Transformational development helps empower children, families and communities to identify and overcome obstacles that prevent them from living a full life.

World Vision seeks to enable the people in the communities we serve to enjoy the fullness of life with justice, dignity, peace and hope.

World Vision partners with communities in providing access to knowledge and resources needed to combat poverty and to improve the well-being of children. We work with the community to facilitate a range of interventions, including programs in health, water and sanitation, education, economic development, microfinance and agriculture among others. World Vision also responds to disasters in affected communities. (For more information on these programs, visit our Resources section.)

Area Development Programs
Child sponsorship funds are used to run long-term development projects called Area Development Programs (ADPs). World Vision Canada facilitates community development mainly through its ADPs. (Read more about What World Vision Canada does through sponsorship.)

As a model of community development, ADPs link villages that work together in regional clusters to help address the root causes of poverty. World Vision Canada supports more than 200 ADPs in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean. (Read more about where World Vision works.)

ADPs are child-focused, sustainable development programs for between 15,000 to 100,000 people, divided into smaller community clusters. Generally, World Vision works with communities through ADPs for 10 to 15 years.

Facilitators, who are usually from the region, are trained to build relationships, help the community to identify needs and possible solutions, provide training to local leaders and encourage networking among civil society and government groups.

Learning More
To see how an ADP works, watch this interactive presentation.

For more information, read World Vision’s ADP model.