Concern Worldwide
Encyclopedia
Concern Worldwide is Ireland's largest aid and humanitarian agency. Since its foundation over 40 years ago it has worked in 50 countries and currently employs 3,200 staff in 25 countries around the world. Concern works to help those living in the world's poorest countries to achieve real and lasting improvements in their lives. Concern is engaged in long term development work, in addition to emergency relief in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

. Concern has 5 core programmes Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, Emergencies, HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 and Aids
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

, Health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 and Livelihoods (also known as "food, income and markets"). They work in partnership with small community groups as well as governments and large global organisations. Concern is just one of eleven fully certified members of Humanitarian Accountability Partnership.

Concern Worldwide US is an affiliate of Concern Worldwide and supports the Concern network by recruiting staff, supporting program development, creating public awareness of humanitarian issues and financially supporting programs. It has offices in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. Concern Worldwide is a partner of the One Campaign
ONE Campaign
The ONE Campaign is an international, nonpartisan, non-profit organization which aims to increase government funding for and effectiveness of international aid programs....

.

History

Concern Worldwide was set up by a small group of people including John and Kay O’Loughlin Kennedy in their home in Dublin in March 1968, following an appeal for aid by missionaries for the starving population of war torn Biafra
Biafra
Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a secessionist state in south-eastern Nigeria that existed from 30 May 1967 to 15 January 1970, taking its name from the Bight of Biafra . The inhabitants were mostly the Igbo people who led the secession due to economic, ethnic, cultural and religious...

. In June 1968 Africa Concern as it was originally called, launched their famine appeal “Send One Ship”. The ship, the Colmcille landed off the coast of Biafra in September 1968 with supplies of powdered food and medicine. In 1970 the public were asked to respond to the cyclone in East Pakistan
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...

 (now Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

)and Africa Concern became Concern.

Concern’s Work

Over its 40 year history Concern has worked in 50 countries and currently employs 3,200 staff in 25 countries around the world delivering programmes benefitting 10 million people. Concern’s vision is to help those living in the world’s poorest countries to achieve real and lasting improvements in their lives. They engage in long term development work, emergency relief, advocacy and education. Concern’s work is centered on 5 main programmes, Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, Emergencies, HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

 and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

, Health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...

 and Livelihoods. Concern launched an appeal to tackle the drought in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

 in June 2011. They also responded to the earthquake in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

  and the floods in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. The Chief Executive Officer is Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold may refer to:* Tom Arnold , American actor* Tom Arnold , British politician* Tom Arnold , CEO of Concern Worldwide...

. Concern is a member of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership.

Governance

Concern is controlled and regulated by its members who have responsibility for the Articles of Association, election of the Council, appointment of the auditors and approval of accounts. The Council of Concern is elected from membership at each AGM. The maximum number on the Council is 24 and one third must step down every year. The Council main role is to agree the policy parameters for the organisation and they meet at least 4 times per year. The Council is accountable to the relevant government Minister to ensure that the Companies Act is adhered to. They are also accountable to the general public to ensure that donations are put to an appropriate use. Concern is the first Irish Charity to receive certification from the Geneva based organisation Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) which works to make humanitarian work more accountable and transparent through self-regulation, compliance verification and quality assurance certification. Concern is a member of the Irish Charities and Tax Research Reform Group which has developed a new code of practice aimed at boosting transparency and bolstering public confidence in the Irish charity sector.

Concern's annual accounts won the charity and not-for-profit category in the annual Leinster Society of Chartered Accountants awards for published accounts in 2010.

Working in Partnership

Concern works closely with local partner organisations as well as with governments and large global organisations. The thinking behind this is to pool knowledge and resources and work together to fight poverty.
Concern became "Verified Compliant with the People In Aid Code
People In Aid
People In Aid is an international, not-for-profit membership organisation with offices in the UK, Australia and East Africa. It's aim is to improve organisational effectiveness within the humanitarian and development sector worldwide by advocating, supporting and recognising good practice in the...

" in 2010 in order to improve their people management and HR services.

Funding

Concern raises money from individuals, communities, sponsored events and companies as well as receiving major financial support from the European Union, the United Nations, the British government and other government agencies, private donors, and major trusts. Concern is one of many charities that use street collectors often referred to as Chuggers (charity muggers). In 2007, the Government announced a 5 year strategic funding programme with Concern which would see funding double from €60 million (for the period 2003 to 2006) to €148 million over the 5 year period from 2007 to 2011. Subsequent to the announcement, Irish Aid announced a series of cutbacks to Ireland's Official Development Aid, including the programme under which Concern was funded.

Irish Aid

In 2000 the Irish Government pledged to increase overseas aid to reach the UN target of 0.7% of GNI. This target was not met, however, as overseas aid has been a casualty of the recession in Ireland and has been repeatedly cut in recent budgets. In addition, the date set by the Government to increase overseas aid to 0.7% of GNI in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals has been shifted twice. In recent years there has been greater focus on increasing the effectiveness of Irish Aid, the Government of Ireland’s programme of assistance to developing countries. This is in line with an international approach of combining the focus on aid volumes with development outcomes. Irish Aid programmes are regularly audited and evaluated by independent evaluation and audit firms as well as by Irish Aid’s Evaluation and Audit Unit. These evaluations and audits provide assurance that funds are used for the purposes intended and have a particular focus on poverty outcomes and value for money. Reports are made available to the Comptroller and Auditor General
Comptroller and Auditor General
Comptroller and auditor-general is the abbreviated title of a government official in a number of jurisdictions, including the UK, the Republic of Ireland, India, and China....

. Minister for Trade and Development Jan O'Sullivan
Jan O'Sullivan
Jan O'Sullivan is an Irish Labour Party politician. She is a Teachta Dála for Limerick City constituency and is the current Minister of State for Trade and Development.-Personal life:...

 has said that she is satisfied that “the monitoring, evaluation and audit systems which we have in place provide the best assurance that development aid funding is used for the intended objectives”. In 2011 Irish Aid is planning to undertake a value for money review of Irish Aid’s support to Concern Worldwide under the Multi-Annual Programme Scheme for NGOs over the period 2007-2010.

Large Donations

In 2009 the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave Concern Worldwide a $41 million (€29m) donation to help tackle spiraling baby and mother deaths in developing countries. Last year Consultancy Company Accenture
Accenture
Accenture plc is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company headquartered in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the largest consulting firm in the world and is a Fortune Global 500 company. As of September 2011, the company had more than 236,000 employees across...

 donated $1.5 million to Concern to educate and assist local farmers and communities in sustainable farming practices

Drought in East Africa

Concern is currently responding to the food crisis in east Africa and is helping half a million people in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 and Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

. Over €7 million euro in donations has been raised from the Irish public for the crisis so far by Irish aid agencies. In July 2011 Concern CEO Tom Arnold travelled to Somalia with former President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...

 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights  Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...

, Director of Trócaire
Trócaire
Trócaire is an Irish non governmental organization development agency. The charity is registered in the Republic of Ireland under Irish Charity No...

 Justin Kilcullen and CEO of Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...

 Ireland Jim Clarken to highlight the issue. The NGO representatives met with the Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...

 Joint Committee
Joint committee
A Joint Committee is a term in politics that is used to refer to a committee made up of members of both chambers of a bicameral legislature. In other contexts, it refers to a committee with members from more than one organization.-Republic of Ireland:...

 on Foreign Affairs to brief elected representatives about the situation upon their return.

Flood in Pakistan

In July 2010 Concern mounted their largest ever response to the flood in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 a country they had been working in since 2001. Concern estimates they helped over 2.3 million people affected and with the help of local partners distributed shelter sanitation and water.

Hurricane in Haiti

Following the Hurricane in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

 in 2008 Concern provided emergency relief to 1200 families as well as helping thousands of others with cash for work opportunities. Concern has been involved in Haiti since 1994 and is involved with Education, Maternal and Child Health and Peace Building programmes.

Concern Debates

Concern Debates has been running for the last 26 years and provides secondary school students with the opportunity to research and debate development issues.

Concern Fast

The Concern Fast is a sponsored 24 hour fast and programme of events to raise money to fight child malnutrition.

Creative Writing Competition

Since 2008 Concern has run an annual creative writing competition in a number of age categories. In 2011, they received more than 770 essays from 39 countries

Concern Challenges

Concern runs a number of different physical challenges around the world during the year which provides participants with the opportunity to fund raise.

CEO Tom Arnold

Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold may refer to:* Tom Arnold , American actor* Tom Arnold , British politician* Tom Arnold , CEO of Concern Worldwide...

 has been CEO of Concern Worldwide since 2001. An economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

 by profession he has worked as chief economist (1988–1993) and as Assistant Secretary General (1993–2001) with the Irish Department of Agriculture and Food. He has a degree in agricultural economics from UCD
UCD
-Education:*University of California, Davis*University College Dublin, Irish university**University College Dublin A.F.C., the university's association football club**University College Dublin RFC, the university's rugby union club...

 and a master’s degree in business administration from the Catholic University of Leuven
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...

 and a master’s degree in strategic management from Trinity College Dublin. Tom Arnold was appointed to the board of The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...

as a nominated director of The Irish Times Trust in July 2010. He became a Governor of the Trust in 2008. In July 2011 the Mr. Arnold criticised as “grossly irresponsible” comments made by the Head of Goal John O’Shea for UN troops to be deployed to Somalia to ensure the delivery of aid to famine-stricken areas. In 2007 Mr Arnold’s salary and those of senior staff in Concern was criticised in a newspaper article. The charity responded saying that many of their staff “are on about €35,000 which is just about the average industrial wage".

Further reading

Tony Farmar, Believing in action: Concern the first thirty years, 1968–1998. (Dublin, A. & A. Farmar, 2002) ISBN 1-899047-81-6

See also


External links

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