06.02.2012
Bishops Appeal Launches ‘Educate for Life’ Campaign
The Church of Ireland Bishops’ Appeal has launched its 2012 campaign. The ‘Educate for Life’ campaign was unveiled at the annual Bishops’ Appeal conference in Church of Ireland House in Rathmines. The launch was attended by the Kenyan ambassador to Ireland, Catherine Muigai Mwangi as well as Bishops’ Appeal chairman, Bishop Michael Burrows and Bishops’ Appeal representatives from around the country. A number of the appeal’s partner agencies were also present.
“Education equips people with the necessary tools to enable them to transform their lives,” Bishops’ Appeal education advisor, Lydia Monds, explained. Highlighting the broad spectrum covered by the theme of education Ms Monds gave the example of gender equality. “Gender equality doesn’t sell. But under ‘Educate for Life’ we can look at the education of women around the world. There is a statistic that if you educate a woman she pours 90 percent of what she has learned back into her family. That is opposed to just 30 percent for a man,” she stated.
This year Bishops’ Appeal is marking the 40th anniversary of its first project. Outlining the strategy for the future Ms Monds explained that the organisation is focusing on supporting fewer agencies and working in fewer countries. They have identified six agencies with which they will partner in 2012 and they have developed an annual theme.
The six agencies – Tearfund, Christian Aid, Sams, USPG Ireland, CMS Ireland and the Mothers Union – will partner with Bishops’ Appeal in a particular way to tie in with the ‘Educate for Life’ theme. Some projects have already been identified. Christian Aid will be working on a project in Haiti which trains farmers in aspects of agri industry. This training will enable them to set up their own micro business which will prevent them migrating to the cities where they would be living in slums. CMS will be working on a project in Rwanda which will provide training to 10,000 farmers.
In Swaziland USPG will be networking through the Anglican church to work with 26 schools. Tearfund is focusing on a women’s literacy and development project while Mother’s Union is overseeing a literacy project in Burundi. Sams is working with youth workers and leaders in Peru providing training for them to achieve higher qualifications.
Lydia Monds stressed that Bishops’ Appeal was in partnership with these agencies and not in competition with them. She pointed out that it was a Church of Ireland development aid programme but that Bishops’ Appeal did not do the development work. “We have to have a strong partnership with the agencies to do the development work,” she explained. “We add value to each other.”
Ms Monds explained that the organisation aimed to provide people who gave to the Bishops’ Appeal a greater idea of where their money went. She said there were three strands of funding under Bishops’ Appeal. Firstly general funds – as agencies see a need they apply and funds are matched to that need throughout the year. The second strand encompasses diocesan link projects through which a diocese identifies a project and money is channelled to it from a particular diocese. There will be just four diocesan links each year so that money raised from the other eight dioceses goes to general funds. Thirty percent of the funds given from the other eight diocese will go to the annual theme under the third strand of funding.
Formally launching the ‘Educate for Life’ campaign, Bishop Michael Burrows explained that education would help lead people out of the trap of poverty to being in control of their own futures. In his introduction to the conference Bishop Burrows said that the visibility that Bishops’ Appeal had in the church and the trust people had in it was important. “Through the theme of ‘Educate for Life’ we are trying to focus on our partner organisations … and give Bishops’ Appeal a focus for individual dioceses,” he stated.