmers in a manner sustainable for both people and the environment;
- disaster risk reduction and emergency aid: we provide emergency aid in the event of disaster. We develop warning systems and reduce risks in places subject to recurring natural disasters. In the wake of disaster, we engage in responsible reconstruction.
Cordaid combines a century of experience in emergency aid, development aid and structural poverty reduction. Today, Cordaid is the driving force behind a number of funds such as Cordaid Memisa, Cordaid Mensen in Nood, and Cordaid Microkrediet. In the Netherlands, Cordaid is supported by the Dutch government, by 370,000 private donors and 23,000 volunteers.
