World Neighbors inspires people and strengthens communities to find lasting solutions to hunger, poverty and disease and to promote a healthy environment.

World Neighbors, Inc. supports programs in 16 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America/Caribbean by working in partnership with communities to address priority problems and build capacity for local management of community development. Success is achieved by strengthening the capacity of our partners to lead self-help initiatives, mobilize local resources, develop, test and extend innovations, sustain and multiply results, participate in wider coalitions, and advocate for their rights. Program priorities are determined with partners, but may include sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, environmental conservation, community health, reproductive health, family planning, water and sanitation, literacy, income generation and community organization. By training local leaders, strengthening the capacity of local organizations and by building up essential skills for problem solving, World Neighbors helps people meet their basic needs and achieve self-reliance without depending on external aid. With 13 field offices, World Neighbors has a field staff of 145, the majority of them local citizens.

World Neighbors late founder, Dr. John L. Peters, was born in Van Buren, Arkansas on October 6, 1907. As a young man, Peters served in World War II where he saw firsthand the pain and suffering caused by poverty. On April 22, 1951 at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City, Dr. John L. Peters gave a sermon titled “Let’s Deal with Basic Issues” that started a grassroots movement called World Neighbors. Since its inception in 1951, World Neighbors has changed the lives of more than 25 million people in 45 countries.