In Latin America, Africa and Asia, Development and Peace has funded local groups and grass-roots organizations that are trying to improve living conditions by encouraging alternatives to existing political and economic structures. In doing so, we have established direct and lasting relationships with people of different ideological and religious backgrounds.

The bulk of our funds support projects run by local groups: village organizations, women's groups, co-operatives, unions, federations of fishers and artisans, popular education and human-rights networks, and non-governmental development organizations. It is groups like these, we believe, that are the driving force behind sustainable development.

Their objective -- and ours -- is profound change, not a mere proliferation of projects whose long-term effects may often be superficial. Decisions about which projects to fund are based on analyses of international conditions and consultations with our Third World partners. Emergency assistance is also provided in crisis situations.

For those of you in the Global South who are reading this text, it is important to understand that our development work is limited to certain countries and certain long-term partners who work with us within a well-defined framework. Development and Peace's capacity to respond to appeals for assistance is limited, and it is unlikely that funds will be provided for projects that fail to meet the very specific criteria that we have developed down through the years.

Much of Development and Peace's work is carried out in concert with one or more Canadian, continental, or international development networks, including the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), International Co-operation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE), Caritas Internationalis, and the Asia Partnership for Human Development (APHD). 

During the last five years, Development and Peace has allotted an average of $13 million annually to its overseas programs. Approximately 70% of this funding was provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).