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Community development in Africa and elsewhere is about helping to empower those who are poor. Good development tackles the interrelated causes of poverty and is led by those who live in poverty. It encourages people to resolve issues and work for change in their own communities. It is about long-term solutions, not quick fixes.
At the heart of World Vision's community development work are our Area Development Programmes (ADPs). Each ADP usually covers several communities with which World Vision partners to improve lives. ADPs are initiated in both rural and urban areas in response to specific community needs in education, health, nutrition, child care and other programme sectors.
Virtually all of World Vision’s ADPs and related projects share a single underlying purpose: to improve the lives of children.
Child-focused development starts with the recognition that children are the future of any family, community and nation. Children are also the most vulnerable members of any community. World Vision’s activities are therefore designed to have maximum benefit for them.
For example, if children are hungry in a community, World Vision aims to resolve the underlying causes of hunger by investing in projects like improved irrigation systems, seeds and training. This way, children get the food they need, not just for a year, but well into the future.
Today in Africa there are 583 ADPs, each with about 11 communities, with a population of approximately 4,000 each and 24,000,000 total beneficiaries. Beginning with the opening of the first ADP in Ethiopia in 1990, World Vision has worked in 6,000 communities through some 583 ADPs.
Standard development practices are implemented, monitored and evaluated across every project that World Vision carries out with locally available resources, technology, materials and leadership. Families and individuals share in project leadership, responsibilities and activities from the start and are well equipped and motivated to continue in these roles when World Vision ends its direct involvement in a community.
This approach fosters local ownership and true participation which are integral to transformational development.
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