What Concern Worldwide achieved in 2019

Last year, our work spanned five main areas: emergencies, livelihoods, health and nutrition, education and integrated programmes. Below is a breakdown of some of what was achieved. You can also download the full annual report here.

We would like to highlight that without our supporters and donors, we would not be able to provide this life-saving assistance. Thank you.

Countries that need help in emergencies are often affected by multiple disasters. When war-torn countries also experience flooding or drought, huge numbers of people are displaced from their homes and are left with no food, shelter or clean water.

In 2019, we responded to 82 emergencies in 21 countries, reaching over 11.5 million people. We supported displaced people fleeing conflict in Niger, Syria and South Sudan, as well as those affected by flooding and the impact of Cyclone Idai in Mozambique and Malawi.

In March 2019 Cyclone Idai hit southern Malawi. It had a major and devastating impact on the vulnerable communities living there. Fields were flooded, crops were destroyed, and infrastructure including homes, latrines, wells and roads were flattened, placing an enormous strain on already impoverished populations.

Overall, an estimated 975,000 people were affected. We supported just over 10 per cent of the affected population (112,000 people) through:

• Providing food distributions to 2,500 households
• Providing seeds and tools to 7,500 households
• Providing cash transfers to 8,120 families.
• Reaching 26,400 people with hygiene messaging.

When an emergency strikes, we seek out the poorest and hardest to reach communities to meet their immediate needs and work with them to design innovative, fast and effective responses. We stay with them to help them rebuild their lives and are in a better place to respond the next time disaster strikes.

Our livelihoods programmes address some of the underlying problems that affect the ability of people living in extreme poverty to earn a living. We provide small-scale credit to invest in business development, and train people in vocational skills that create employment opportunities. We also work with communities to improve the productivity and nutritional value of crops using practices that help mitigate against the impact of climate change.

In 2019, we improved the food security and livelihoods of 2.6 million people. 

In 2019, our health and nutrition programmes reached over 10.1 million people.

The health systems are extremely weak in many of the countries where we work, and communities are often unable to get the help they need to prevent suffering from under-nutrition and preventable diseases. To help overcome this, we work with local and national governments to strengthen healthcare systems and improve access to good maternal and child healthcare and water and sanitation services.

Preventing undernutrition and extreme hunger

• Our nutrition programmes in Burundi reached over 89,260 people.
• In Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal – an area of South Sudan – we continued to tackle malnutrition through our Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) Programme. Forty-nine Concern-supported nutrition sites provided quality health and nutrition services to vulnerable children and pregnant and lactating women suffering from acute malnutrition. Over 13,500 children under five years and approximately 4,700 pregnant and breastfeeding women were treated between January and October across the sites.

Strengthening maternal and child health

• In Sierra Leone, malaria poses a significant health risk in the communities in which we work and can lead to death if not treated early. In Tonkolili district, malaria is a leading cause of death in children under five. We are taking a unique approach to tackling the disease by working with, and training over 100 traditional healers and other influential women to promote health facility treatment and preventative measures as opposed to traditional ones. The project reached just over 14,000 people in 2019.

Improving access to clean water and sanitation

• Syrian refugees living in informal settlements in Lebanon often face health-related risks caused by unsafe or non-existent water supplies and sanitation. We ensured and maintained standards of health and wellbeing for over 10,300 of the most vulnerable people in 2019, supplying safe drinking water to over 9,800 people, and connecting 27 informal settlements to the public water supply network.

Coronavirus (Covid-19) has now reached almost all of the countries Concern works in. While the effects of Covid-19 have been devastating both at home and internationally, there are serious concerns about poorer parts of the world where the effects of the virus are likely to be much more severe.

In 2020, we will continue to provide life-saving assistance and working towards ending extreme poverty, whatever it takes.