Africa

Woord en Daad wants to fight poverty in Africa, Asia and Central-America from a Christian perspective. We operate in the following countries: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Liberia, Nicaragua, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Chad, Zambia, South Africa. Through local organizations we want to provide a decent existence for the poor. To do this, we make an appeal to everyone's responsibility, both here and over there. Woord en Daad would like to be a strong and reliable link between you and the poor in our working area. Woord en Daad structurally cooperates with Christian partner organizations in the Education program (kindergarten, primary, secondary, informal and literacy education), the Job & Income program (vocational education and traning, job mediation, micro enterprise development and small and medium enterprise development), and the Basic Needs program (health care, water and sanitation, and agriculture).

The Swedish Cooperative Centre is the channel that the Swedish cooperative moment use for its activities in development cooperation. We are a non-governmental organisation which support cooperative development and popular movements in order to improve living conditions for poor people and give them more power in society. Our vision is a world without poverty and injustice.

The Royal Norwegian Society for Development is an independent, non-profit organisation, presently consisting of 40 organisational and 1100 individual members. The Society's mission is to develop viable local communities with a wide range of business activities, good social services and a thriving cultural life.

National Centre of Expertise

The Society has a staff of 35, covering a wide range of professional training and experience. Most of the Society's employees work at the main office on the Hellerud farm north-east of Oslo, but some of the staff are also located in towns throughout Norway. The Society is most known for its efforts to develop viable rural communities, by helping to facilitate the growth of a wide range of local business, social and cultural services, often with a cooperative approach. The Society is also known for its contribution to develop
Norwegian agriculture. In addition, the society honours individuals that have shown extraordinary social commitment and regularly awards prizes for ‘long and faithful service' to employees having worked for the same employer for at least 30 years.

International development

The Society is also an active cooperating partner in international development projects, particularly in Eastern and Southern Africa, but also elsewhere in the South. As in the national activities, significant emphasis is placed on business development, e.g., by helping local
(often co-operative ...) initiatives to become competitive enterprises. In these projects, the Society uses its own professional expertise as well as relevant know-how and experience found among cooperating persons and organisations throughout the world.