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Community and economic development: Community development activities empower local persons to make changes within their own communities, while economic development focuses on increasing the economic assets of families and communities in a particular area. Both kinds of activities are necessary to the overall wellbeing of an area, and both are applicable at many levels, from the neighborhood level to state and national levels. Local examples include developing and implementing an inventory of community assets, assisting local businesses with small startup loans, sharing job skills with persons returning to the workforce after an extended leave of absence, or setting up health care clinics and teaching community members about public health issues.
International approaches to community and economic development may focus on specific needs, including access to food and water, or on structural issues, such as eliminating third world debt. These organizations, featured below, are good places to begin learning about these important issues.
Featured organizations ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation’s largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities.
The Institute for Food and Development Policy/Food First shapes how people think by analyzing the root causes of global hunger, poverty, and ecological degradation and developing solutions in partnership with movements working for social change.
Oxfam America is a nonprofit organization that works to end global poverty through saving lives, strengthening communities, and campaigning for change. We are an affiliate of Oxfam International.
UNDP is the United Nation’s global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience, and resources to help people build a better life. It is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners.
Additional community and economic development resources |
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