changing lives

Determined and patient efforts are required in order to improve human quality of life.

Norwegian Church Aid therefore engages in long-term commitments to provide aid to poor and oppressed groups. We aim to strengthen the ability of people to cope with their life situation, and to contribute to changes in the structures that cause oppression and poverty.

The reasons why the poor and oppressed fail to have their basic human rights fulfilled are many and complex. In order to contribute to creating permanent, positive change to the living conditions of the poor and the attitudes of the rich, we need to work on many different levels simultaneously.

Norwegian Church Aid is engaged in long-term development cooperation at the following levels:

• Locally, by supporting specific projects
• Nationally, by encouraging national governments to fulfil their obligations 
• Regionally, because to an increasing extent development issues involve several nations at the same time
• Globally, because the frameworks for development of sustainable living conditions and resolution of conflicts are largely determined by global institutions.

Fulfilment of civic, cultural, religious and basic social rights is a precondition to enable people to participate in development processes and to achieve sustainable living conditions. Norwegian Church Aid aims to involve the target groups in these efforts, and women in particular, in a way that can help these groups become self-supporting.