Concern Worldwide,
an Ireland-based non-governmental organization, was founded in 1968 by John and
Kay O’Loughlin-Kennedy. Its purpose was to help alleviate the famine caused by Biafra’s
attempt to secede from Nigeria. Since then, it has grown exponentially, and is
now the largest overseas advancement agency in Ireland.
Located in
26 of the world’s poorest countries, “Concern's mission is to help people who
are living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives,
improvements that last and spread without ongoing support from us”. They do
this by addressing the “root cause” of poverty where they work, as well as
teaming up with the local organizations and people. By doing so, Concern can pinpoint
where help is needed, and use collective impact to produce the desired results.
Striving to make effective change, Concern has an array of programs to help meet
communities’ needs. Some of their most significant programs are centered around
education, health and nutrition, gender equality, innovations, emergency
response, and securing livelihoods.
Concern believes
education can break the cycle of poverty and lead to development. They
supported nearly 1.6 million people in 2016 through their education programs. The
NGO has a variety of health programs, one of which, Community Management of
Acute Malnutrition, has received accolades. “CMAM has become an internationally
recognised model of best practice endorsed by both WHO and UNICEF”. Concern
identifies gender inequality a large obstacle to eradicating poverty. They approach
this obstacle by implementing “gender sensitive” programs, and work to make
them “gender transformative”. Being in
touch with each communities’ needs helps Concern design innovative programs,
such as CMAM, and ultimately be more productive and efficient in their efforts.
The organization also participates in emergency relief, and is often able to
respond to disasters with boots on the ground in two to three days (24 hours
for countries they already work in). In 2016, about 4.6 million people were
directly helped by Concern’s disaster relief. In addition to response, Concern
tries to build “community resilience” prior to any disaster, so the vulnerable
are at a reduced risk. Finally, Concern goes to great lengths to help the extremely
poor create a secure livelihood for themselves. Part of this includes teaching
and mentoring, as well as providing income support so that “participants meet
their basic needs as they invest in livelihood development activities”. As a result
of their tireless efforts, Concern was able to help 22.5 million people in
2015.
I was able
to witness some of these efforts in 2015, when I won a competitive
international scholarship competition. Global Concerns Classroom, a free
program available for schools, teaches high-school students about Concern
Worldwide, the causes and effects of poverty, general philanthropy, and more.
It offers four students, two from Ireland and two from the United States, the opportunity
to visit one of their sites. After a lengthy application process, I was given
the chance to visit their Ethiopia base. I saw first-hand how Concern taught
farmers the system of climate smart agriculture (CSA) in response to climate
change. Female beneficiaries told me how they were able to generate an income
for themselves by forming cooperatives, using the strategies taught to them by
Concern. I watched villagers as they filled up jugs of water using a pump that
eliminated six hours of retrieving water out of their day – thanks to Concern. Concern
supported me in my efforts to give back and help some of the people I met on that
field visit.
I have a deep,
personal relationship with Concern Worldwide, and I admire the work its members
do; that is why I’d like to continue to support it. Here’s why you should:
Concern uses techniques such as collective impact (is partnered with more than
50 organizations), working directly with beneficiaries, and identifying people’s
needs - all of which we have discussed in class and agree (for the most part)
are useful. Concern tackles poverty from many directions: gender equality,
health, environment, and more. Should you care about a particular issue, it is
possible that Concern is helping to address it one way or another. Finally, Concern is rated four out of four stars
on Charity Navigator, and has another four for four on accountability and
transparency. On concern.net you can find a 112-page report showing financial statements
for the year 2016. 90.7% of donations go toward relief and development, 6.7% to
fundraising, 2.1% to development education and advocacy, and .5% to governance.
A donation
to Concern is a donation to an outstanding charity focused on eliminating
poverty. Our donation will result in a significant concrete impact. Concern has another website that shows what
donations as low at nine euros (11.17 USD) can do. My experience with Concern
Worldwide has been beyond amazing, and with our help, they can continue to
produce phenomenal results.
Sources and
Links:
Concern Worldwide
https://www.concern.net/
https://www.concern.net/
See what
your donation can do at
https://www.concerngifts.org/
https://secure2.convio.net/cww/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app261a?df_id=1780&1780.donation=form1&_ga=2.64070639.1789296667.1518838010-1748236404.1518464461&NONCE_TOKEN=657028B423C4996CFACEF09BFEC61540
https://www.concerngifts.org/
https://secure2.convio.net/cww/site/Donation2;jsessionid=00000000.app261a?df_id=1780&1780.donation=form1&_ga=2.64070639.1789296667.1518838010-1748236404.1518464461&NONCE_TOKEN=657028B423C4996CFACEF09BFEC61540
Concern
Worldwide (NY Headquarters) in 90 Seconds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtC_4mMnuGA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtC_4mMnuGA
Concern
Worldwide U.S.
https://www.concernusa.org/
https://www.concernusa.org/
Charity
Navigator
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3556
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3556
Hannah,
ReplyDeleteThis organization intrigues me. I think it's really cool that you got to go on a site visit through this organization! I feel like when you see what is done first hand it definitely changes your view on an organization and the value of their work. Congrats on winning the scholarship too, by the way!
Anyway, your organization intrigued me because of its impressively high ratings, transparency, and participation in collective action. After learning about collective action in class, I strongly feel like it's what anyone should strive for in tacking issues (whether with NGOs or GOs). I feel like many issues are connected in a variety of ways (as we are learning with the issues in Broome County). When it comes to solving large scale problems- especially extreme poverty- no one organization can do things on their own. It isn't efficient to work independently towards the same goal. It's clear that Concern recognizes that complex issues like this one need to be confronted with more than a single pronged attack. The fact that 91 cents out of every dollar donated goes straight to the cause is likely a reflection of their collective action.
I looked into some of their recent projects, and was quite interested with their work in Sudan. I read a book last year called A Long Walk to Water, which brings light to the struggles of those affected by the Second Sudanese Civil War and a coinciding water drought. While oil was a cause for tension between North and South Sudan, water security issues also brought a lot of tension between tribes and made the situation in Sudan that much worse. I read Concern Worldwide is working to help combat the effects of climate change in the country. They propose that by enabling the people to Sudan to build resilience against climate change, it can help bring peace by easing tensions over scarce resources. Projects so far include setting up early warning systems, weather monitoring tools, field schools to teach farmers best practices, and seed stores to preserve and exchange crop seeds in the event of climate shocks. The U.N. does recognize, however that “Although fragile states face huge social and economic problems, protecting people from natural disasters can be done and should be attempted despite the practical difficulties”.
But, in conclusion, this seems like a great charity that does sensible work efficiently!
Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of Concern Worldwide until now, which is surprising to me because it seems to be such an amazing organization!
This organization intrigues both the "heart" and "head" aspects of philanthropy that we have constantly been reminding ourselves of in class. On one hand, the idea of helping people who are in natural, economic, and political disasters is something that is enticing to anyone - people enjoy the idea that their efforts are helping the world. On the other hand, it is logical to help these countries that, for example, have people fleeing from conflicts that the government started. By helping people get out of poverty and into the workforce, the global economy is stimulated, and everyone benefits.
Though there are several ways to illustrate examples of heart and head that Concern aims to influence, what stands out to me about Concern is how much it actually does. It seems as if all aspects of poverty - from health and nutrition, to unemployment, to disaster relief - are touched by this organization. As I went through the website, I wanted to see if by any chance this was too good to be true, because it seemed as if it is. Fortunately, it is all true. In fact, they are very open about their projects and where their money goes. In 2016, 92% of their money went to their programs. The other 8% was for fundraising and administrative costs. This is an impressive statistic, and just goes to show how beneficial it would be to give our money to this organization; we would be certain that it would be put to good use.
The fact that you saw their work first-hand is another security measure that I feel is important, that other charity pitches might not be able to provide. While any organization that is presented to the class is worthwhile giving money to, the fact that we have you as an "ambassador" of sorts for Concern makes me think about the idea of giving to an organization that we can really trust.
Greetings Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to start by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed your blog post and learning about the non-profit Concern Worldwide. After looking through the information you presented in the blog post and information from the Concern Worldwide website, annual reports & financial statements, I’ve become a fan of the work done by Concern Worldwide. I was very pleased to see that charitable activities counted for 93% of the total expenditure of 220 million USD, with the remaining 7% spent on raising funds. One of the key financial performance indicators provided in the financial statements is a return on fundraising for 2016 of 3 dollar returns on every dollar spent on fundraising. Although, financial statements can’t possibly tell you everything, but the high return on fundraising demonstrates that they are efficiently raising funds, which means they can focus most of their efforts and resources on combating the issues.
The most important aspect of Concern Worldwide to me is the issue areas they choice to focus. They tend to focus on areas of extreme poverty, attempting to alleviate it by working in education programs, humanitarian emergencies, and health. One issue area in particular I was extremely happy to see that Concern Worldwide focus on is Water. Concern has water programs dedicated to bringing clean drinking water and proper sanitation programs to countries like Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Haiti and Kenya. Concern Worldwide provides water purification tablets to 170,000 families across Kenya, saving lives during drastic droughts. They also have the ability to buy gifts such as mosquito nets, animals, water pumps, and emergency food. I thought this was an interesting way of making the donation feel more direct.
Sincerely,
David Engelmann