Livelihoods

Cord understands livelihoods to be the means by which people obtain and maintain access to the resources necessary for their immediate and long term survival.

These resources could include physical (assets-livestock, house, tools, vehicles, equipment); natural (land, forestry, fishing, water); human (skills, ability to work, education); financial (wages, credit, savings); social (community/religious structures); and political (citizenship, access to political leaders, functioning legal system). When one or more of these assets are lost, it can start to put pressure on households.

Cord has made livelihoods one of the 2 main sectors it focuses in its strategy. . During conflict, people often lose access to their means of livelihood, as assets are destroyed or stolen, or people have to flee their homes and land.

Providing livelihood opportunities enables people to have a means to immediate and long term survival. It can also contribute to the prevention of violent conflict, as livelihood failure can be a contributing factor to conflict. Restoring livelihoods helps to build foundations for peace and reconciliation, and it can also be an important tool for ending hostilities. It can be a mechanism for encouraging people to work together. Therefore, Cord believes that livelihoods and peacebuilding need to go hand in hand.

Cord supports a variety of livelihood initiatives in its country programmes including food security, vocational skills training, small business enterprises, agricultural diversification programmes and water.

Cord recognises the central role that women play in the livelihood provision for their families, and therefore it places significant emphasis on empowering them in this sector.