International Good Shepherd Foundation (Fondazione Internazionale Buon Pastore)

The Good Shepherd International Foundation is a nonprofit value-based organization located in Rome (Italy) and founded by Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (Good Shepherd sisters ), an international Congregation of women religious present in 73 countries, to support the mission in the least developed countries of the world. Originally established in 2007 as a Mission Development Office by the Good Shepherd sisters, it became incorporated as a Foundation in 2008. The Good Shepherd sisters were founded in 1835 by St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in France. Today the Congregation has 3,000 members in 600 communities through the world. The Congregation is recognized by the UN as a NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC because of its important work on behalf of girls, women and children, especially those who live in poverty and are the victims of violence, abuse and discrimination. The Good Shepherd International Foundation works to implement a development and human rights based approach to support the Good Shepherd programs in low and middle-income countries and to remove the causes that generate poverty and injustice, promoting an inclusive and sustainable development for the most marginalized and vulnerable.