Our Sectors
Social and Community Development
In the remote areas of the rural world, the sense of community is very strong. Individual well-being is closely linked to social and community well-being. CHF assists individuals and their communities to acquire the skills they need to initiate and sustain positive change leading to socio-economic development.
For CHF, social and community development entails different elements. For instance, by providing the technical and financial means necessary to build community assets such as water sanitation structures, community buildings and services, we help to improve community life. To reach our sustainability objective, we also support the development of technical capacities needed to perform basic maintenance and repairs of community assets. Furthermore, we provide capacity in the form of strengthening organizations to become socially accountable, transparent and efficient. We also help community-based organizations connect with government offices and extension services essential for their development, and support the creation of networks at the local, national and international level to advance specific goals.
Whatever means and tools we use — managing funds for community projects, undertaking community assessments to identify assets, locate resources and investigate power structures, or supporting the conception of community development plans — our objective is to improve the quality of life of the rural poor and their communities. Our approach is demand-driven and ultimately aims at strengthening the abilities of individuals, communities and organizations to design, implement and claim the results of their own development actions. CHF believes in gender equality and carefully mainstreams gender issues in all projects to ensure that social and community development benefits everyone equally.
Examples of CHF Social and Community Development projects:
In Vietnam, CHF implemented the Integrated Community Development and Water Resource Development project which aimed at improving the capacity of beneficiaries to meet their nutritional and income needs and at improving domestic water supplies. In support of this community-based project, CHF provided a wide range of managerial and technical expertise including training of extension workers and farmers on specific gardening techniques.
In a project in Guyana, CHF managed the Futures Fund Program. The program provided funds for social and community development projects such as the rehabilitation of social infrastructure, community centres, clinics, schools and water and sanitation systems. The program supported 320 projects across the entire country and crossing most social and economic sectors.
