Education is the building block to peace and prosperity. Link Community Development International (Link) is an Edinburgh based charity that envisages a world where every child in sub-Saharan Africa has access to a quality basic education. In over 25 years, Link has helped nearly 2 million students in over 3,000 schools in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda. Link works directly with government staff, district education officers, communities and schools by providing support and training for more effective teaching, improved school management and increased community engagement.

Link was founded in 1989, initially as Link Africa, a student-led movement based at the University of Cambridge. Link Africa’s focus was on fighting apartheid within South Africa. The organisation began arranging short-term teaching placements for Cambridge students in Kenya, Lesotho, South Africa and Uganda, which soon became longer-term placements. This shift allowed Link Africa to begin focussing on more specific project work.

Today, Link Africa has evolved into Link Community Development, a vibrant a family of five locally registered organisations working with government and communities. Link has locally registered organisations in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda. These are supported by the Link Community Development International office based in Edinburgh, UK.

Vision
Their vision is a world where every child has the right to quality education.

Mission
Their mission is to inspire sustainable innovations in national education policy using grassroots approaches to improve accountability and learner outcomes.

Values
Their values describe how they will act in every aspect of their work:

Progressive – Not being complacent but challenging theirselves and others to effect continuous improvement
Transparent – Listening, responding to and learning from feedback and ensuring openness in their processes and decisions
Inclusive – Making sure that everyone is treated with dignity and according to their needs; that their services are accessible
Respectful – Treating beneficiaries, partners and each other with care, consideration and compassion
Accountable – Acting with integrity and honesty; being answerable for their actions and decisions
Innovative - Applying creative and imaginative solutions to address the challenges they face