Counterpart International Celebrates 49 Years of Partnering With Community Organizations Around the World

A Nonprofit Building the Skills of Social Sector Organizations and Leaders

ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Counterpart International, a leader in global development of the social sector, celebrates its 49th anniversary today. For the last five decades, Counterpart International has partnered with community organizations and leaders around the world to build inclusive and resilient communities – showing immediate and powerful social and economic results.

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Counterpart International's Vice President of Programs, Alex Sardar stated, "our programs create the necessary environment and provide essential tools for citizens that are facing barriers in their lives and want to see a shift in their communities. Whether it's a right to vote, the impact of climate change on livelihood, the ability for a community to have access to food and nutrition – citizens can create change when they know how and are willing to lead."

"These issues are not current trends or "hot issues" – they are real issues faced daily by people who need our continued partnership to remove the stumbling blocks in their communities and find real solutions that continue improving their lives," said Sardar.

Counterpart International's birthday is a chance to celebrate success in over 3,000 communities reached today, including:

• Integrating technology for cross-border collaboration – using social media in Armenia, Bangladesh and Honduras, providing an organized platform for youth community leaders to voice their ideas in solving shared problems;
• Having community-led approaches to coastal agriculture and natural resource management in the Dominican Republic that have led to better coastal health, increased fish populations, and stronger coral reefs;
• Helping 2,000 young people launch volunteer community efforts in Bangladesh, using new skills applicable to social sector, public sector, and private sector jobs;
• Helping community groups create and institutionalize hungry season feeding solutions for children through schools – leading to better school attendance and better health outcomes in Senegal, Cameroon, and Mauritania;
• Coaching women's groups to develop and sustain social enterprise platforms that meet both family and community financial needs across Central Asia.

Counterpart International's results show that any community can create and sustain home-grown solutions with short-term support in the form of ideas, resources, and a fresh outlook on the community's assets. 

Looking forward, Counterpart International's direction is shaped by the emerging needs of global citizens, and the goal of achieving greater scale of results.  Counterpart International plans to scale up by partnering with existing global networks already addressing specific economic or social goals.  Counterpart International's contributions will deliver a "development dividend" of higher results to the networks following focused investments in capacity building.

"Our methodology has evolved and improved over the last 49 years, and our reach has grown from two regions to 25 countries globally. We are honored to be partnering today with over 3,000 community organizations, helping them accomplish their goals.  Over our next decade, we hope to support the good work of at least 100,000 local organizations by building their skills and capabilities," said Joan Parker, President and CEO, Counterpart International.

"Today's donors and investors in Counterpart International see tangible results in communities, and that those results are sustained over time.  That explains our high rate of repeat investors who want to see these results reach more communities. We now want to take this value to a wider range of organizations that have great missions, but need stronger local partners to execute on those missions," said Parker. "It's would be our great honor to help these organizations and communities better achieve their goals."

As Counterpart International starts planning for its 50 Anniversary, it seeks investors who want to be catalysts for change in the social sector, and who can see a path to ending dependency and shifting to sustainable and resilient communities around the world. To join the movement of transforming the lives of thousands in their communities, and to become a partner or investor in the cause, go to www.counterpart.org.

About Counterpart International

Counterpart International is a global development organization that partners with local organizations - formal and informal - to build inclusive, sustainable communities in which their people thrive. For nearly 50 years, Counterpart has been working in partnership with communities in need to address complex problems related to economic development, nutrition and health, humanitarian assistance and strengthening civil society.  To learn more and to donate go to www.counterpart.org.

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Charmaine Easie-Samuels
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SOURCE Counterpart International