Main (ADPs: What's the issue?: Panel Main)

What's the issue?

All of our Area Development Programmes (ADPs) cover many sectors and can include advocacy issues, micro-enterprise development, disaster mitigation, disability rights, HIV/AIDs awareness and education, peace and conflict resolutions, citizenship awareness and human rights.

So who makes the decisions on what to include in the programme? The World Vision ADP staff work with the communities, right from the beginning, in helping them identify the root causes of their poverty and the key issues that they will need to address to break the cycle of poverty that they find themselves in.

Because of the diversity of the areas we work in, there are bigger concerns or problems for one ADP than another, even in the same country. In Albania for instance, there is a custom of 'blood fueds', whereas in Bolivia, there is a lack of suitable farming land. Both are obstacles that each of the communities in these ADPs have to overcome, but obviously with a differing approach.

By involving the communities in decision-making, people are able take 'ownership' of their own development from the start. Through discussions and ongoing assessment, World Vision uses its diverse experience to advise the community and its leaders on how to tackle the many areas that an Area Development Programme covers.