Mission Statement
ACORN International is a community-based non-profit organization working in 12 countries across the world. It has local offices in Argentina, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Canada, and India.ACORN International already has an impressive range of achievements across the world. From fighting for issues such as affordable housing, living wages, provision of water and sanitation, education, and healthcare in Latin America to protecting small local retailers in India from the onslaught of multinational corporate retailers and organizing the slum-dwelling waste pickers in the Indian cities, it has had a string of victories and successes.
Description
Achievements include bringing potable water to squatters' settlements of more than 1 million people on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, negotiating affordable education rates for hundreds of low income children in Tijuana, Mexico, expanding police forces and police cooperation in marginalized areas of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and monitoring democratic elections in the Dominican Republic...
Since March 2005, ACORN International has worked in partnership with the FDI Watch campaign in India. FDI Watch seeks to prevent Foreign Direct Investment in the retail sector in India. ACORN India seeks to prevent large multi-national companies like Wal-Mart from entering India's markets unless
they guarantee protection of communities they affect; ensure stability of the existing small businesses and ensure livelihoods of small traders; guarantee fair wages, just working conditions and a right to unionize to all their employees; and ensure that a significant portion of the supplies comes from the Indian markets. ACORN International is a member driven organization. An active participation of its members in every step of community organizing process and decision-making accounts for the large scale victories locally and internationally. Each ACORN International chapter is separately registered and maintained by local staff. In this way, each chapter remains independent and accountable to its local constituents and leadership.
Local chapters of ACORN International strive to improve the lives of the traditionally marginalized communities in Argentina, Peru, Dominican Republic, Mexico, India and Canada. In Ecuador, Nigeria and Kenya ACORN International trains indigenous local organizers to open offices in their home countries. In near future we plan to establish a local chapter in Kenya. We have partnerships with established organizations in South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia.
