How do you see the world? - Mercy Corps

Supporting Peaceful Community Change
Mercy Corps works to strengthen individuals,
organizations, businesses and governments so
that they can bring about peaceful change. We engage
citizens making decisions critical to their lives, help
strengthen local organizations
to address community needs,
and find areas of common
interest among political and
economic actors to help miti-
gate the potential for conflict.
With funding from the
United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA), and
the United States Agency for
International Development
(USAID), Mercy Corps
works in Eritrea in partner-
ship with communities and
local governments. We provide veterinary services,
improve the quality and quantity of drinking water,
and generate opportunities for income through
agriculture and fishing. With funding from the
United Kingdom Community Fund, we also work
with parent-teacher associations and village health
committees to increase children’s school attendance,
promote parental involvement in education, and
improve children’s health.
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M e r c y C o r p s P r o g r a m s A r o u n d t h e W o r l d
In drought stricken Ethiopia, Mercy Corps works
to meet the food security needs of rural families. With
funding from USAID, we implement programs that
address immediate and long-term livestock health issues
to help improve the livelihoods of nearly 34,000 people
in participating communities.
Mercy Corps is also planning
long-term community skill
building to address the
complex development needs
of Ethiopia.
In conflict ridden Liberia,
Mercy Corps works with
communities to promote
peace and reconciliation. In
2004, with funding from
USAID, we trained groups in
97 communities to participate
in the rebuilding of their
country, with plans to reach many more. Mercy
Corps has also helped set up community based radio
programs, reaching people with news, economic and
agricultural information, and important messages
about health and other community issues. Our radio
coverage is now poised to reach the majority of Liberian
citizens in all major population centers.
In Guatemala, health programs run by Mercy Corps
— in collaboration with local organizations and the
government health agency — are improving the lives
of 30,000 indigenous Q’eqchi and Poq’omchi people.
With funding from the Eiting Foundation, communities
are empowered to take action to monitor and improve
their health status, and it has paid off — in just one
year, child mortality in the
area where we work dropped
by 33 percent, and maternal
mortality was reduced by 50
percent. We also work with
communities to help find
peaceful solutions to land
conflicts, increase economic
opportunities, and improve the
standard of living for families.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Mercy Corps assisted 3,500
people in 2004 to return to
their pre-war homes and
communities, facilitated job creation and economic
activity, and promoted a vibrant civil society. All
our work is done in close collaboration with local
governments, strengthening and encouraging local
leadership. In addition, we assist vulnerable families
though grants, job creation programs, and small
business assistance, and encourage citizen participa-
tion in peacebuilding programs designed by local
non-governmental organizations.
M e r c y C o r p s P r o g r a m s A r o u n d t h e W o r l d
In Kosovo, with funding from USAID, Mercy
Corps helps bring together ethnic Albanians and
Serbs through infrastructure rebuilding programs
and economic development. We also work to develop
cooperation between multi-ethnic communities and
local governments. Through
our agricultural assistance
program, we also help
families meet their livelihood
needs, and support their rein-
tegration into Kosovo society.
With funding from USAID,
Mercy Corps operates
programs in southern
Serbia that reach more
than 759,000 people. We
work with hundreds of
communities to prioritize
development issues in ways
that encourage cooperation and a sense of ownership.
Mercy Corps also supports the regeneration of economic
livelihoods, and we enable communities to build and
repair roads, expand access to water and electrical
services, and improve schools and health facilities.
In India, the partnership between Mercy Corps and
Tazo Tea Company continues to bring new opportunities
for 8,000 people in the rural tea growing areas of
Darjeeling. Now in its third year, the Collaboration for
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