Selection Process for Project Nations

Orphans International uses several criteria to identify the countries in which we may initiate projects. The most basic is the country’s ranking on the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). This scale uses economic, health and education information about a country to assign it a ranking, and we look for ranking in the range of 80-110. Countries that rank higher than 80 do not have as great a need for our program, while countries ranking below 110 may not have the infrastructure necessary for us to build a sustainable project there.

However, this number is only the first of many factors we look at; there may be areas of extreme poverty and need within a country that ranks above 80. Romania, for example, ranks at 64, but due to its particular orphan crisis rising from social policies instituted by Ceausescu, we are working towards building a project there. In addition, in some countries ranking below 110, it may be more difficult to build a project due to the lack of infrastructure but still possible and may be considered.

We are also especially interested in countries with a diverse population reflecting different religious beliefs and ethnicities for which our interfaith, interracial mission might be specifically helpful. An additional factor in deciding where to initiate a project is whether there a significant population from the country living in the New York City area that could assist us with raising awareness and funding to initiate and sustain a viable project there.

	HDI* (U$)	Orphaned Children
Haiti	153	610,000
Togo	143	240,000
Ghana	138	1,000,000
India	127	35,000,000
South Africa	120	2,200,000
Indonesia	110	6,100,000
Guyana	107	33,000
Sri Lanka	93	340,000
Dominican Rep.	95	260,000
China	85	20,600,000
Philippines	84	2,100,000
Romania	64	N.A.

*Human Development Index

Other nations that would qualify by Human Development Index rankings to host OI projects include Ecuador (82), Armenia (83), Paraguay (88), Tunisia (89), Belize (91), Fiji (92), Algeria (103), and Cape Verde (105).