CBM (charity)

CBM (formerly Christian Blind Mission) is an international Christian development organization, committed to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in the poorest communities of the world.[1] It is considered one of the world's oldest and largest organizations working in this field. CBM was founded in 1908 by the German pastor Ernst Jakob Christoffel,[2][1] who built homes for blind children, orphans, physically disabled, and deaf persons in Turkey and Iran. Initially CBM's efforts were focused on preventing and curing blindness but now cover other causes of disability.

CBM targets the people affected by disability by supporting local partner organizations to run programs in the fields of healthcare, rehabilitation (community-based rehabilitation – CBR), education and livelihood opportunities.[3] In 2017 the international mental health charity BasicNeeds merged into the Christian disability charity.[4]

CBM also advocates for disability inclusion following UN guidelines in international policy-making bodies, and campaigns and raises funds through its member associations. CBM has an emergency response team to respond to conflicts and natural disasters.[5]

CBM reached a total of 11,954,473 people in 2018.[6] It was active in 55 countries, supported 525 projects and worked with 371 partner organizations, including disabled people's organizations, mission agencies, local churches, self-help groups and relief agencies. It has (as of 2018) 10 member associations in Europe, North America and Oceania, comprising Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Australia,[7] New Zealand, the United Kingdom,[8] Ireland, Kenya, South Africa, the United States[9] and Canada. They have had support of the Canadian government.[10] They have been given a four-out-of-four star rating by Charity Navigator.[11]

In 2017 CBM was the joint winner (along with Sightsavers) of the 2017 António Champalimaud Vision Award (the world's largest scientific prize in the field of vision) recognizing its work in supporting blindness prevention, alleviation and rehabilitation programs in developing countries.[12][13]

References
  1. Taylor, Ina (2005). Religion and Life with Christianity. Heinemann. ISBN 9780435302283.
  2. "Christian Blind Mission". UNESCO Bankgok. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  3. Berman, Nina (2017-01-16). Germans on the Kenyan Coast: Land, Charity, and Romance. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253024374.
  4. "BasicNeeds merged into Christian disability charity". 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  5. Lisa Cornish, DevEx (2017). "New app to support disability in emergency response". Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  6. "CBM in numbers". www.cbm.org. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  7. "CBM is devoted to improving the lives of people with disabilities". CBM Australia. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  8. "Charity Details". beta.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  9. "Homepage". cbm US. Retrieved 2018-11-22.
  10. Jessica Fletcher, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of International Cooperation (2010). http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/acdi-cida.nsf/eng/NAT-101495416-JBG. Retrieved 2017-09-26. Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. Charity Navigator (2017). "Christian Blind Mission International". Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  12. "Sightsavers and CBM". 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  13. Christian Today staff writer (2017). "Christian charity CBM recognised for pioneering work on blindness". Retrieved 2017-09-26.
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