Home page: Ecumenical Commission for Human Development

Ecumenical Commission for Human Development [ECHD] is an ecumenical, voluntary, independent Christian relief and development agency committed to human development of marginalized communities in Pakistan. We work with ecumenical partners to help rebuild after disasters and to empower local communities to find lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy. We aim to facilitate visible acts of human compassion, promote justice and civic responsibility, develop responsible stewardship of God’s creation and contribute to facilitating peace.

ECHD operates from its central office in Lahore and additional office in Mansehra. Different projects are organized out of its four thematic areas: Alliance Building, Institututional Capacity Development Program, Disaster Relief and Mitigation and Social Development Programs. ECHD’s thematic priorities include: emergency response; education; health focusing on HIV/AIDS; livelihoods; peace and human rights, climate justice, youth and women empowerment.

ECHD seeks to contribute to reduce poverty, disease and injustice by innovative interventions to build just societies, resolve conflicts in a non-violent way, and preserve the integrity of creation and to overcome the inequitable consequences. The main objectives are:

To empower those who are poor, disadvantaged and oppressed for the betterment of their living conditions out of their own strength and responsibility;

To enable people to participate in decision making processes by strengthening civil society;

To assert political, civil, economic, social and cultural human rights;

To create equal opportunities for women and men and to eliminate existing gender disparities; promote peace and overcome violence;

To ensure the resources to minimize, survive and recover from natural and manmade disasters and emergencies

To preserve natural, life-sustaining resources, protect traditional knowledge and ensure food security and access to safe drinking water;

To raise awareness in the country for the global context and of mutual dependencies, promote changes in peole’s ways of thinking, encourage them to develop their own approaches to support development and to accomplish political changes.