PSO is active in 70 countries. Over half of the development staff deployed by PSO member organisations (55%) work in Africa, 20% in South and Central America, 17% in Asia and the Pacific region, and 8% in countries within Europe.
In the development cooperation world we have come to the conclusion over the past few years that many activities do not produce an optimum effect. This is primarily due to the fact that local organisations - which were responsible for implementing these projects - are not able to do this properly. They just didn't have the capacity. We have decided that we need to place more importance on the role that local organisations can play in protecting the interests of their own community and influencing the policy-makers. A flourishing NGO sector in developing countries is an important catalyst for sustainable development.
Organisations wishing to become PSO members must meet a number of criteria. They must be private Dutch organisations, non-profit, and be active in international cooperation and capacity building.