Today, we are announcing plans for a major transformation of our organisation to become more responsive and accountable to the communities we serve and the partners we work alongside.
As part of this transformation, we will move from a model based on country offices delivering programmes to one based on more equitable partnerships with national organisations. Five regional hubs—located in Bogotá, Abuja, Nairobi, Amman, and Dhaka — will support this new approach. Christian Aid will continue to operate in the 26 countries where our programmes are currently active, but our work will no longer depend on maintaining a physical staff presence. This is a model that has already proved effective in several contexts, including the Middle East and Ukraine.
The shift we are making will enable us to allocate more of our funding to work with our partner organisations and make us better stewards of the resources entrusted to us by our supporters and donors.
The proposed changes, currently under consultation with staff, follow a year-long process of careful planning, including the publication of Shifting Power in Aid which reviewed our journey towards locally-led development and considered wider trends across the international development sector.
Patrick Watt, Chief Executive of Christian Aid, said:
'We are committed to shifting power to people whose lives are scarred by poverty, so they can make their voices heard, and create their own opportunities for a better life.
We want to focus our efforts on where we add value, and wherever possible, step back from work that can be done more effectively by partner organisations. Two key questions we have asked ourselves in designing this new model are, ‘why us?’ and ‘why not local?’
The changes have been planned carefully over the last 12 months. While the proposals we are launching today are not driven by cuts to official aid, we believe that recent decisions by donor governments validate our choice to be a majority voluntary-funded organisation, which collaborates intentionally with institutional funders where we share a common agenda.
It is clear that the role of INGOs is changing as the world around us changes. It needs to transform further if we’re to contribute more effectively to tackling poverty and marginalisation. Christian Aid is committed to that transformation, in a way that builds on our history of working alongside others for equality, dignity and justice.'
In the past year, as a charity, we worked with 260 implementing partners, reaching 4.5 million people directly and 19.3 million indirectly. Christian Aid has met or exceeded our voluntary income targets over the last three years, with an income in 2024/25 of £83.3 million and total expenditure of £82.4 million in 2024/25. The proposed changes are currently subject to consultation with staff, with final decisions expected by mid-June. We remain committed to our role in humanitarian response, long-term development and campaigning for a more just and equal world.
