WHO ARE WE?

OUR HISTORY

Other people's lives are our lives too.
Travel means not just going somewhere else, it means seeing humanity as it is,
displayed in all its splendour and dynamism, but also all its suffering and difficulties.

Having realized back in 1970 that living conditions in a large part of the world were unacceptable, members of aircrew spontaneously got together with company managers and directors and set up a partnership with Don Bosco's Salesians and the Society of Jesus to begin taking part, methodically and with conviction, in international solidarity action.

While these initial endeavours were still informal, they were designed to "lift" the poor out of their destitution in the long run by helping them to (re) discover their unused talents.

Determined to be clear and effective and to achieve real impact in the field, the Groupe d’Aide aux Réfugiés et personnes Déplacées became Groupe d’Aide aux Réalisations pour le Développement in 1979 and then plain Groupe Développement..

A pioneer amongst international solidarity organizations in placing itself at the service of NGOs in the South, Groupe Développement clearly stated its plans to:

• get away from one-off emergency assistance and miserabilismd
• enable the implementation of long-term economic projects;
• foster integral human development;
• protect families, relying on local capacities and strict ethical principles ;
• enable the poorest to create their own employment and decide how they want to live their lives.

To keep up with new international solidarity initiatives and have its purpose understood and recognized throughout the world, Groupe Développement became Acting for Life in 2009. Its mission is clear: acting to promote the idea of LIFE, NOT MERELY SURVIVAL. Its vocation is to establish links and build bridges between "rich" and "poor" in every country, including in the "South", to help everyone who has fallen to stand up again so that they can stay in control of their own existence and their own development every step of the way.

In order to generate synergies, Acting for Life belongs to the Acting for Life International network that brings together "sister" organizations in various countries, all of which share the same vision and the same values and are working towards that single goal: the Common Good, faithful to Creation and Humanity.