Seven Charities - Seven Continents - White Paper

WORLD CHARITIES:
Seven Charities from Seven Continents

There’s an old familiar saying that charity begins at home. That may be true, but
charity also knows no bounds and no borders. Most of us are familiar with some of
the major charitable organizations here in the United States such as The Salvation
Army and The American Red Cross. But have you ever wondered about charitable
organizations around the globe? Among our seven continents, comprised of 214 different
countries, they are many and with diverse focuses. Break out your passports and visas.
CHARITIESHUB is your official tour guide for a look at seven charities from seven
continents.
AFRICA
Our road map begins in alphabetical
order with a trip to the continent
of Africa and an overview of the
charity Aid for Africa.
Organized in 2004 and with 501(c)(3) status,
this U.S.-based charity works in similar fashion
to America’s United Way. It began working in
conjunction with more than 19 small nonprofits
on the ground in Sub Saharan Africa—countries
located on the African continent south of the
Sahara Desert. The organization has now grown
to include more than 80 partner agencies bringing
their work to countries ranging from Angola
to Zimbabwe. Due to the complex challenges
facing the people of these countries, the alliance
forged by Aid for Africa focuses its efforts on
the numerous challenges in the area all designed
to make a difference in the lives of children,
families, communities, educational opportunities
and improvements to self-sustaining agricultural
initiatives. Alliance members include
organizations such as African Children’s Haven,
Medicine for Mali, Development in Gardening,
Eco-Agricultural Partners, Invisible Children and
the Maasai Girls Education Fund just to name a
few. Because it is a recognized 501(c)(3), partner
agencies must meet strict fiduciary accountability
standards of Aid for Africa. The combined work
of this alliance is targeted at overall population
health, microfinance for economic stability,
wildlife conservation, scientific research on a
range of issues related to food, agriculture, insect
science, livestock, food production, pest control
and population sustainability.
The overarching goal of the Aid for
Africa alliance is to identify common
problems shared by these countries,
exchange best practices in solving
them, and collectively develop
innovative solutions. The latest
activities of the organization to include
blogs, social media posts and news
releases, can be found on the link
noted above.

From Africa our journey continues with a visit to the bottom of the
world, the continent of Antarctica. Although there are technically no
“countries” located on this continent, it nonetheless attracts plenty of
attention from a number of concerned charity organizations, among
them, the Antarctic & Southern Ocean Coalition, ASOC.
ANTARCTICA
Officially recognized as a tax-exempt nonprofit
organization with 501(c)(3) status, ASOC
was formed in 1978. It is the singular nongovernmental
organization whose full-time focus
is on the preservation of the Antarctic continent
and the adjacent Southern Ocean. The early
efforts of ASOC, composed of some 30 nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), was to
shed light on the activities of the Parties to the
The current emphasis of this
environmentally concerned charity is
the continued monitoring of all issues
pertinent to the Antarctic, to include
climate change, tourism, fisheries
management, biological prospecting
and pirate fishing. They frequently
update their webpage listed above
with news articles and blogs.
Antarctic Treaty’s then secret negotiations for gas
and mineral prospecting in Antarctica.
ASOC’s early campaign strategy lead to the
disclosure of those negotiations and drew
attention to environmental impact debates which
eventually found their way before the United
Nations. The early stages of ASOC work also
brought attention to the waste disposal practices
of Antarctic research stations and plans by the
French to blow up a number of islands, displacing
penguin populations, in order to build an airstrip.
The overarching goal of the Aid for
Africa alliance is to identify common
problems shared by these countries,
exchange best practices in solving
them, and collectively develop
innovative solutions. The latest
activities of the organization to include
blogs, social media posts and news
releases, can be found on the link
noted above.
Eventually, a framework for environmental
regulations was developed and the Protocol
on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic
Treaty was agreed upon. The Protocol was fully
recognized in 1998 and bans mineral, gas and
mining exploration with a scheduled review date
of 2048.

The continent of Asia is the geographic home to some 50 different countries. And as
you might suspect, a great many charitable organizations as well. With a continental
population exceeding 4-billion people, the country of India is second in population only
to China. One of India’s charitable organizations that specifically benefits children is
Save the Children India—part of the global Save the Children organization working in
more than 120 countries and in operation since 1960.
ASIA
Headquartered in Gurgaon, India, Save the
Children India was originally formed in 2008
and serves the interests of children in some 19
different Indian states. It has received a four-star
rating from Charity Navigator for the past 11
years. It is commonly referred to as Bal Raksha
Bharat, and since its inception has served more
than 6.1 million Indian children.
The organization has three main initiatives:
•Improvements in child education, health and
nutrition.
•Children’s rights and child labor laws.
•Responding to emergencies and natural disasters
which specifically impact children.
Weather related disasters, particularly flooding
problems in India are common. Among the
responses launched by Save the Children India in
the past 10 years have been initiatives to deal with
the Mautam Plague outbreak in Mizoram (2008),
the Odisha Floods (2011), and the South India
Floods (2015).
All told since 2008, Save the Children India
has assisted tens of thousands of families with
children with services ranging from food baskets,
to personal hygiene kits, tarps, blankets, solar
lamps, temporary learning centers when floods
and other inclement weather have interrupted
normal childhood education, as well as emergency
cash transfers to impacted families with children.
Save the Children India’s webpage indicates that in
fiscal year 2016, 82 percent of contributions went
directly to services.
Targeting India’s street children,
this nongovernmental organization
worked to remove more than 75,000
children from unscrupulous child
labor situations, and trained almost
three dozen health care workers and
more than 1,100 teachers. It continues
to work with government agencies
in India as well as parents and other
advocates to meet a host of needs of
Indian children.

From the continent of Asia we travel down under to the continent of Australia
for an overview of one of this country’s major charitable organizations. Three
countries technically share the continent, Australia itself, New Zealand and
Papua New Guinea. With a combination of both major metropolitan areas as
well as sparse, remote regions, it is not surprising that there are some 54,000
charitable organizations registered with the Australian Charities and Non-for-
Profits Commission (ACNC).
AUSTRALIA
One of the more unique charitable organizations
located in Australia is the Royal Flying Doctors
of Australia (RFDA). Ranked by the ACNC as
a Most Reputable Charity for six straight years
(2011-2016) this not-for-profit is an aeromedical
organization, dedicated to flying doctors to
Australia’s rural and remote areas. Based in
Queensland and using the Brisbane airport as
its hub, the organization has a combined staff of
pilots, doctors, nurses, engineers and allied health
Flying for the health of Australians
since the 1930’s, the not-for-profit
RFDA is funded in part through
allocations from the Australian
Minister for Rural Health office
by way of the Australian Coalition
Government Federal Budget, with
a considerable portion of its budget
coming from private donations.
professionals serving the needs of a population
dispersed over more than 7-million square
kilometers. It utilizes some 19 aircraft from nine
operational centers to provide emergency and
primary care medical services. Among those
services are:
• 24-hour Aeromedical Retrieval ranging from
emergency evacuations, to medical treatment
on the ground, to the transport of patients to
appropriate hospitals for further treatment.
The overarching goal of the Aid for
Africa alliance is to identify common
problems shared by these countries,
exchange best practices in solving
them, and collectively develop
innovative solutions. The latest
activities of the organization to include
blogs, social media posts and news
releases, can be found on the link
noted above.
• Regular fly-in/fly-out General Practitioner,
Nursing & Allied Health Clinic visits to rural and
remote communities. In 2016-2017 RFDA helped
facilitate 16,359 clinic functions resulting in the
treatment of more than 140,000 patients.
• Utilizes technology to facilitate tele-health
consultations for distance diagnosis and
treatment.
• Facilitates fly-in/fly-out dental services to rural
and remote communities.
• Delivers mental health services in Queensland,
New South Wales and central Australia.
• Conducts Healthy Living Programs in rural and
remote communities.
• Conducts medical research on medical services
to remote communities.

The continent of Europe is comprised of 51 countries, each with unique
charitable organizations. Sharing a commonality with the United States
version of the American Red Cross, is the German Red Cross, better known as
Deutsches Rotes Kreuz. (DRK).
EUROPE
Many of the DRK’s program initiatives in the past
several years have included an integral role in the
settling of more than a million migrants who have
poured in from portions of Europe and strife-torn
Middle Eastern countries, arriving via the Western
Balkan route and the Mediterranean Sea. To date
more than 490 emergency accommodation centers
have hosted more than 140,000 immigrants
to Germany. Some 25,000 German Red Cross
volunteers have helped migrants with language
and integration programs, employment training,
medical care, family tracking services and
psychosocial assimilation support. This latest
effort is reflective of the organization’s key role in
helping settle migrants to Germany dating back to
post World War II.
The origins of the German Red Cross actually
date back to 1864 when it was first organized
as a voluntary civil assistance agency and was
formally recognized by the Geneva Convention
in 1929. The organization underwent internal
struggles for leadership and a defined role during
the complexities of World War II, shifting from
support of the civilian population to support of
Germany’s military under the Nazi regime. It was
actually disbanded at the conclusion of WWII and
reorganized again in 1952 with formal recognition
by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In addition to its recent focus on assistance to
migrants, the traditional role of the post 1952
DRK has included hospital administration,
assisting the country’s elderly population in more
than 500 nursing homes, and a full range of social
services.
As part of its continuing core
mission, the DRK also provides 75
percent of Germany’s blood supply
and plays a role in 60 percent of the
country’s emergency medical services
and first aid training.

The continent of North America is home to 23 different countries, dozens
of territories and possessions, and the world’s largest island—Greenland.
Our stop here takes us north of the border to Canada for an overview of the
SickKids Foundation, rated among the country’s top 10 charitable organizations
by Charity Intelligence Canada.
NORTH AMERICA
Founded in 1972 the foundation is the fundraising
organization for The Hospital For Sick Children
(SickKids) located in Toronto. The facility
is recognized as a world leader in paediatric
healthcare with a mission of children’s health,
research and education.
In Fiscal year 2017 the hospital received more
than 312,000 ambulatory visits, admitted more
As of the October campaign launch
date, $570-million of the target
goal had already been secured in
donations and pledges with the fiveyear
campaign expected to conclude
in March of 2022.
than 16,000 children needing medical treatment
and performed in excess of 12,000 surgeries. The
SickKids Liver Transplant Program is the largest
paediatric program in Canada.
The Foundation granted a total of $98.4 million
to SickKids this past year with 71 percent of that
allocated for children’s health research and 13
percent to patient care.
The overarching goal of the Aid for
Africa alliance is to identify common
problems shared by these countries,
exchange best practices in solving
them, and collectively develop
innovative solutions. The latest
activities of the organization to include
blogs, social media posts and news
releases, can be found on the link
noted above.
There are ambitious plans for the future. In
October of 2017 SickKids Foundation launched
the SickKids VS Limits Campaign—the largest
to date in Canadian health care history. The
campaign is focused on three objectives:
• Raising $600-million for reimaging the hospital
campus, originally constructed in 1949.
• Raising $600-million for continuing
breakthrough medical research.
• Generating another $100-million to establish
partnerships for better coordinated care.

South America is our final port of call on our charities sojourn. It is the
southern half of the America’s supercontinent and the fourth largest of
the seven continents. South America is home to 12 different countries
and three dependent territories.
SOUTH AMERICA
Many Members of the world’s entertainment
community often lend their names and monetary
support to charities. That practice rings true
in Columbia as well with an overview of the
Columbian charity Barefoot Foundation (Pies
Descalzos Foundation) launched by native pop
singer Shakira in 1997.
The mission of Pies Descalzos: “Our model
targets displaced and vulnerable communities by
addressing their needs. The particular focus of the
Foundation is to address the educational needs
of Columbia’s impoverished children through
education. The organization has built six schools
across the country, providing education and
meals for more than 5,000 children. Associated
with Shakira’s earlier partnerships with UNICEF
and the Global Campaign for Education, Pies
Descalzos eventually targets serving 30,000
children whose families have been affected by
population displacement.
• If I Smile More I Can Achieve More.
• Family Income.
• Operation Godparent.
Details of these specific programs can be found at
the organization’s webpage link highlighted above.
We know how to address this, and it
is within our reach. And we can truly
be the cause of change and be the first
generation in human history to bring
education to all children everywhere
so no child is left behind.
- Shakira -
Its five main programming efforts are:
• If I Learn More I Can Be More.
• If I Eat More I Can Learn More.

Journey’s End
North, East, South or West; from the top of the world to the Land Down Under:
charitable organizations exist to serve humankind on every continent. In
September of 2012 the United Nations declared the International Day of Charity
to be observed and celebrated each September 5th. We conclude our visit to seven
charities on seven continents with this closing quote from Albert Einstein.
“Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions
of life for all people are recognized and accepted as a common
obligation to all people and all countries—not until then shall
we, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of
humankind as civilized.”
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