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As the transformation of China’s economy creates new opportunities for many, the government and other stakeholders are placing greater emphasis on addressing social disparities simultaneously with economic development. While economic growth has improved the lives of much of the population, there are still many people in urban and rural areas without access to stable livelihoods, arable land or adequate public services.
Mercy Corps is addressing these needs by working with local partners in China to foster the development of civil society initiatives. Our programs promote livelihoods and local economic development while addressing the specific needs of many of China’s marginalized citizens: urban migrants, rural populations, ethnic minorities and communities affected by HIV/AIDS. We also deliver rapid assistance in the event of disasters such as the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, when Mercy Corps launched a major relief and recovery program immediately after the quake.
Building Livelihoods for Migrant Youth
In recent decades, increasing numbers of rural Chinese families have moved to urban areas. Hoping to escape the cycle of poverty, migrant families scramble to stay afloat in their new environments. Migrant children are marginalized by these conditions and can face a future of poverty and insecurity.
Mercy Corps’ School to Work Project provides employment skills and livelihood options to impoverished migrant youth. With the local non-profit Dandelion School – Beijing’s only secondary school serving adolescent migrant youth – Mercy Corps is improving the quality of life and economic future of 50 young people aged 14 to 18 by providing intensive vocational and life skills training, as well as apprenticeship opportunities for migrant youth.
Our work in China also focuses on enhancing financial literacy among migrant youth and their community members by providing tailored financial education training courses. These programs will help migrant youth to be better prepared for entrepreneurship and other livelihood opportunities.
Creating Opportunities for Minority Women
Giving Leadership Opportunities to Women, or GLOW, is one of Mercy Corps’ signature China programs. Supported by the Nike Foundation, GLOW prepares young women from minority communities for the challenges of urban employment. Working with our local NGO partner, Liangshan Yi for Empowerment Center, we are helping Yi minority girls aged 10 to 18 to be job- ready in an urban environment.
The GLOW program focuses on three areas:
- Basic skill-building and vocational training
- Life skills and health training
- Job-placement assistance and follow-up
Our program is helping Yi youth enter the workforce and earn higher incomes. It also aims to improve youth confidence and social skills so participating youth can make healthy choices, avoid the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic and overcome the challenges of urban migration.
Delivering Vital Earthquake Recovery
When the 7.9-magnitude earthquake rocked Sichuan Province in 2008, causing at least 69,000 deaths and displacing up to 10 million people, Mercy Corps mobilized to distribute
household necessities, hygiene products and school supplies to thousands of affected families. We also launched programs to help the thousands of children whose basic sense of security and stability had been shattered.
Building on experts’ belief that providing support to children soon after a disaster can prevent symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from escalating into a lifelong condition, Mercy Corps worked with our local partners – the Sichuan Youth Federation, China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (CFPA), Dujiangyan Women’s Federation, municipal Education Bureaus and the Chinese Academy of Sciences – to help affected children recover and thrive.
Mercy Corps launched two large-scale programs, Comfort for Kids and Moving Forward, which trained 1,600 mental health professionals, teachers and caregivers to use therapeutic tools and activities focused on supporting the needs of traumatized children. Our programs helped 50,000 youth, their families and communities.
Becoming a Leader in Microfinance
A recent multi-year Mercy Corps program has helped the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation become a leader in rural microfinance and build major new services and capacity with programs in 10 provinces. Today, it is one of China’s foremost civil society organizations. Thanks to Mercy Corps and CFPA, 60,000 impoverished rural entrepreneurs have received startup capital, technical assistance and vocational training so they can start businesses, gain viable livelihoods and support their families.
Collaborating With Local Partners
Mercy Corps works in China to create meaningful change through collaboration with national and local partners. Working directly through partner groups allows us to build on existing capacity in economic development, livelihood-generation, health, education and civil society initiatives, and to play a pivotal role in creating durable progress.
One such partnership is our Social Innovator Leadership Program with the All China Youth Federation (ACYF). As a federative body of 52 member Chinese youth organizations with over 77,000 individual members, reaching over 300 million young people, ACYF has the platform to improve the lives of massive numbers of youth both in China and internationally.
The Social Innovator program works with ACYF to build a new cadre of socially entrepreneurial Chinese leaders by building skills and providing models for working collaboratively with communities. In June 2010, Mercy Corps organized the second such Social Innovator program, following on the May 2009 pilot.
The program welcomes to Portland a group of talented, emerging Chinese leaders from government, state-run industry, and private enterprise. During the course, the delegates are exposed to new ideas for collaboratively and innovatively addressing social problems. They engage in spirited lectures with renowned academics in the fields of social entrepreneurship, social innovation, and government. Expert panelists from the worlds of corporate social responsibility, social finance, and private philanthropy discuss how to best partner with social entrepreneurs and foster social innovations. Visits to field locations around the state provide practical examples of social innovation, including youth empowerment and cultural and environmental protection.
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