Broederlijk Delen is a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

aid and

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

agency, which specializes in trying to improve the living conditions of

rural communities Sociologists have identified a number of different types of rural communities, which have arisen as a result of changing economic trends within rural regions of industrial nations. The basic trend seems to be one in which communities are requir ...

in Africa and Latin America. At the international level Broederlijk Delen is a member of Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité (

CIDSE CIDSE, which is short for "Coopération Internationale pour le Développement et la Solidarité" (French for "International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity"), is an umbrella organization for Catholic development agencies from Europe an ...

), the umbrella organization for Catholic development agencies from Europe and North America . Since 2011 Broederlijk Delen has been led by Thérèse Coens.

Methods

In the global south Broederlijk Delen puts the local rural population's own plans at the center of its work. They support local initiatives or organizations rather than initiating their own projects. Broederlijk Delen cooperates with about 160 partner organisations, which receive financial support. Broederlijk Delen is active in 13 countries: six of these countries are in Africa, six in Latin America, and they also operate in Israel and Palestine. In Flanders Broederlijk Delen is active in policy and advocacy work. It also tries to raise awareness and encourage action. The highlight of the work of Broederlijk Delen in Flanders is its annual fundraising campaign during

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, the 40 days that precede Easter. In 2016 it collected 3.1 million euros during its Lent campaign. Broederlijk Delen has chosen to address inequality in rural areas by focusing on the following three themes: # Right to food # Sustainable management of natural resources # Participation and peace

Background

Broederlijk Delen was founded in 1961 as a relief organization as a reaction to the

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

in the Congolese

Kasaï region The Kasai region is a region in the central southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It shares its name with the Kasai River. After the independence of Congo in 1960, Kasai seceded for a while under influence of Belgium and became a ...

. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

called during

for donations for people in need there. After this first call Broederlijk Delen evolved into a permanent aid and development

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

References

External links

Website Broederlijk Delen
{{Catholic Church footer Development charities based in Belgium CIDSE Flanders Catholic charities International development in Africa Development in South America Organisations based in Brussels