Africa

About us > Where are we? > Africa

We have active teams in ten African countries (Benin, Burkina, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Mali, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Tanzania), and we have developed partnerships with local organisations and national NGOs in around 30 countries thanks to the Permanent Forum on Extreme Poverty in the World.
Over time ATD Fourth World has developed different types of activity with those who live in extreme poverty, involving all of the people, organisations and institutions concerned with the struggle against poverty, as appropriate in each country. Types of activity include:

Gaining access to knowledge and culture;
Knowing and demanding one’s rights;
Reuniting young street dwellers with their families and communities;
Encouraging other members of society to support the participation of the very poor in civic, cultural and economic life;
Conducting peace education with children (through the Tapori network) and adults, particularly in relation to reconciliation programmes in conflict zones;
Training in communication skills so as to enable participation in local or international consultations, in seminars, or in the World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty.

In the course of these activities ATD Fourth World’s members – including both those who are and those who are not living in poverty themselves – develop connections with individuals and families in extreme poverty. They think and take action together to enable people to take advantage of existing structures and projects (e.g. social services, healthcare, schools), contribute to the development of their own communities, and be recognised as active participants in the struggle against poverty.
When people living in great poverty are included in the process, they can help to set up socio-economic projects which will benefit everybody. Their involvement in the community is a source of pride for their own children, who come to realise that there is nothing inevitable about poverty.

Newsletter Dicember 2011

Salehe, Tanzanian member of the Fourth World Volunteer Corps, has been asked to join a team in the United States. After his testimony, we will explain what is the Volunteer Corps.
"The tears of a poor person here in Tanzania and the tears of a poor person from the United Kingdom or the United State are just the same…"

Newsletter September 2011

A community workshop means a day in which all the members of the community are invited to participate : all the members means not only the most dynamic and the most skilled, all the members means also those usually excluded, the handicapped people, those who are not recognised by the community as being part of it… This is not easy to do…

We’re children fighting to eradicate poverty

In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, impacted by war and poverty, young group leaders from the Tapori Movement convey the message to children in their poor neighborhood that it’s great to be friends with other kids who don’t have any friends. These children support efforts their parents make, try to urge them to act together to promote peace in their neighborhoods. Some of them were able to give testimonials in the UN in Geneva, for the 20th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child.
This clip is part of the serie: "Unknown volunteers"created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10)

Other files

Burkina Faso ATD Fourth World has been active in Burkina since 1980, with a team of permanent volunteers based in Ouagadougou. Since 2002 part of the team has been active in a rural area 130km from Ouagadougou.

Central African Republic ATD Fourth World has been active in the Central African Republic since 1984, first in Markounda in the north of the country, and then in the capital, Bangui. In Bangui in 1988 we established the “Schoolyard of 100 Trades”, which enables young street dwellers to educate themselves, feel useful to others, and gradually rebuild their relationships with their families.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Ivory Coast

Mali

Rwanda

Senegal ATD Fourth World has been active in Senegal since 1982. Our members work mainly in Dakar and its suburbs. Groups also exist in Thiès (in western Senegal Colibantan and Kédougou (both in eastern Senegal).

Tanzania ATD Fourth World has been active in Tanzania since 1999, with a team of permanent volunteers in Dar es Salaam. Links have been forged with people involved in the struggle against poverty throughout the country.

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