Through ongoing advances in science and technology, the world grows smaller and smaller each year, becoming a true global village. Communication is instantaneous. Within 24 hours, a person can travel to any location on the planet. The Salvation Army recognizes that in the race to succeed, some people are left behind and the gap between rich and poor is widening. New opportunities arise every day to deliver new and relevant services that meet the diverse needs within this global community.

The Salvation Army is one of the world’s largest social service agencies and through its role in the global community, it seeks to alleviate poverty, suffering, and oppression by helping people build secure and productive communities.

The Salvation Army in Canada supports the need for sustainable human development and to that end, organizes, supports and funds a multitude of overseas projects.

The United Nations Development program defines sustainable human development as:

“Development that not only generates economic growth, but distributes its benefits equitably: that regenerates the environment rather than destroying it: that empowers people rather than marginalizing them. It is development that gives priority to the poor, enlarging their choices and opportunities and providing for their participation in decisions that affect their lives.”

Salvation Army community development programs seek to give people a sense of self-worth and dignity; to give them freedom, wholeness, justice, quality of life; to enable them to live to the full extent of their God-given potential. Our development work is a balance in which we try to meet total human need – physical, emotional and spiritual – an holistic approach that is central to all our community involvement.

Projects are generated at a community level in close partnership with those who are impoverished and marginalized, and are coordinated through The Salvation Army’s International Headquarters in London, England. Usually projects are designed to be completed between one and three years. Projects are as diverse as the needs they seek to address and have often been assisted generously by funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In recent years, projects have been implemented in 23 countries and have included, but not been limited to:

· Agricultural Training
· Construction of hospitals, schools and housing
· Education and literacy training
· HIV/AIDS education and prevention
· Livestock rearing
· Midwife training
· Primary health care
· Rehabilitation programs
· Various product manufacturing plants

Three quarters of the work of The Salvation Army takes place in the poorest parts of the world and Canadians supports this work financially and practically through:

· Child Sponsorship
· Territorial Women’s Ministries Projects
· Reinforcement Personnel
· The Canadian Foodgrains Bank
· International Emergency Services

By offering hope, lives are changed and communities are transformed.