Counterpart International

Counterpart International (Counterpart) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. The mission of Counterpart is: Working in partnership to empower people, communities and institutions to drive and sustain their own development. (Revised 2011)

The organization was established in 1965 originally as the Foundation of the People of the South Pacific (FSP) by an Australian Marist Missionary priest, Stanley Hosie, and Elizabeth "Betty" Bryant Silverstein. Betty Silverstein and Stanley Hosie began with the focus of equipping the people of post-World War II South Pacific with the tools and resources to address the needs of their community and ease the post-war devastation. Within the last few decades, Counterpart International has broadened its focus and since had programs and activities in nearly 60 countries on six continents.

History

Since its founding in 1965 as the Foundation for the People of the South Pacific (FSP), Counterpart International (Counterpart) has prided itself on the ability to empower people to implement innovative and enduring solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges.

Its founders, Betty, an Australian actress, and Stanley, a Marist priest, ran FSP out of a New York City thrift shop, where Betty's film industry friends donated clothing to help raise money for the programs. In the island nations of the South Pacific, FSP provided local institutions with skills to rebuild infrastructure while offering sustainable solutions to poverty. FSP improved the capacity of local organizations and developed a model of international aid that would become generally accepted as the best practices in development. This form of capacity-building continues to be the framework for the work Counterpart does around the world.

In the early 1970s, FSP facilitated the economic growth of local communities when "profit-making" and "business strategies" were hardly commonplace notions among development organizations. In Samoa, for example, FSP took an age-old proverb seriously – "If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime;" instead of only giving Samoans food, FSP offered tools to expand the fishing industry to increase sustainability and profit for the local fishermen and their communities.

When the Soviet Union fell in early 1991, another opportunity emerged for FSP to develop the capacity of local institutions while building sustainable organizations. What began as a two million dollar niche organization focused on the South Pacific quickly evolved with the shifting cultural, political and economic global needs as Counterpart International.

The name "Counterpart" was chosen in 1992 as the new name for FSP because as Stanley Hosie noted it was a name that "seemed best to express our quintessential mission of identifying and training local leaders in local institutions in a spirit of partnership".^[1]

By its statement, the organization offers options and access to tools for sustained social, economic and environmental development and forges strategic partnerships in the public and private sectors.

Counterpart International has programs in the fields of civil society, economic development, environment and conservation, food security and sustainable agriculture, global health and child survival, humanitarian assistance.

www.counterpart.org

Mission statement

"Working in partnership to empower people, communities and institutions to drive and sustain their own development."^{[citation needed]}

Program goals

Government and Civil Society Strengthening

Supports individuals, communities and institutions through access to partnership, knowledge and tools to build vibrant and sustainable civil societies, based on individual initiative, pluralism, civic consciousness and participation. Our key practice areas include institutional development, advocacy, community mobilization, community foundation development, and conflict prevention and mitigation.^[2]

Nutrition, Health and Humanitarian Services

Focuses on improving access to and quality of care for the most vulnerable. Counterpart works at both the policy and community level implementing urban and rural health programs in partnership with local Ministries of Health and NGOs. Through behavioral change approaches, Counterpart promotes sustainable solutions in the areas of maternal health and child survival, reducing malaria and Tuberculosis, enhancing hygiene and sanitation, encouraging good nutrition and breast feeding, and managing diarrheal disease, acute respiratory infections and HIV/AIDS.

Counterpart's humanitarian assistance work bridges the gap between emergency help and long-term development. Counterpart acquires, delivers and distributes goods to end users based on their needs. Counterpart has delivered and distributed more than 6,000 containers valued at $800 million to 45 countries.

Livelihoods and Economic Development

Enhances the resilience of the world's most vulnerable populations affected by disease, hunger and conflict. Counterpart achieves this through community-driven programming. Counterpart expresses their solidarity with participants’ search for dignity, treating them as full partners in our joint struggle to achieve a more just world.^[2]

Increases incomes and improves lives by assisting micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises – producers, traders, service providers, and exporters – stabilize, grow, and create employment. Driven by the demands of the marketplace and implemented in partnership with local institutions, Counterpart strengthens businesses and communities by facilitating access to financial and business support services and building capacity to advocate for a business-friendly policy environment.^[2]

Organizational structure

Counterpart has a staff of 450 in 20 countries.^{[citation needed]}

Board of Directors

Counterpart International's Board of Directors is composed of at least five but not more than fifteen voting members, who are responsible for the legal and fiduciary operations of the organization. The full Board of Directors meets four times a year, and committees meet as needed to prepare recommendations for full board approval.

• Elizabeth B. Silverstein (1920–2005), Co-Founder
• Stanley W. Hosie Co-Founder
• Jeffrey T. LaRiche Chairman, Counterpart International; President & CEO, CASTLE Worldwide, Morrisville, North Carolina
• Joan C. Parker Ex Officio Member, President & CEO, Counterpart International, Arlington, Virginia
• Brenda Broz Eddy Vice President, Eddy Associates, Los Angeles, California
• Thomas Lovejoy Heinz Center Biodiversity Chair, Heinz Center for Science, Washington, D.C.
• Deborah Nolan Partner, Ernst & Young, Oak Hill, Virginia
• Les Wallace President, Signature Resources, Aurora, Colorado
• David Wickline Managing Partner, Alchemy Ventures Group, Occidental, California

Accomplishments, progress and awards

The USAID, with the encouragement of Congressman Ted Kupferman, registered FSP in 1968 as a Private Voluntary Organization, also known as a Non-Governmental Organization. Following registration, FSP implemented and supported numerous programs in the South Pacific as government funding continued to grow.^[3]

During the 1970s, FSP obtained more grants, pulling in funding in order to expand the foundation's staff and to evolve field offices into indigenous, independent NGOs that were locally staffed. The first program to transition to a local NGO was FSP Fiji in 1981.^[4]

In 1991, President George Bush awarded FSP co-founder Betty Silverstein with the U.S. Presidential End Hunger Award for Individual Achievement. The administration recognized Betty for her decades-long work with FSP after the USAID nominated her for the award. Later, Betty received more recognition for her work when First Lady Hillary Clinton commended Betty at Counterpart's 500th humanitarian Airlift at Andrews Air Force Base in Virginia in early 1998.^[5]

Since 1993, Counterpart has delivered over half a billion dollars worth of aid to countries in former USSR, Central Asia Republics, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa.^[6]

Counterpart's Armenia Office involved in announcement of Civil Society Fund 2009 Winners, which is also part of Counterpart International's Limited Intervention Program Statement (LIPS) grants.^[7]

In May 2009, Counterpart was granted a five-year Cooperative Agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Through this Leader with Associates (LWA) agreement, USAID has expressed its confidence in Counterpart to implement the "Global Civil Society Strengthening" (GCSS) program that simplifies designing and delivering civil society programs overseas. The LWA will serve USAID Missions, Regional Bureaus and Offices in the implementation of civil society, media development, and program design and learning activities around the world.^[8]

References

1. ^ Stanley Hosie's book, p.286 to be published Fall 2010.
2. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.iub.edu/~reeiweb/placement/jobnonprof.shtml.
3. ^ Stanley Hosie's book, p.80 to be published Fall 2010.
4. ^ Stanley Hosie's book, p.134 to be published Fall 2010.
5. ^ http://www.servinghistory.com/topics/Counterpart_International::sub::Accomplishments_Progress_And_Awards
6. ^ Stanley Hosie's book, p.281-281 to be published Fall 2010.
7. ^ http://www.worldbank.org.am/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/ECAEXT/ARMENIAEXTN/0,,contentMDK:22183185~pagePK:1497618~piPK:217854~theSitePK:301579,00.html?cid=3001.
8. ^ http://gcssconnect.net/Pages/default.aspx

External links

• Official web-site of the Counterpart International
• Counterpart International Charity Report