Community-Led Development
When a community partners with CWS, they are pulling themselves out of hunger or poverty. We're proud to be the toolbox they need to make sustainable change.
Throughout a CWS program, the community is at the helm. They weigh in on what their most urgent challenges are. As the program unfolds, CWS provides expert guidance, supplies and funding. Communities provide the time and effort to make the program successful. They care for shared gardens, help with construction, attend workshops, and mobilize their neighbors. When a new water system or other infrastructure element is finished, the community assumes responsibility for it.
When we invest in people who are vulnerable or under-served, they can fulfill their own goals.
The Movement for Community-Led Development
CWS has been a member of the Community-Led Development movement since 2015.
Learn more here.
Latest Updates
Serving Up A Brighter Future in Belgrade
D* lives with her four siblings and their grandmother in one of Belgrade’s informal settlements. She had a turbulent childhood that was characterized by constant moving and instability. Six years ago, D’s parents separated. Her mother took all five children from Serbia to Germany. They lived in poor conditions and didn’t go to school, so German social services got involved. …
Leadership During Hard Times in the Dominican Republic
“My name is Nelson Valdez. I am the president of the youth group Jóvenes Unidos por el desarrollo de El Batey [youth united for the development of the community of El Batey in the Dominican Republic]. My family is my mother, my father, my grandmother and three sisters. One of the worst things I saw during COVID-19 was mass unemployment …
Water Makes a World of Difference in Haiti
Tulsaint Sermilien knows what it’s like to always be worried about water. “I used to walk over 60 minutes to get water in Digé or at the source at the river Cadet,” he says of his daily walk in his community in Haiti. It was a dangerous trip, too. Animals had been known to fall on the slippery, rocky road. …