Origins of Accord
After “waiting in line” with Christian colleagues at Foreign Ministry offices following disasters in Guatemala and Bangladesh in 1976, Dr. Larry Ward, President of Food for the Hungry, returned to the USA with a resolve to convene an organizational meeting of “like minded organizations.” The first meeting was in 1977 at the MAP office in Wheaton. Twelve agencies were present, including MAP, World Vision, World Concern, MAF, and World Relief. According to Art Beals of World Concern, they wanted to reduce the prevailing feeling of competitiveness between them. They wanted Accord to be a fraternity, a place to fellowship, to see each other as colleagues and to profit by getting together.”
They invited agencies that were:
- Christ-focused
- Professionally and fiduciary-responsible
- Ministry-focused on relief and development
Their original vision was that “all Christian relief and development professionals and agencies base their initiatives on biblical principles and work to re-engage the Church in holistic ministry among the poor and needy.” The network incorporated in 1978 as AERDO (The Association of Evangelical Relief and Development Organizations). In 2010, the membership voted to change the name to Accord.
Early AERDO Contributions
GIK Standards — Accord’s GIK standards became the “first” among the NGO community and was adopted by InterAction for many years prior to writing their own professional standards document, which continues to refer InterAction members to the “AERDO GIK standards” today.
Publications — Accord published professional works on selected Relief/Development topics such as Creation Care, What’s Christian about Christian Relief and Development? Principles of Development, etc.
Co-Mission — AERDO participated in the “CoMission” with 85 Christian agencies working to provide relief, development Christian witness in Russian schools following the fall of the Iron Curtain (1993-2001).
Recent Activities
HIV/AIDS Alliance — in 2003, more than a dozen Accord members came together to compete for HIV/AIDS grants under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). By innovatively combining their strengths and resources, the collaboration and it’s members secured more than $40 million in grants from USAID between 2004 and 2010.
Accord Summits — Accord, along with Compassion International, has hosted summits on key development issues—in 2009, a summit on partnership with the local church and in 2010, a summit on holistic child and youth development.
Information Sharing, Conference Calls, and Webinars — AERDO shares news on political developments, and informs members of opportunities from other networks or from AERDO for webinars and conference calls on issues of interest (e.g. hiring rights, workplace giving).
Annual Events — AERDO acts as host to the GIK Summit, Forum on Relief and Development and CEO Retreat.
