Founded | 1995 |
---|---|
Founder | Chris and Debbie Clark |
Type | Non-Governmental Organization |
Focus | To provide holistic, Christ-centered care for orphaned and destitute children, enabling them to create positive and lasting change in their nations. |
Location |
|
Area served | 5 countries: Dominican Republic, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Haiti |
Revenue | USD $8.47 million (2016) [1] |
Website | www |
Children of the Nations (COTN) is a Christian nonprofit organization that exists to provide care for orphaned and destitute children in poverty-stricken areas of the world. Operating in Malawi, Sierra Leone, the Dominican Republic, Uganda, and Haiti, COTN helps nearly 7,000 children on a daily basis. COTN's stated goal is to "Raise children who transform nations."
Children of the Nations is a Christian nonprofit organization headquartered in Silverdale, Washington, US.
Children of the Nations (COTN) was founded in 1995 by Chris Clark, a fifth-generation missionary raised in Africa, and his wife, Debbie Clark. On assignment in Sierra Leone, Chris and Debbie encountered orphans and refugee children in dire need of assistance and started COTN with the desire to meet the needs of those children. [2]
Today, COTN is operating in Sierra Leone, Malawi, Uganda, Dominican Republic, and Haiti to provide holistic care for orphaned and destitute children.
Children of the Nations International operates as a non-governmental organization (NGO) within the United States with its headquarters in Silverdale, Washington. COTN also operates regional offices in Seattle, Washington; Orlando, Florida; and Orange County, California.
Each COTN country office is set up as its own NGO with a local board of directors overseeing operations within that country.
COTN's main area of focus is providing care for the most desperate children in each of the geographic areas where the organization serves. They do this through a two-pronged approach, by providing full-time care for orphaned children and by partnering with communities to care for orphaned and destitute children living with caregivers who are unable to provide for them. All children enrolled in COTN's programs receive food, education, medical care, and mentoring, depending on their specific needs. [3]
COTN's main goal is to raise these children to become future leaders of their communities. This is accomplished through child sponsorship as well as the donation of funds, resources, and volunteer work related to the construction of children's homes, schools, medical clinics, vocational skills centers, farms, and feeding centers. This assistance is intended to lead to self-sustainability, not dependence. [4]
The organization also puts a large emphasis on short-term mission trips in the countries where it serves. More than 400 individuals traveled overseas with COTN in 2016. [5]
Children of the Nations currently holds a four-star rating (the highest possible rating) from Charity Navigator, [6] and is accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). [7]
Compassion International is an American child sponsorship and Christian humanitarian aid organization headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that aims to positively influence the long-term development of children globally who live in poverty.
ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization whose stated primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide.
Children International is a global nonprofit humanitarian organization that helps children break the cycle of poverty. It addresses children’s critical needs through early intervention and regular interaction in community centers. The goal is to help children overcome the effects of poverty, support their education, and prepare youth to contribute to society.
Partners In Health (PIH) is an international nonprofit public health organization founded in 1987 by Paul Farmer, Ophelia Dahl, Thomas J. White, Todd McCormack, and Jim Yong Kim.
Food For The Poor, Inc. (FFP) is an ecumenical Christian nonprofit organization based in Coconut Creek, Florida, United States that provides food, medicine, and shelter, among other services, to the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Feed the Children, established in 1979 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is a non-profit organization focused on alleviating childhood hunger. Its mission is "providing hope and resources for those without life's essentials." The organization provides food, essentials, education supplies and disaster relief to those in need across the United States and in 8 countries around the world. Domestically, Feed the Children operates five distribution centers located in Oklahoma, Indiana, California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
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Sierra Leone is a source, transit, and destination country for children and women trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficking within the country is more prevalent than transnational trafficking and the majority of victims are children. Within the country, women and children are trafficked from rural provinces to towns and mining areas for domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and forced labor in diamond mines, petty trading, petty crime, and for forced begging. Women and children may also be trafficked for forced labor in agriculture and the fishing industry. Transnationally, Sierra Leonean women and children are trafficked to other West African countries, notably Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, and The Gambia for the same purposes listed above and to North Africa, the Middle East, and Western Europe for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. Sierra Leone is a destination country for children trafficked from Nigeria and possibly from Liberia and Guinea for forced begging, forced labor in mines and as porters, and for sexual exploitation. There have also been cases of children trafficked from refugee communities in Sierra Leone.
Zakat Foundation of America is a Chicago-based NGO providing emergency relief, post-disaster rehabilitation, sustainable development, education, healthcare, orphan sponsorship, and seasonal programs such as Ramadan iftars and Udhiya/Qurbani. Zakat Foundation of America is registered under 501(c)(3) as a non-profit charity organization.
Children's Hunger Fund (CHF) is a Christian non-profit organization that resources and empowers local churches in the United States and around the world to meet the needs of their impoverished community members. CHF's mission is to "deliver hope to suffering children by equipping local churches for gospel-centered mercy ministry".
CURE International, based in Grand Rapids, MI, is a Christian nonprofit organization that owns and operates eight charitable children's hospitals around the world. CURE provides medical care to pediatric patients with orthopedic, reconstructive plastic, and neurological conditions. The organization's stated mission is to "heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God." The organization currently operates hospitals in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, the Philippines, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Water For People was founded in 1991 by the American Water Works Association (AWWA) as a response to the increasing water scarcity in developing countries. It is a nonprofit international development organization that helps people in rural parts of developing countries achieve greater access to drinkable and potable water and sanitation facilities. It works to accomplish the United Nations' 6th Sustainable Development Goal: availability of clean water and sanitation and comprehensive monitoring of freshwater facilities for the progression of human health. They seek to address the issue of nonexistent and suboptimal water and sanitation facilities across less-developed countries. With developing locally sustainable drinking water resources and sanitation facilities, Water For People also works to bring health and hygiene education programs to local districts. The non-governmental organization also works to empower and involve local governments, corporations, schools, homes, and individuals in the construction, financing, and maintenance of the water infrastructure. Water For People has established a year-round presence in 30 districts of nine developing countries, including Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, India, Rwanda, Uganda and Malawi. In totality, Water For People reaches 4 million people.
Water Mission is a nonprofit, Christian engineering organization. Water Mission's global headquarters is located in North Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. where the organization designs, builds and implements safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areas. Water Mission hosts the Walk For Water, an annual fundraiser which attracted five thousand people in 2019.
VisionTrust is an international, non-denominational non-profit organization that assists orphaned and vulnerable children around the world. The organization works alongside local Christians to help children gain an education, nutritional support, medical assistance, and spiritual discipleship. VisionTrust works in schools, Transitional Homes (orphanages), and Learning Centers. They offer child sponsorships, short-term mission trips, and assist churches with educational materials to promote participation in this effort. VisionTrust is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
World Computer Exchange (WCE) is a United States and Canada based charity organization whose mission is "to reduce the digital divide for youth in developing countries, to use our global network of partnerships to enhance communities in these countries, and to promote the reuse of electronic equipment and its ultimate disposal in an environmentally responsible manner." According to UNESCO, it is North America's largest non-profit supplier of tested used computers to schools and community organizations in developing countries.
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