#1 Oxfam International
Oxfam International is a global development organization mobilizing the power of people against poverty. It serves as an international confederation consisted of 19 organizations that work together with local communities in around 90 countries. When crisis occurs, Oxfam International helps rebuild livelihoods and works to find innovative and practical solutions for people to end their poverty.
Oxfam International fights for a world in which an opportunity is not a privilege, but a right for everyone and in which human rights can be claimed. At the core of the organization’s work is working with partner organizations, as well as with vulnerable women and men to end the injustices that cause poverty. It also conducts campaigns to raise the voices of poor on local and global agendas to influence decisions that affect them. During the last two years, Oxfam International worked directly with 22.3 million people across the world and provided immediate relief in times of crisis.
#2 The Organization for Poverty Alleviation and Development
The Organization for Poverty Alleviation and Development (OPAD) is an international NGO that actively works on poverty alleviation by promoting human rights, sustainable development and climate change. The vision of the organization is to “improve the standard of living of all people by recognizing them as resources and not as victims.
OPAD acts internationally by offering a variety of services directed towards eradicating poverty. The organization implements many projects of poverty eradication in developing countries by using tools such as education, economic development, health promotion and income redistribution. It also advocates for equal rights to economic resources amongst men and women and works with small-scale food producers, such as women, indigenous groups, family farmers and pastoralists, to improve their income and sources of livelihood. It supports local initiatives by promoting self-reliance amongst women, men and youth in poor countries.
#3 Concern Worldwide
Concern Worldwide is an international humanitarian organization working to free the world from poverty, fear and oppression. It intervenes in the world’s poorest countries and helps the most vulnerable people. The ultimate goal of the organization is to end extreme poverty. Concern Worldwide has, thus, been working for over 50 years with the world’s poorest people to transform their lives. Its team is comprised of 3.500 professionals coming from 50 countries, and who, each year, work with 25 million underprivileged people.
Concern Worldwide reaches and helps the most fragile communities affected by conflict, natural disasters, climate change, flooding, and extreme hunger. The organization implements various programs designed to address specific causes of extreme poverty in communities in 25 countries. It focuses on six thematic areas: livelihoods, health and nutrition, education, emergencies, gender equality and innovations. The core of the organization’s work is empowering local communities to build their resilience and ensure their transformation is sustainable and long-lasting, with an aim to achieve a vision of a world free poverty, fear and oppression.
#4 End Poverty Now
End Poverty Now (EPN) is a Canadian NGO that passionately works on advocating for hungry, needy and politically under-represented people across the world. The organization is dedicated to alleviating poverty globally operating through grassroot projects and educational initiatives. The mission of the EPN is to partner with other organizations to support communities in need, fund sustainable community initiatives and educate and raise awareness of economic and social issues related to poverty.
The EPN fosters a network of non-profit organizations, volunteers, and donors to fight poverty in local communities. It supports community-led projects to build leadership and lift people out of poverty and provide them with skills to create independent solutions for their future livelihoods. The projects that the EPN funds keep going after financial means are cut since the organization makes sure that the projects are funded in the future through other charitable organizations. It achieves this by bringing together organizations and individuals who, otherwise, would never meet before.
#5 Global Citizen
The Global Citizen is an international advocacy organization working on ending extreme poverty. It serves as a movement of engaged citizens who use their collective voice with a goal to end extreme poverty by 2030. The organization’s headquarters is in New York, with branch offices in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Germany and the UK.
The Global Citizen platform provides tools and knowledge to its members to learn about the systemic causes of extreme poverty and to take actions on those issue. So far, millions of global citizens around the world have taken over 24 million actions to target world leaders to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. The Global Citizen organizes global campaigns to amplify these actions and so far, this has resulted in commitments and policy announcements by leaders, valued at over 48 billion dollars.
#6 World Relief
World Relief is an international Christian humanitarian organization working to overcome poverty, injustice and violence. It brings restoration and healing to millions of world’s most vulnerable categories through programs in economic development, peace keeping, health and child development and refugee and immigration services.
World Relief partners up with churches and communities in more than 20 countries to provide relief and help those suffering rebuild their live. The organization is based in the US, but has offices worldwide, which are supported by churches, foundations and individual donors. So far, World Relief has reached around seven million beneficiaries with the help of 75.000 volunteers who are actively engaged in reaching their communities. It brings together local leaders and pastors to discuss challenges their communities face and provides them with tools to improve their livelihoods.
#7 Care International
Care International is one of the biggest aid organizations with a mission to fight poverty and injustice. It works in over 90 countries and helps around 65 million people annually to find routes out of poverty.
Care’s International vision is to “seek a world of hope, tolerance and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and all people live with dignity and security”. It delivers emergency aid to survivors of conflict and natural disasters and helps them rebuild their lives afterwards. The programs of the organization tackle the deepest roots that cause poverty and works with private companies to create opportunities for marginalized and poor people to have more access to services, goods and livelihoods. The organization puts women and girls in the center because it believes that world cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal opportunities and rights.
#8 Institute for Research on Poverty
Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to producing and disseminating evidence to inform policies and programs to combat poverty and inequality in the US. It conducts national research and trainings by collaborating with researchers, policymakers and practitioners.
The IRP builds, develops and supports a large network of scholars who deal with the issues related to poverty in multiple discipline and conduct interdisciplinary research on the issue. The IRP applies research evidence on key policy questions and advances the understanding of consequences and causes of poverty and inequality in the following areas: child support, children, economic support, education and training, employment, family and partnering, food and nutrition, health, housing, inequality, mobility, justice system, place and poverty measurement.
#9 Innovations for Poverty Action
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a research and policy NGO that discovers and promotes effective solutions to worldwide poverty problems. It brings together researchers and decision-makers to evaluate these solutions and apply them so to improve the lives of poor populations.
Until today, IPA has designed and evaluated more than 550 solutions to poverty issues and currently it has more than 280 evaluations in progress. The organization has developed extensive expertise in conducting successful evaluations by bringing in leading researchers to ensure that evidence it creates leads to tangible impact on the world. Since its establishment in 2002, IPA has worked with over 600 researchers to conduct over 830 evaluations in 51 countries, which has led to implementation of successful programs that impact the lives of millions of individuals worldwide.
#10 Muslim Hands
Muslim Hands is an international NGO based in the UK that works in over 50 countries around the globe and is dedicated to tackling the root causes of poverty. The organization is passionate about working beyond the immediate relief, towards supporting communities in the long-term.
The organization has implemented many long-term project, including schools, healthcare clinics and livelihoods around the world. It works closely with partners and distributes aid in efficient and transparent was to make a lasting difference to the communities it works with. The organization believes that every human being has the right to education, access to clean water and food, as well as means to supports themselves and their families. It approaches each situation on a case by case basis to find appropriate solutions and strives to empower people for the long-term.
#11 BRAC
BRAC is the largest Bangladesh based international NGO with a mission to alleviate poverty and encourage economic participation by empowering people through social and economic programs. The organization works and has positive impact in the poorest Asian and African countries in the world, reaching around 138 million people.
BRAC works in four main areas, including social enterprises, investments, university and social development. It approaches the issue of poverty by using a businesslike approach and takes into considerations factors that go beyond economy that account for why people are impoverished. It tackles social issues and inequality and allows individuals to come out of poverty by providing them with tools to participate in the economy. So far, BRAC has been successful in establishing many enterprises and has provided primary education for 400.000 children and lifted 86.975 households in Bangladesh out of extreme poverty.
#12 European Anti-Poverty Network
The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) was established in 1990 and since then it has become the largest Europe based network gathering anti-poverty NGOs, grassroots organizations and European organizations that are active in fight against poverty and social exclusion. Currently, the EAPN is a network of 31 national networks of NGOs and 13 European organizations.
The EAPN fights against poverty by using tools such as education, training, service provision and participation to empower people who are faced with poverty and social exclusion. The aim of the EAPN is to put poverty issue on the EU agenda and to ensure cooperation at EU level aimed at the eradication of poverty and social exclusion. The work of the EAPN is concentrated around enhancing of actions to eradicate poverty, raising awareness around the issue, empowering people who are faced with it and lobbying for all people and groups facing poverty and social exclusion.
#13 The Borgen Project
The Borgen Project is the US based non-profit working to make poverty a focus of the US foreign policy. The organization operates at political levels and advocates for programs that are effective in fighting extreme poverty.
The focus of the organization’s advocacy efforts are starvation and global food security, newborn, child and mother survival, access to clear water and sanitation and food aid reform. The Borgen Project advocates for solutions of these issues by meeting the US congressional members to secure support for poverty reducing legislation. It also mobilizes people around the world to make the issue of poverty a political priority and teaches them basic advocacy skills that will allow them to communicate with their governments. In this way, the Borgen Project builds awareness of global issues and innovations in poverty reduction.
#14 Advocates for International Development
Advocates for International Development (A4ID), earlier known as Lawyers Eradicating Poverty, is an international advocacy organization with a mission “to be a voice of legal community and enable lawyers to join the global fight against poverty and to ensure that legal support is available for those engaged in that fight”.
A4ID provides an opportunity for law firms and companies worldwide to make contribution in meeting the needs of poorest people. It acts as a facilitator matching international legal experts with local needs in more than 100 jurisdictions, with a network of 53.000 lawyers. The goal of the A4ID is to assist the goal of eradicating the extreme poverty by 2030 since it recognizes that developing nations may not have proper access to legal services and that to achieve sustainable development, these services need to available to everyone.
#15 Green Shots Foundation
Green Shoots was established in 2010 with a mission “to prevent or relief of poverty through the implementation in greater Asia or Africa of holistic and sustainable development programmes combining economic empowerment with access to education and/or medical aid.” The organization tackles the issue of poverty through microfinance, sustainable development and holistic approaches.
The goal of the Green Shots is to improve access to education and access to medical aid in developing African and Asian countries. There are multiple programs that the foundation has implemented based on the specific needs of each region. Some of these programs include Education Loans and Social Entrepreneurship (ELSE), Food Agriculture and Social Entrepreneurship (FASE) and Medical Assistance and Medical Education (MAME). Countries that the Green Shoots Foundation has worked in include Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan.
#16 InterAction
Since its establishment in 1984, InterAction has become the largest alliance of international NGOs and partners in the US, mobilizing more than 180 members to think and act collectively to serve the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. The InterAction works on a shared belief that this alliance can make the world a more peaceful, just and prosperous place.
InterAction works to eliminate extreme poverty, strengthen human rights and citizen participation, promote peace, safeguard a sustainable planet and ensure dignity for all people. It advocates for the policy priorities, primarily with Congress and the executive branch of the U.S. government, but also with partners, think tanks, and the private sector. In addition, it works to strengthen policies and programs to reduce poverty, hunger, gender and social inequity, and environmental degradation in more than 130 countries. InterAction supports the work of member organizations providing aid to affected people in crises by providing a forum for consultation, coordination, and advocacy on emergency response.
#17 International Child Care
International Child Care (ICC) is a Christian health development organization that operates in Haiti since 1967 and in the Dominican Republic since 1988 to eradicate poverty that impacts health and well-being. The vision of ICC is “health and wholeness for children and families in empowered communities”.
The ICC aims to achieve three goals. First, it works to prevent illness amongst children and their families through immunization, oral re-hydration, vitamin A distribution, prenatal care, clean water projects and training of health careers. Second, it promotes health for children and their families through health education, reproductive health services and community rehabilitation for children with disabilities. Third, it restores health for children and adults who suffer from tuberculosis and HIV. The ICC is committed to respect and ensure the respect of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children.
#18 ONE
ONE is a global organization that tackles the causes of extreme poverty and preventable disease, with a focus on Africa. The organization fights also for gender equality, youth employment, quality education, access to health services and similar. The goal of the ONE is to eradicate extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030, so that everyone can lead a life of dignity and opportunity.
One pressures governments to fight against extreme poverty and empowers citizens to hold governments accountable. The organization operates in Abuja, Berlin, Brussels, Dakar, Johannesburg, London, New York, Ottawa, Paris and Washington DC, where it educates and lobbies governments to implement policy solutions that would save lives of millions of people living in extreme poverty. The network of ONE consists of artists, activists, faith and business leaders, students, and scientists, who organize, mobilize, educate and advocate so that people have a chance not only to survive, but to thrive.
#19 Engineers Without Borders International
Engineers Without Borders International (EWB-I) is an international organization of national EWB/ISF groups. It helps the member groups develop their capacity to assist developing communities in their respective countries. The vision of the organization is “a sustainable world where engineering enables long term positive social and global development for the benefit of people and the environment everywhere.”
The member groups partner up with disadvantaged communities to improve their quality of live through education and implementation of engineering projects that are sustainable. These are usually grassroots projects that promote global dimensions of experience for engineers, engineering students and those who are motivated non-engineers. The EWB-I, therefore, serves as platform for its member groups to connects and collaborate on projects worldwide, develop partnerships on community projects, as well as share ideas, experience, technical knowledge, and documentation.
#20 Humanitarian Organization for Poverty Eradication
The Humanitarian Organization for Poverty Eradication (HOPE) was established in 1998 with a goal to empower marginalized people who are deprived of their rights by providing them with opportunities and resources. It promotes and protects the fundamental human rights of vulnerable groups such asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, whose lives have been traumatized by disasters, poverty, persecution or discrimination. The HOPE currently operates in New Zealand, Thailand and Pakistan.
The organization provides economic, social, moral and financial assistance, as well as develops activities to educate the broader public on the needs of vulnerable groups. It supports and launched fundraising activities to be able to provide sponsorship of vulnerable groups such as malnourished women, children, rural communities and indigent families. The HOPE encourages marginalized and vulnerable groups in the society come up with their potential of overcoming poverty. It also mobilizes people to take acting to achieve the UN sustainable development goals.
#21 World Vision
World Vision is one of the largest child-focused organizations in the world employing around 40.000 staff members working in nearly 100 countries. The organization’s task is to tackle the root causes of poverty and currently, it impacts the lives of over 200 million vulnerable children. The organization works based on Christian values and it is an advocacy and development organization tasked to improve the lives of children, their families and communities and create a long-lasting impact. World Vision serves all people, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, race or religion.
World Vision works on eradication of poverty through education which allows people to learn about rights and acquire skills, which, in return, opens up economic opportunities that are a fundamental step in transforming lives. The organization, thus, works with local communities by providing small loans to establish businesses, and help improve access to local and international groups. The organization also establishes community savings groups and fosters entrepreneurship. It uses cost-effective solutions to fight poverty such as immunization of children immunisation, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, exclusive breastfeeding, and oral rehydration to prevent death from diarrhoea, more skilled birth attendants, nutrition programs, and access to programs to learn improved hygiene practices.
#22 World Hope International
World Hope International (WHI) is a Christian relief and development organization working with vulnerable and exploited communities to alleviate poverty, suffering, and injustice. The vision of the organization is “to provide those in need with opportunity, dignity, and hope so they can possess the tools for change in themselves, their family, and their community”. WHI supports all people regardless of ethnicity, gender, race, or religion.
The organization empowers, protects and builds resilience through the use of market-based and community driven approaches and implementation of innovative and transformative projects. The projects directly affect the local communities, leader and individuals who are empowered through locally sustainable programs and transformation of these communities and individuals into ones with dignity and wholeness through spiritual, social, economic and physical change.
#23 Village Enterprise
The Village Enterprise is an organizations that works to end extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship and innovation by implementing simple and cost-effective program. So far, the Village Enterprises has started over 48.000 businesses and trained over 185.000 Africans living in extreme poverty to start sustainable businesses and savings groups.
The Graduation program that the organization implements provide group of three entrepreneurs with cash transfers as seed capital, training and constant mentoring by a local business mentor. The Village Enterprise organizes the business groups into Business Savings groups consisting of 30 entrepreneurs to allow access to growth capital, provide safe space for savings and build social capital for businesses such as small retail stores, restaurants, tailoring, beekeeping livestock and farming. This directly improved the standard of living for users and broke the cycle of poverty for them and their families.
#24 Trickle Up
Trickle Up is an organization that was established in 1979 to help people living in extreme poverty and vulnerability to advance their economic and social well-being. So far, the Trickle Up has helped many women gain skills and confidence to achieve greater self-sufficiency, which directly affected around 1.5 million people. The organization is committed to help the next million rise from extreme poverty.
The organization partners up with governments, global institutions and local organizations to drive change and help those living in extreme poverty. It provides the poorest people with trainings and coaching and supports them in creating small businesses by connecting them to saving groups where they save money, create plans for the future and drive change in their communities. The organization’s focus is helping women, people with disabilities, and refugees in the poorest parts of rural Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
#25 RESULTS
RESULTS is a movement of passionate and committed everyday people, who together use their voices to influence political decisions that will bring an end to poverty. It is a volunteer-based organization in which volunteers receive training, support, and inspiration to become skilled advocates. They learn to effectively advise policy makers, guiding them towards decisions that improve access to education, health, and economic opportunity.
Ever since its establishment in 1980, RESULTS volunteers secured billions of dollars through advocacy for programs worldwide, including health, education economic opportunities. Besides advocacy activities, the organization also conducts research and oversight, educates and mobilizes the public, policy makers, and the media and supports powerful citizenship by training volunteers in public speaking, generating media, and educating their communities and elected officials on issues of poverty. The organization is successful in pushing legislation and policies to address poverty and in empowering people for their voices to be loudly heard.
