Our vision: Sustainable communities
Around the world, the impact of extreme poverty on children’s development is devastating. World Vision is working to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by 2030 so that the most vulnerable children can reach their full potential. Because of our community-focused solutions, for every child helped, four more children benefit, too.
Our work in livelihoods aims to ensure:
- children are well nourished and free from hunger
- families with children have adequate and resilient livelihoods, income and assets
- families and children have reasons and resources to be in school
- adolescents develop hope and skills for a productive future.
How we do this
a) Graduating the most vulnerable families out of extreme poverty
World Vision focuses on an intensive two-year programme that equips the most vulnerable families to be self-reliant once World Vision has left. We provide access to temporary food and cash assistance, savings for transformation, training, and marketing expertise to help families’ kickstart a small business or access employment. Families are also taught about health, nutrition, and hygiene practices to ensure that economic gains are translated into better care for their children.
b) Building secure livelihoods and market access
Here, the focus is on strengthening families’ ability to produce more nutritious food and market the excess for a regular income. Disasters often push families backward so we encourage them to build resilience by saving and managing water and natural resources more effectively. We also offer access to small loans through VisionFund.
c) Promoting sustainable employment opportunities
We work with adolescents to develop relevant skills for them to enter the workplace. This not only provides a potential livelihood for the future but also instils hope and aspirations for a better life. Our microfinance arm, VisionFund works with potential employers by providing small loans to promote market and employment opportunities.
d) Women Economic Empowerment
Women who can access financial resources or have control over productive assets like land are able to make decisions about their lives and meet their families basic needs. This in turn will often lead to reduced exposure of their children to risks such as gender-based violence, early marriage and sexual exploitation.
Learn how World Vision is promoting women's economic empowermentby training over 8,600 women in Bangladesh so they can now earn steady incomes to benefit their children's health and education.
Resources
- Fact Sheet: Key Features of World Vision Savings for Transformation Project Model
- Field Guide: Integrating Extremely Poor Producersinto Markets
- Article: Value chain development with the extremely poor: evidence and lessons from CARE, Save the Children, and World Vision
- Case study: Serving the Missing Middle-Growing Small Agricultural Businesses to Reduce Poverty and Increase Social Impact
- Case study: The additional social benefit of projects -a case study from Mongolia of the Social Return on Investment
- Report: Economic Strengthening, Resilient Livelihoods Approaches and Child Well-Being -Evidence and Knowledge Gaps
- Report: A Typology of Market-Based Approaches to include the most marginalised-IDS, Coady Institute and the BEAM Exchange
- Paper: Livelihoods and Child Welfare among Poor Rural Farmers in East Africa
For more information on World Vision's global livelihoods work, contact us at livelihoods.wvi.org.
