Cordaid is the Catholic Organization for Relief and Development Aid. It is one of the biggest international development organizations, with a network of hundreds of partner organizations in 31 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and has a disposable annual budget of around 115 million euros. Cordaid directly employs almost 400 people, amongst them 182 are based in the Netherlands and the rest are stationed all over the world. Cordaid is also known under the names of the funds it manages: Cordaid Memisa, Cordaid Mensen in Nood, Cordaid Bond Zonder Naam, Cordaid Kinderstem.
History
Cordaid was founded in 1999 in The Hague, with the aim of helping people in distress and fighting structural poverty. It is a merge of three Dutch Catholic development organizations: Memisa Medicus Mundi, Mensen in Nood and Lenten Campaign/Bilance. The history of these organizations goes back to the beginning of the 20th century when they were active in the area of shelter and care for refugees, providing direct aid in the event of disasters, medical care and direct improvement of the social and economic position of poor people. The merger allowed the newly created NGO to benefit from broader resources, rationalized management and organization and aimed at coordinating actions and projects. Each organization became a fund with Kinderstem being part of Mensen in Nood, until October 2004, when Cordaid's General Assembly voted the creation of a separate fund focusing on aid to children living in slums. Cordaid Microcredit was formed in October 2006, following the tenth anniversary of the microfinance activities. On 1 January 2007, the Dutch NGO Bond Zonder Naam joined Cordaid. Since 2012 the campaigning cooperation with the Lenten Campaign Foundation has ended. In the beginning of 2018, Cordaid continues its activities under the brand name Cordaid. The different funds continue to exist as topics: humanitarian aid, health care, education, investments and poverty in The Netherlands.
Development aid consists of the following sub-topics:
Healthcare
Education
Resilience
Investments
Partner organizations supported by Cordaid in developing countries work on various themes, including participation, emergency aid and reconstruction, health and well-being and entrepreneurship. Each year, around 115 million euros is spent on initiatives in the South, of which over 30 million euros is available for emergency aid. A small part is spent in the Netherlands on lobby, public support and awareness-raising.
Programs
Cordaid runs programs for the following issues:
Minorities which focus on people who are not considered full citizens and have to deal with discrimination, exclusion and poverty.
Women and Violence, including rape and other forms of abuse.
Disaster Prevention and Relief. In areas with a high-risk residents, should be prepared to limit damage and suffering. Cordaid helps developing emergency procedures.
:wikt:reconciliation|Reconciliation and Reconstruction in post-conflict countries, social connections and infrastructures have to be rebuilt.
