Concern Worldwide supported 27.3 million people in 27 countries in 2024

“Our work was vital during a year when protracted crises, driven by conflict and climate change, resulted in 130 million people forcibly displaced from their homes and over 300 million people facing acute or catastrophic levels of hunger,” Concern CEO Dominic Crowley said.

“The annual report contains details of some inspiring work by colleagues working in extremely challenging environments,” he said. “Behind each of the statistics in this report are real people, often experiencing traumatic displacement or life-threatening situations. It is also a story of great achievements and resilience, as Concern worked with communities to help them prepare for, and respond, to crises.”

Mr Crowley pointed to the achievements of Concern in Yemen, where it completed its first full year of operations last year. Conflict has left 19.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance in Yemen, and Concern responded by providing life-saving health and nutrition services to over 29,400 people. 

He also highlighted Concern’s work in Sudan, which is currently experiencing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis after more than two years of conflict. Despite major logistical and security challenges, Concern’s team on the ground has reached over 100,000 people, with specialist food to treat malnourished children, food, cash and non-food items such as shelter materials and hygiene products. 

Other programme highlights in the annual report include:

Emergency Programmes

Many of the countries in which Concern works are susceptible to frequent natural disasters and outbreaks of conflict, resulting in already vulnerable people losing their homes and livelihoods. During 2024 Concern responded to 50 emergencies.

In Gaza, almost two million people have forced to flee their homes since the conflict erupted in 2023. Concern is funding our Alliance2015 partner CESVI to truck water to 180,000 people and support 36,000 by constructing toilets and rehabilitating water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, conflict has forced record numbers of people to flee their homes. These populations are extremely vulnerable without access to basic services and resources. Concern has reached 242,000 people with cash, water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions. 

Health and Nutrition Programmes

Our health and nutrition programmes reached 3.4 million people in 16 countries during 2024 to prevent under-nutrition and extreme hunger, strengthen maternal and child health, strengthen health facilities, and improve access to clean water and sanitation.

During the last quarter of 2024, a fifth of the population in Somalia was coping with levels of food insecurity, including 1.7 million children aged under-five facing acute malnutrition. Concern delivered specialised nutrition services through 17 static and mobile clinics to treat over 63,000 children. 

In South Sudan, Concern provided safe and clean drinking water to 125,000 people through solar water yards, boreholes and the management of surface water treatment systems. 

Livelihoods Programmes

People living in extreme poverty struggle to earn enough to ensure their families have sufficient food, adequate health care and get an education. Our livelihoods programmes aim to give them the tools to ensure they can learn a sustainable living. 

In Afghanistan, Concern supported women’s economic empowerment by providing assets, technical training and business and marketing backing to groups of women working in the dairy, fruit, almond, saffron and vegetable sectors. Over 6,300 women were reached last year with notable successes – incomes have risen from 120 AFN (€1.57) to 5,020 (€65.80) per month. There was a 283% increase in vegetable sales and 99% of participants sold to the market, compared to 24% at the start of the programme.

In Rwanda, over 4,500 people were reached by Concern’s Green Graduation programme which promotes a “do no harm” approach to the environment while improving livelihoods and building community resilience to changing climate.

Education Programmes

Concern believes that all children have the right to education and that it provides one of the best routes out of poverty. Last year our education programmes in nine countries reached 492,000 people. 

In northeast Syria, the ongoing crisis has severely disrupted children’s education. Concern has significantly improved access to education for out-of-school children. It ran a non-formal education programme in 12 locations, reaching 14,700 people. With local partners it targeted conflict-affected communities to enable children not currently in school to re-join the school system. 

In Niger, over 75,000 students have been reached by Concern’s education programme. As well as providing students with textbooks and recreational kits, it built or rehabilitated more than 80 classrooms in 29 schools to increase their capacity to accept newly displaced and refugee children. In areas where schools were closed due to regional insecurity, Concern’s distance learning project involves children taking part in supervised interactive audio lessons.

Integrated programmes

There are multiple interrelated reasons that keep people locked in poverty. For that reason, many of our programmes are integrated, bringing together, for example, agriculture and livelihoods with sectors such as water, health and education. Last year, our integrated programmes reached almost 1.5 million people. 

In Pakistan, we continued to work with communities in Sindh province whose lives were devastated by catastrophic floods which submerged a third of the country in 2022. Over 444,000 people have been reached by programmes including agriculture and livelihoods, health, water and sanitation, and disaster risk reduction measures. 

Funding

Last year Concern spent €245 million, of which 91.4% was spent on charitable activities. 

The organisation’s income for 2024 was €234.5 million. Of this, €40.9 million was raised from the public in the Republic of Ireland (€28.7 million), the UK and South Korea. Grants from governments and other institutional donors accounted for €174.9 million. 

“We are deeply grateful to our donors – the public, the trusts and foundations, and institutional donors – for their continuing generosity and trust in us which enables us to work with communities to tackle extreme poverty and hunger,” Mr Crowley said.

The cuts to US funding are not reflected in the 2024 Annual Report as they occurred earlier this year. However, Mr. Crowley noted that the value of the grants which will continue this year (€44.3 million) was significantly greater than those terminated (€20.1 million).

“Despite recent reductions in some US government funding, Concern remains a leading force in the global humanitarian and development sector,” Mr. Crowley said. “With a projected turnover exceeding €200 million this year, our organisation continues to operate from a position of financial strength and strategic focus.”

To read Concern’s 2024 annual report visit click here

For media queries and interview requests contact Eamon Timmins, Media Relations Manager, Concern Worldwide, at eamon.timmins@concern.net or 087 9880524