heks

Development schemes can only be sustained when they make a concerted effort to share the work and take the relevant people by the hand.

As such, HEKS concentrates on rural communities – extending its support in isolated cases to people in urban areas of high population density as well – focusing, for example, on village organisations, women’s groups, cooperatives and pressure groups. The one thing common to all the causes is that the initiatives have originated from those who are affected.

Assisted by input from HEKS partner organisations, these groups define their needs and look for solutions with the potential to make a marked improvement to everyday life in their society and in their economy. The baseline requirement is to secure the provision of food and shelter. In addition to ensuring the provision of sufficient food and a balanced diet, the focus is on access to resources, such as land, water, training, agricultural production, and the processing and marketing of agricultural produce and non-agricultural products. Income and earning potential in the rural areas encourage the economic independence of the communities.

Arguably the biggest challenge in international collaboration will continue to be the struggle against poverty for the foreseeable future. Far more than half of the poor still live in rural areas. Not only do they lack money – they are also marginalised and their human rights are often disregarded. With precious little paid work on offer, many are forced to migrate to the towns. The ones left behind in the villages are the women, children and the elderly who do not always have the strength to cultivate the fields – resulting in a further increase in poverty.

Unfair commercial practices, climate change and wrangling over the use of the land for the production of food or for biodiesel all exacerbate the hunger problem still further.

HEKS bases its work on Christian values and on universal human rights. HEKS is convinced that the greatest potential for action lies within a civil society which is aware of its rights and knows how to demand those rights. HEKS is answerable for a world in which all people live in dignity and can take responsibility for shaping their own lives.