PROJECT CONCERN INTERNATIONAL

Geographic areas served: Asia, Africa, the Americas

Programs: Disease prevention: as a recognized leader in reaching the most vulnerable populations, pci uses advocacy, communication, social mobilization and behavior change strategies to prevent the spread of infectious diseases (such as polio, tb, ebola, and hiv/aids) and chronic diseases (such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer). Since the beginning of the ebola outbreak, pci has reached more than 140,000 people in liberia with networks, tools and evidence-based approaches through an established network of community volunteers: mothers, parent/teacher associations, and community sanitation, health, and disaster risk reduction committees. By the end of 2014, pci had implemented 17 major hiv/aids programs. Among those, pci currently provides technical assistance to the defense forces of zambia, malawi, and botswana in hiv/aids prevention, treatment, and care, through which pci has reached nearly 100,000 service members and their families since 2003. In india, pci provides technical assistance to the indian national aids control organization to design, implement and monitor hiv and aids programs by strengthening the culture of quality in laboratories in india. By the end of the project in march 2015, 60 laboratories will have obtained accreditation from a baseline of zero in 2009. Pci implements a polio project in 3 high risk districts in the state of uttar pradesh, india; the number of children fully immunized against polio in pci's intervention areas increased from 45% in 2010 to 73% in 2013.

food security: pci takes a comprehensive approach to improving health outcomes by integrating its food security programs with nutrition, health, agricultural development, food aid, and disaster risk management interventions. Pci has implemented 44 major food assistance projects since 1997; during 2014 pci was implementing 7 in malawi, liberia, bangladesh, guatemala, tanzania, and nicaragua. In liberia and bangladesh, pci is preventing malnutrition in children under two and improving education opportunities for children and youth, supporting gender equity, and building the countries' capacities to reduce disaster risk, obtain early warning of disasters, and address long-term trends such as climate change. In guatemala, pci is improving food security in five municipalities, managing distribution of food commodities and improving the status of women. In malawi, pci increased household access to food for nearly 8,600 people through conservation agriculture and home gardens; reinforced the resiliency of nearly 3,000 people village savings programs; and strengthened detection and management of acute malnutrition, which benefitted approximately 3,500 people. Pci also operates school-based food security programs in nicaragua, guatemala and tanzania; 184,000 students received a hot, nutritious meal daily in 2014 through these programs.

maternal and child health: with decades of experience worldwide, pci reduces the incidence of life-threatening diseases in mothers, infants and children and their families. With funding from the bill and melinda gates foundation, pci reached 323,650 women in india through the promotion of participatory learning and collective action in women's groups, resulting in improved health behaviors including hand washing, early and exclusive breastfeeding of infants, and the intake of iron and folic acid for pregnant mothers, as learned through self-help groups. In 2014 pci began a $9m program to expand preterm birth and low birth weight interventions in 24 countries in africa and asia by translating evidence into action, improving service delivery, and increasing prioritization of preterm and low birth weight interventions in country and global policies. In guatemala, pci operates casa materna, a maternal waiting home for high-risk pregnant women which has reached approximately 250,000 women and trained 768 caregivers. In the u. S. , pci improved by 40-55% the mental health of vulnerable pregnant women, new mothers, and women of reproductive age participating in support groups. Also in the u. S. , pci became a certified enrollment entity via covered california, providing outreach and education to over 1,500 uninsured families and providing 406 enrollment referrals. A testimony to pci's long term commitment to the communities it serves, pci's four legacy programs in india, guatemala, mexico and the u. S. /mexico border have been operating for a combined 63 years, during which time they have served nearly 1. 5 million people with lifesaving access to care and services, including safe pregnancy care for mayan women in guatemala; access to health assessments and referrals for mexican immigrants in the u. S. ; well-baby clinics in remote slums around tijuana, mexico; and support services for street children in new delhi, india.

humanitarian assistance and water/sanitation projects: pci currently operates disaster assistance programs in nine countries across africa, asia and the americas. In indonesia, where coastal communities are extremely vulnerable to natural disasters and weather events, 84 teachers from 43 schools participated in disaster simulations in 2014 to improve the preparedness of local communities. In ethiopia, pastoralist families utilized geo-climatic satellite data to locate good grazing land to reduce livestock deaths, leading to a 47% drop in herd mortality representing $8. 4 million dollars in reduced livestock losses. In guatemala, pci is transforming an urban neighborhood by reducing its risk of disasters; pci has assisted 11,500 people through new livelihoods development activities, developed 17 disaster response plans, trained over 14,000 people in water management and proper waste disposal, and improved 2,976 shelters in 17 communities. Women empowered (we) is a pci program promoting the economic and social empowerment of women through the formation of self-managed and self-sustaining savings groups. Global membership now totals over 413,391 members in over 30,000 groups.