Tzedek is a UK-based registered charity organisation which aims to provide a Jewish response to the problem of extreme global poverty. Registered as a charity in 1993, Tzedek has a number of overseas development programmes, working closely with local NGOs to alleviate extreme poverty in Northern Ghana and Northeast & Southeast India. As well as supporting local NGOs within these regions, Tzedek aims to develop the leadership skills of young Jewish leaders within the community to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to global poverty.
Vision and mission
Tzedek's framework is based on the concept of tzedek, a Hebrew linguistic root word for justice. The word does not merely indicate legal rights but also compassion and humanity. That is why, in the Jewish tradition, the word for charity is tzedakah. The Jewish values reflected in Tzedek's work include Ahavtah et HaGer (you shall love the stranger), which teaches a view of a global world without racial or religious boundaries; and, Naaseh v'nishma (we will do and we will understand), which holds that awareness and knowledge lead to actions with deeper commitment. It is because of this that Tzedek believes that the UK Jewish community can be at the forefront of the challenge to reduce extreme poverty abroad.
Tzedek seeks to provide a point of contact between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds, by engaging the UK Jewish community with sustainable development projects overseas to non-Jewish beneficiaries. The charity's work particularly focuses on impacting the livelihoods of women and young people, as research suggests that this provides the longest lasting impact within communities.
Tzedek believes that poverty is a man-made problem and can only be solved by fighting for social justice. Tzedek's initiatives, therefore, are twofold:
Developing strong, sustainable partnerships with local NGOs to empower communities and tackle poverty. These projects are predominantly focused in Northern Ghana and Northeast & Southeast India and focus on increasing access to education and improving vocational skills of the local population. To raise awareness within the UK Jewish community of global poverty to increase a sense of global social responsibility. Through education and developing the leadership skills of young Jewish leaders, Tzedek can provide a platform for social responsibility ambassadors within the community to organise and create meaningful change.
Present work
Ghana
Tzedek's primary work in Ghana involves reducing extreme poverty in the Tolon District of Northern Ghana. Their work within this region aims to create sustainable changes in livelihood, by improving the standards of education and youth empowerment within the communities. There is a strong emphasis on working in coordination with local individuals and organisations within the region in order to understand and to the most significant local issues
Examples of initiatives Tzedek have supported in Ghana include:
Providing access to finance and seed funds in rural locations through saving schemes. Delivering vocational training to improve livelihoods. Setting up a cooperative for disabled women. Providing mentoring to school students to guide them through careers, advise on study practice and how to access scholarship funds. Driving targeted improvements in educational quality in primary schools. Building youth empowerment initiatives to improve livelihood opportunities and also to develop young community leaders
India
Tzedek's work in India focuses on four main regions: Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The majority of the charity's work within India consists of funding sustainable poverty relief by partnering with and supporting local NGOs. By empowering these local organisations with self-sustaining livelihood projects, this has a long-term impact on the communities.
The projects that Tzedek fund in India fall into the following categories: